A Perfect Blend of Friendship Award

Just because I choose to go it alone on Valentine's Day doesn't necessarily mean I'd fail to use my time productively. Might as well give awards to friends and those I hope to be friends with online.

Ismail of Passionate About Blogging honored me with this Friendship Award early February. It's hard to argue with lawyers - you know how they can slap you with restraining orders and stuff - so I accepted it and promptly filed it away. Thank you, Ismail. Indeed, you have discriminating taste.

Now is the time to pay it forward. The awardees are a happy mix of online friends and new acquaintances. I hope you will all promptly recover from the devastation Valentine's Day brings to your purse and ego as the case maybe. If you're still huffing and puffing from your juvenile assignations, pick up your awards later, you lucky dogs.

The honorees are:

1. Yatot of The Yatot Chronicles
2. Jhez of My Not So Personal Blog
3. Dee of Tales From The Mom Side
4. Jojigirl of Rainbows and Thunderstorms
5. Tonex of Blog Ex Machina
6. Jaypee of Jaypee Online
7. Ms. Earth of Earthlingorgeous
8. Diane of Just Humor Me
9. A friend who is suffering from multiple ironies - Pinay Single Mommy
10. Jed who is after our personal growth by plotting to make us better bloggers.
11. Bingkee of I Love Hate America
12. Gagay who went inside the minds of guys so she could write a list of reminders for girls. Example: "Don't rub the lamp if you don't want to see the genie."

Now it's your turn to pass this on to pals and even acquaintances - you know, people who Ambrose Pierce describes as "person(s) whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to."

Recommended Reading especially on Valentine's Day is this exquisite story posted by Jason. It's in Filipino - I wish it will be translated in English soon.

Another good read on Valentine's Day - and every time we feel mushy and romantic - is Cupid and Psyche written by Jo of A Majority of Two.

An Award To Keep 7 Seven Bloggers Honest

Seven bloggers are this month's recipients of Honest Scrap Award from salabasngmandaluyong. The seven random victims - still seen reeling from the impact of this unfortunate mishap - are identified as follows: Dede, Lemuel, JoanJoyce, Roy, Kaye, Mye, and Allforblue.



When you have regained your bearings, this is my explanation. Enthusiastic blog author Gagay gifted me an Honest Scrap Award the other day. I thought it had something to with the Green movement and involves recycling and stuff. Oh dear, how do I squirm my way out of this, I told myself.

If you've been to this blog at least a couple of times, you'd know my reservations about awards. But hey, this one is different. What a pleasant surprise. Just look at the rules:

* When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real.


* Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!


Now, that's something right up my alley. Hmm, I can live with this award. So Gagay, you're indeed one misguided soul. And the fun part is I did not say that. It is said so in the rules. Yay!

By passing this award I know what this makes me. All together now: misguided soul. Bah, that's not exactly news to me. It's my middle name, people. :)

It is also stipulated that I can choose 7 random victims and leave a harassing comment. Oh boy, this is exciting.

Now, the hard part of the rules - about 10 honest things about me. This is giving me headaches. Honesty is such a foreign concept to me. But I can always try. Here goes:

1. My display picture on this blog is from five years ago. Hah! Mind your own business, I'd update it the soonest I find a Piolo Pascual (Filipino movie heartthrob) resemblance among the recent stuff. And by God, I will find one. Even if it takes a picture with my back to the camera - the kindest resemblance that can be had? :)

2. Jan is just my nickname. I'm Gani around the house and with friends. But I'm one of those people who think nothing of giving themselves a nickname. I know, nicknames are earned very much like respect. So what? Besides, this is the Internet. I reserve the right to repackage myself.

3. I report to work in flip-flops and walking shorts.

4. Because I "manage" a small computer store.

5. And I resent it when customers walk in and interrupt my siesta - I stay up till the wee hours in the morning "educating" myself in the Internet. Give me a break.

