First of all, an apology to Peggy, who granted me this award. I wasn’t very gracious when accepting the gift, because I didn’t think I deserved an award of any kind. Let me say now what I could have said then, had my discomfiture been less: Thank you, Peggy, for this award. Your kindness is greatly appreciated. I am humbled by your thoughtfulness to the point that I don’t know what else to say.
As I said to Peggy in the comments to her award-giving post, I’m not good at following the rules, and this award comes with rules, which I’ll list at the end of this essay. Rule three states the recipient must choose at least ”seven (7) blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.”
I thought about that, and about the name of the award, “Honest Scrap,” which, if read aloud rapidly, sounds like Honest Crap. (Sort of like fellow New Orleanian Pete Fountain’s jazz group that used to march in Mardi Gras parades, called the Half-Fast Marching Band. Say the name three times, as fast as you can. See how the words blur and slur together?) This award is intended for bloggers who write honestly, then.
Hmmm…honest is not always pretty or funny or even comfortable. That opens the field from which to choose.
I’ve chosen bloggers whose work keeps me returning to see what’s next.
And the Honest Scrap award goes to:
Field
Golden Girl
June
Maria
Mary
TAP
Zhoen
I add Peggy onto the list, too. There is no rule that tells me I cannot, so I’m doing it.
There is an element of Truth or Dare game-playing with this award, in that the recipient is supposed to tell ten things about themselves, presumably that other bloggers don't already know. (Look, peoples, I'm not even this honest with myself, so I'm going to have a hard time coming up with 10 things I feel good about posting!)
- I am the firstborn of my father's second family, the first of my mother's pregnancies to make it to full term. (No parental expectation pressures there, eh?!) We don't know for sure just how many children Daddy sired; he loved the ladies and they loved him in return...a lot!
- Isaac Asimov and I used to belong to the same organization.
- One of President Lyndon Johnson's Secret Service men stepped (HARD!) on my foot in New Orleans as the Prez was leaving the building after a speech. Guess I got a little too close.
- I've lived in 12 states in my lifetime (averaging 5 years per state, though I didn't spend that much time in every one of them.)
- One ear sits lower and farther back on my head than the other one.
- I am terribly uncomfortable about digging any deeper than I am doing so far for this part of the award. (You guessed that already, though, didn't you?)
- I am intelligent. (Well, I don't know that that aspect of my personality comes across so clearly, okay, so I thought I might have to spell it out, okay? Lots of people don't see it in me, you know, because they can't get past my blinding beauty - how's that for crap?)
- I've been taking care of other people since I was four-and-a-half years old, and I don't want to do it anymore! (Crikey, where did that come from? No self-editing on this one, BB: I'll let it stand.)
- (Only two more to go, thank ya, Jayzus!) I can (do) curse (sometimes...too often, really...in my sleep...uh, don't tell my mother, all right [whole shi*load of expletives deleted]) like the proverbial sailor upon rare occasions, should the situation warrant it.
- I've never hated any one, but I have wanted to maim, torture, mutilate and leave-for-dead a great many of the people I have encountered in my lifetime. (And you know who your are, you [insert my favorite curse], so keep looking behind you. That screaming banshee from hell you hear in your nightmares is me, comin' to get ya!)
I’m listing the rules, but I do not expect anyone to follow them, or follow them precisely, or even acknowledge they have received an award.
These are the rules:
- You must brag about the award
- You must include the name of the blogger who bestowed the award on you and link back to the blogger
- You must choose a minimum of seven (7) blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.
- Show their names and links and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with Honest Weblog.
- List at least ten (10) honest things about yourself.
Then pass it on with the instructions!
...
Remember, Awardees, you do not have to participate in this award-giving venture, and I apologize in advance if I have annoyed you.
(c) 2009 Martha McLemore
Afterthought: I'm afraid I left out some writers whose blogs I follow and who are as honest in their writing as any, and more deserving than I am. Know this: I wouldn't follow you if you were dishonest in your writing.
