Sunday, July 18, 2010

BEAUTY: IS IT JUST IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER?

Having been doing this blogging thing for a while now, I have noticed a few things. In the beginning, bloggers love getting blogging awards (at least most do), but as time passes, that seems to change and the attitude becomes, "Oh no, not another award." In other words, it becomes passe. Misery suggested yesterday, when she was accepting two awards, and then passing them along, that she once thought them to be the equivalent of email spam. In other words, it was something that Blogger created to keep people blogging.

Whenever I get an award, it reminds me to check my award list. Yeah, I have one of those. I don't like to bombard people with awards. I tend to forget about my awards until I get awarded again. So, I have added this newest award to my list (yeah, Misery, that means I will get to your award, but it won't be today). However, your comments on awards got me to thinking. And this is my theory:


I don't think the creators of Blogger came up with these awards to keep people blogging. I think that the people who blog discovered a joy in blogging that they didn't expect. They never in a million years thought they would enjoy reading the blogs of perfect strangers. Or that those strangers would start to feel like friends. So, one day, one of those people who knows how to do techy things, like create buttons decided to do just that, and made a blog award. That person also spent some time thinking about The Rules, and then stipulated that you had to Pay It Forward. Why? That blogger wanted the award to touch a whole lot of people. And it worked. And so, chances are reasonable that right now someone is thinking about creating a blogging award. That person wants it to be different than what is already floating around. They might need some aid in creating a button. It might take a week, a month, or a year (or maybe it remains an idea forever) but there is an idea in progress for a new award right now.

Me? I totally get it. It is the same reason that I do HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY. It is my way of paying it forward every week. It really isn't an award, but it is my way of recognizing you. It is my way of letting you know that I see you. I hear you. I feel you. I get you. I understand where you are or maybe where you want to go. You are not just typing your thoughts into a black hole of nothingness.

So, in that spirit, I will not award people who have said that they are tired of being awarded or don't like awards. That is me hearing you. I might award someone who has already received this award because I am not going to jump from blog to blog to check out your awards sections to see if you already have this one. It is time consuming. You can pay it forward or not. That is the awesome thing about free will.


I received this award from Mitzi over at ~Southern Style~ a while ago. I would use the word genteel to describe her blog, but that would be for the third time. Three strikes and you are out. So, consider that word stricken from the record. I will say this: I have lived in the north and the south and they are not the same. The difference is not just in the temperature in the wintertime. Although, that is one really nice thing about living in the south. People really do say "Yes, sir" and "Yes, ma'am" in the south. They teach their kids to talk that way, too. Once you hear that long enough, when you go back up north and some kid answers your questions with, "Whatever, I don't care, Yeah," or a blank look, you start appreciating manners. Does everyone in the south have manners? No, they do not. However, that is one of the things that Mitzi talks about on her blog. It's a people blog, a blog about life and living, and it just happens to take place in the south. Oh, I am supposed to thank Mitzi for this award. Thank you Mitzi!

Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who gave you this award. -- Check►
2. Share up to 10 things about yourself. Short & sweet (Impossible for me ~ you get what you get!)
3. Pass the award to 10 bloggers who you have recently discovered and think are fantastic!
4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award. (I am hoping you discover this for yourselves by actually reading my blog. If not, I will contact you. *sigh*)



1. My day starts with a granola bar and pain medication for my migraine. Well, sometimes it starts with the pain medication followed immediately with the granola bar. It is not good to take that stuff on an empty stomach.

2. For those of who missed it, I have become hooked on HGTV's show INCOME PROPERTY. I also like DESIGNED TO SELL, but I am not as obsessed about watching that one. I know what time IP comes on every day and stop what I am doing to watch it.

3) I spent my summers at camp as a kid. Right now that very same camp is running. I know because I found their site on web. People that I know are now the camp directors. Before my migraines got so bad with the move, I thought I might spend one week there this summer. Totally not possible. But I think about it a lot. I can picture the entire place (as it used to be) in my head. I know that they have made lots of changes.

4) I am in the middle of my summer run of watching Grey's Anatomy on DVD. I am almost done with Season 2. That last episode of this season is just devastating. Actually, this whole season hurts me all the way through. I watch it because it gets better and I need that reminder. Everyone goes through painful times, but it gets better. When you are in the middle of it, you can't see it. It is only when you have come out on the other side that it makes any sense at all.

5) I finished my first YA book (aside from Harry Potter) as an adult. Actually, I finished my first YA book that I read as someone who is thinking about writing YA after I finish my current novel. All I know right now is that I need to read more. It was a very good book, but one book does not a good evaluator make. Or writer, which is more important.