6. I resent it that these are bad times for the economy every where you turn; I bristle when anybody calls me tatay (father); and I positively agonize and die a thousand times every time the broadband connection in our town conks out. That too me is a catastrophe.

7. Some readers think I write well in English. A little history: in high school I was chosen as editor. For the campus paper in Filipino. Go figure.

8. I am still dreaming of having my own domain and moving to Wordpress and having a different webhost. I'm still saving. But the waiting can be shortened if I win this contest. Up for grabs are free domain, $25.00 and Wordpress goodies! Go check this out and help me figure out the puzzle. If you think you need it more than I do, then feel free to go it alone, langya ka. (You rascal). Nyahaha.

9. Bingkee. What do I think of Bingkee? Am I scared of Bingkee? Will I be in denial if I say I love her? Or will it be more truthful if I say I love-hate Bingkee? No, to all of these. She's a friend - a forthright, open, caring online friend.

10. There is no number ten. But you can ask in the comment section anything. I will do my best to answer it.

When Kinky Love Trumps Blog Award

This author does not accept blog awards anymore.

Let me split a few hairs, if you will. I'd say my thanks if you persist, but I will not write about it to pass it on. And this post is written not because I'm swamped with awards. I have two already and I think it's enough.

My dear reader, I understand your problem. You have just been awarded a blog award, a variation thereof, from a fellow blog author. And because the tacit understanding with this blog award is to pass it on, you've just met one roadblock. You're one slot short of the five or six awardees. May be even two. It's not a problem if you are easy to please and finds everybody a genius. What if you have discriminating taste? What if you consider nearly everyone a dolt? See the problem on your hands?

Will you lower your standard? Perhaps you remember me doing some neat cartwheels in the comment section of your blog. Will you now set me as your evidence of your new found love for humanity? A nice way to reward Jan for his efforts?

Stop.

Merit or Game of Politics?

It will put me in the spot. I have just awarded 6 blog authors. Another pay-it-forward blog award will leave me nuts. In order to come up with a list of 6 awardees in my own blog award, I left out a good number of people in my network. Will my third award - if it comes - be able to smooth the ruffled feathers of those who felt slighted when they failed to make the cut? I don't think so.

This tends to degenerate into a game of politics. We get to nominate people on the strength of personal ties to us, with a minimum of merit thrown in maybe as an afterthought. Maybe if we give 50 % of the awards to people who are not in our network, but equally deserving of our recognition. Maybe then.

Link Love Failure

Of course I understand the value of awards as link love. But 5 to 7 awards for one recognition? A tie is rare in award ceremonies. If one's intention is to spread the link love, guess what will happen if you award a blog author who's not into a personal or free-wheeling site? Yes, the author will remain faithful to his niche. You'd get a sincere thank you. But there will be no write up of the award. Your link love is defeated. Boo hoo. Which is just as well because the recipient is well within his rights to do so.

This is not to belittle the two awards I have been given. I treasure them because they're my first awards and very special. It's my first tell-tale signs that I have not been stabbing at the dark anymore. The voices I hear are no longer the voices I usually hear in my head but actual voices - a remarkable progress indeed. Thanks Mye and Bingkee.

But the next one when it comes is not cute or endearing anymore. Trust me.

Alternative

A better tack is to make a link to another blog within the context of a post. Because the other author deepens the discussion and adds value to the conversation. Or maybe even because the linked author takes the contrary view, and offering this link gives your reader a comprehensive grasp of the discussion. Is it not then the more natural and effective way of giving recognition?

I keep my favorite blogs on my reader. That's not enough for me because I still drop by to comment on their blogs. I email them when I feel that commenting is not enough. I add them on my Technorati favorites. And if I wake up on the right side of the bed - hey, I even thumb them up in Stumbleupon. And there are even no strings attached to it. Because I do it on my own. That's my vote of confidence. That's my award to you. And that's my kinky way of spreading the love.