18 comments:
Once I gave this award to you and heard the low grumble, I called out..Rules are meant to be broken. These rules are full of thou shalt disguised as you must--I think it's a cultural thing since it comes to me from and 18 year old girl who lives in Uganda and reads my poetry. This amazes me. She comes back again and again to the poetry site which does have a few slim poems written mostly a long time ago. To please her I have tried to writer another but poetry come on my like a fit of sneezing or a small seizure. I can't make it happen.
This is very nicely done Crow, I now know we are more alike that ever. I of the very foul mouth, and sadly I have known some men I have HATED! If they leave me alone, my hatred grows less intense, but pity the man I hate who decides it's time to try again. Then the barrage of very foul language spews forth to make it clear that I will never again like them even a tiny bit.
You're a very good sport. Thank you.
Utah:
I've read your poems, and wondered why there weren't more. However, politics seem to be your first love, and the two might not allow for the existence of the other in the same mind.
Two things: I wasn't annoyed with receiving the award; just didn't think I deserved it. Second, I am not beautiful, I am plain. I wrote that part with tongue in cheek because it seemed self-aggrandizing to call myself intelligent, so I tried to deflect attention from that by trying to be funny. You, on the other hand, you sexpot, you...
Dear CROW
You certainly haven't annoyed me - giving me an honest blogger award. I couldn't think of a better one, so far as I'm concerned. Big on honesty!
However, I will keep with my decision not to take part in awards as I really want to use the time I have for other things, including my fiction writing.
Thanks Crow - I really am touched.
Hello, June:
Your comment came through just fine; no problems on this end.
I understand and respect your decision regarding awards.
:)
Martha
this is quite wonderful.... and well deserved!! I liked the top ten... it is a nice exercise in disclosure and storytelling...thanks!
Ah. Many thanks. And right back at you.
You know, Harlequin, every writer's blog I follow, whether they write fiction, political or social commentary, poetry or prose, deserves an award for honest writing, and that includes - especially - you. I follow only those writers who come across honestly, especially about difficult subjects.
Thank you for visiting today.
I love what you did with this. And thank you. Unvarnished can be very freeing and very scary, can't it be?
The awards always present interesting challenges and you've met this one in a brave and entertaining way.
1. Your dad sound to have been entertaining in a way other men particularly admire.
2. Did you and Isaac both win Hugo and Nebula awards?
3. There's reason the SS and Secret Service share initials.
4. There's nothing like travel to develop a sense of perspective.
5. Some of us have good reasons for keeping our ears covered.
6. We all censor ourselves, including to ourselves.
7. Intelligent, literate people are drawn to blogging. Too much of our work lives can be spent in dreary company.
8. Having given up even house plants for a period, I can relate. Still, you too are a natural nurturer so you may as well get used to it.
9. Cursing is its own reward and sometimes the only sane reaction.
10. I think I've met a few of the same people or their relatives.
Honestly? I chuckled all the way through your list. ;-)
I'll do the ten things about myself as that strikes me as an interesting a challenge.
However, I'll baulk at the bragging and the linking and the rest.
This particular contrary quality will probably feature as one of the ten.
(I wasn't very gracious to you, either. Sorry.)
Maria: My pleasure, a small token of appreciation for the enjoyment your blog gives to me.
Lisa: yes, it can be.
Susan: Isaac and I were members of Mensa, at one time. We both left for pretty much the same reasons, too, he long before I did. I have three postcards from him that I treasure, mementos of brief correspondence with him scattered over several years.
Michelle: Oh, good. So often when I try to be funny I fall on my face.
:)
AWB: I'm looking forward to reading your list!
Zhoen: I don't know about you, but I am uncomfortable with receiving compliments, because my self-esteem is usually in the pits.
I wasn't offended by what you said, because I understand what you were saying. I was more concerned that my attention (the award) had made you feel uncomfortable, which I did not want to do.
We're cool. As my grandson likes to say (but is so-o-o embarrassed if I say it): It's good. It's all good, dog.
:D
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