i won a major award!

Okay, no I didn’t.

But I was conferred the distinction of a Versatile Blogger Award from Heidi Mordhorst over at my juicy little universe. Having already made one cultural reference in the title of this post (from the movie version of A Christmas Story) I think it only appropriate (and versatile) to make an Eeyore-related point of saying “Thanks for noticing me.”

And with the award comes some major responsibilities. Okay, so some call them rules, but I like the idea that award winners have a certain set of “responsibilities and duties herein.” You know, like a Miss America.

• Thank the person who bestowed the award on you
• List seven random facts about yourself
• Spread the love by passing along the award to five other bloggers – and let them know

This last part should be easy as I am trying to be more comment active among the various bloggers I follow in keeping with a blog comment challenge posted by Mother Reader. But lets take care of business first, shall we?

First, a heartfelt thank you to Heidi who is most talented in both teaching children and writing poems. Despite her protestations that she barely manages two posts a week, when she does post they are far more fulfilling that a lot of places I’ve been to that confuse quantity with quality. If you don’t already make weekly pilgrimages to Heidi’s site via Poetry Fridays, why not go now and bookmark her for future visits.

Now, seven random facts. Boy, this takes me back to all those random facebook memes I used to get sucked into. Back when I was on facebook. You know, back in the first decade of the 21st century.

• If I eat anything with garlic in it I crave chocolate like mad.
• And while I’m on the subject of food, I find cooking meditative, and I like to blend ingredients according to what color combinations I think work best.
• I used to troll thrift stores for photo albums, and when I was a teacher I had a collection of the notes kids used to write in class and left behind. I called these my memory orphans.
• I love drinking ice-cold beverages in the winter, provided I’m inside and it’s warm.
• For a brief period of time in high school I thought I wanted to be a photojournalist but I was afraid to travel. I was nearly 40 before I got over that travel fear.
• I was a radio DJ for the better part of the 1990s. Man, that was fun.
• Amsterdam is my favorite city to visit, with New Orleans a close second. If I were an international jet-set writer the dust jacket bio would say “…and he divides his time between his homes in Amsterdam and New Orleans where he collects photo albums from thrift stores and occasional DJs local radio stations.”

That was fairly random, no?

Right, now on to the “pay it forward” portion of the program. These would be the bloggers who I visit practically daily (stalk might be a more appropriate word, since I don’t comment as often as I should) that are truly worthy.

poet Laura Salas
the aforementioned Mother Reader
Jules over at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Laurel Snyder
and Colleen Mondor over at Chasing Ray

And that should cover it! Once again, a hearty thanks to Heidi for the initial award, and a congratulations to the latest round of recipients!

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