6) In the past, I was a "phase" person. I probably still am, but I am just not well enough to pick something up long enough to drop it. When I was a kid, I would do it with foods. I would eat only one thing all of the time until I was sick of it. To this day, I can't eat a plain cheese sandwich. I almost did the same thing with omelettes. It's a good thing that I discovered as an adult that things other than cheese can go in an omelette or they would be history. Counted cross stitch is gone. I pick it up sometimes but it doesn't last long. I had a love affair with country line dancing and two stepping, etc. It ended. The same sort of thing happened with karaoke. I think that there might be a little of the romance left in my heart for that one if I could find a place where my ex didn't frequent the joint.

7) My parents are leaving this summer for a two week long vacation. I have some worries about eating while they are gone. When I lived on my own (and was sick), the Schwan man made regular deliveries to my house every two weeks. [For those of you not in the know, Schwan sells frozen food and they deliver directly to your door.] If not for Schwan, it is fairly safe to say that I might have died. Everything Schwan sells is easy to fix and I didn't have to leave the house to buy it. Schwan: Saving The Lives of Migraine Sufferers Everywhere. Except here. We don't get Schwan here. They are leaving me with my step-dad's truck (which I have never driven) and no Schwan man. Do I sound worried? I'll be right back. I have a little blue pill I need to take before I can finish this blog.

8) Okay, I am back. The blue pill takes some time to work, so I am still a bit anxious. I guess that can be Number 8. I take little blue pills daily. Usually just two at bedtime. If I take one during the day, then it is only one at bedtime. That can make sleeping difficult and throw off my sleep schedule. That happened yesterday. I couldn't sleep last night. That explains why I was up until all hours of the night. It also explains why I woke up at 2:10 pm today. What are the chances that I will be ready to fall asleep at my regularly scheduled bedtime of 11 pm tonight? Yeah. That's what I think, too. Migraines suck. Dang, I should have saved that for #9.

9) After I broke things off with MFL and moved back to Ohio and in with my parents, that is when I went through the country line dancing phase. Very briefly, I dated this guy who was also into line dancing. He was really nice and a great dancer. At that time, being a great dancer was important criteria on my dating list. However, he took me out to dinner and his son came with us. It was at this dinner that I had clarity that this relationship was not going to work. I was 27 years old at the time. My date was 40 years old at the time. His son was fourteen years old at the time. The father was thirteen years older and the son was thirteen years younger than I. When it occurred to me, I wanted to just sit in the booth and giggle like a crazy woman. I didn't do that. Ironically, the guy broke things off with me right after that. An old flame came back into his life. That didn't work out. However, he did end up meeting a nice woman (his own age) at the bar where we line danced and they ended up getting married. I usually see them when I go back home. Life is strange. I wonder what the son is up to these days???? He would now be 29. That is totally legal.

10) I have an idea for tomorrow. I think that the bloghop works sometimes, but most of the time ~ not so much. I think that the best way to meet people who you will enjoy reading are by getting suggestions from people you are already reading. So, I have an idea. Tomorrow, I will share that idea. So, come back tomorrow and see what you think and decide if you want to participate. I hope that you do because I think it will be fun. Of course, that is my unbiased opinion.


Now, I am supposed to pay this award forward to people who I think will appreciate getting an award:

1) Leiah at A Southern Belle Trying Not To Rust

2) Kristin at Bringing Pretty Back

3) Kimberly Franklin at Confessions: The Secret Life of a Writer

4) Misery at LEFTOVERS from ILLUMINATION

5) Liza at Middle Passages

6) Chris at A Deliberate Life

7) Sharon at Musings of a Mercurial Woman

8) Kim at Saving My Life

9) Ro Magnolia at Soft Winds and Roses

10) Java at Never Growing Old

If I didn't award you, it is because you have indicated in some way that you really don't like awards OR I ran out of slots. *sigh* Here is the deal, if I am following you, well you are award worthy. I don't follow people who aren't award worthy. And that is the truth. All of you deserve an award because you are all beautiful bloggers in your own unique way.

all images found at www.weheartit.com (except the award)

8 comments:

  1. Oh Robin how I love you dearly my sweet blog friend. You can refer to my blog as having a "genteel feel" as often as you like. Thanks for your other kind words about my blog. You are too kind and most deserving of the Award

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  2. okay, there's quite a few things I want to say in this comment so I'll write them down in points:
    1. haha, I'm also a "phase" person. Right now I'm going through a phase of loving everything Japanese and eating chocolate cereals with cold milk (that's deep isn't it)
    2. do I see myself there on that list?! :)
    3. 2nd and 3rd season - the best as far as Grey's Anatomy goes. Simply amazing (with the exception of the thread about Danny and Izzie). Too bad they kicked out Isaah Washington (Burke), and too bad that 5th season sucked big time.
    4. I still won't change my mind about my 'blogger awards theory'. See, on tumblr there's this thing, it's called 'gpoyw' - Gratitious Picture Of Yourself Wednesday (there's also T-Shirt Friday, haha) and it WAS started by few people who work at tumblr, they also have their own tumblr-blogs and they're popular, so they got this going on. I believe it started like this with blogging awards, too. However, now majority of awards are created in good faith by bloggers, but I just cannot imagine this not being an idea of someone who wanted to popularize blogger even more. These things always work like this...ALSO, not everyone is as nice as you - I mean, you came up with Here's to you Thursday and that's AMAZING, but there are people who would only do sth like this to their own benefit.

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  3. Awww! You're so sweet! The funny thing is, I've only posted like 2 awards I've received on the side of my blog. I keep this thought in the back of my head that it would be too showy to display all the awards I've been given and prideful. Perhaps I should display all the awards I've been given just to show I am very blessed to have such sweet blog friends like you. :) I will do this award but I have one other I received the other day I need to do first. Thanks so much Robin and no...I don't get tired of the awards. :) They make me feel good and these days while I'm losing followers...man oh man I sure needed someone to tell me my blog is still worth reading. :) lol

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  4. Aw, Robin. Thank you so much for the award! And congrats on yours. And I too love Designed to Sell and Greys Anatomy. Those first few seasons are the best, in my opinion.

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  5. I am totally a food phase person. Only mine I don't seem to outgrow for quite a bit of time. ::sighs happily as I munch on Vanilla Wafers::

    :)

    Also, congrats on the award! I think an award is like everything else in blogland - some people intend it only for their own benefit and others are genuinely interested in using it to meet new bloggers and make friends. I definitely think you're one of the latter :)

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  6. Thank-you!!! Means a lot! I'm tired and grumpy and finally had a few moments to log on to my computer and this was a great surprise. :)

    And just for the record, I am so totally a "phase" person - and yeah, cross stitch made its counted way through my life at some point too. :D

    Congrats on getting the award yourself. Your writing is very thoughtful and often humorous and very real. Definitely blog award worthy!

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  7. Awww thank you Robin and I'm so sorry that I just now saw this! You are so sweet!
    Yes I know all about the Schwan Man! I am worried for you! Can you get any food delivered? That might be an option!

    Congrats on getting the awards! You are very much deserving of these!!

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  8. Hi, I got to your blog through Ro Magnolia. She has awarded me with the award you gave her, and based on what she wrote about you, I wanted to visit your blog.

    I just wanted to say that I have chosen to be an award-free blog. (That's not to say that I have a problem with those that DO take the awards) And it's not that I don't appreciate awards. I do. I appreciate the thought behind them. I appreciate that others enjoy my blog and find it uplifting. The problem, really, is me. I don't want to become prideful by having a bunch of awards that stare me in the face every time I look at my blog. Pridefulness has often been a problem in my life, so I know that a library of awards would just puff me up.

    It's the same way with having followers. I have moved my followers section to near the bottom of my blog, as I don't want the number of followers to be my focus. I don't want my blog to be just about "numbers." I don't want attracting a huge audience to be the focus of my blogging. In fact, I recently had a giveaway, and I chose to not make it a requirement to be a follower in order to enter. I don't want people following my blog (inflating my numbers) just for a giveaway. I want them to follow only if my blog really interests them.

    I used to belong to a church that was all about the numbers...how many in service, how many in Sunday School, how many on Wednesday night, how many at the altar, etc. They were SO driven to have high numbers...like the higher the numbers, the better they were.

    So, I've chosen to say I don't want to accumulate awards. Pride is always a temptation for me, and having my awards posted adds to that (I blogged here for a long while before taking a hiatus for 15 months, and I used to post the awards).

    I am rambling, I know. I'm sorry about that. I just want to make clear that it is not an unwillingness to play along that keeps people from accepting awards. I'm willing for any blogger to write about me or mention my blog, but I just don't want an accumulation of awards that might cause me to get puffed up with pride.

    Forgive me for rambling on so long.

    Blessings to you,
    Patti (Fill My Cup with Beauty)

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