The Very Inspiring Blogger Award

After having an extended period of not getting into trouble, I fell from grace emphatically yesterday.

I was going write about it and tell this story of how my inner monologue failed me once again and caused me to inadvertently insult a girl of a larger build who works in my building.

I was in the canteen getting myself a Redbull. She was in front of me and was offered some cake by a colleague of hers but she declined. I was idly texting on phone and mused (aloud) that she was probably declining because she had had “enough already today”. Needless to say, she was not best pleased. Her friend thought it was funny though.

I now have been bringing in a lunch packed from home in order to avoid the canteen, and therefore, my rotund nemesis.

For some reason, I struggled in getting the words out for this tale so I went in a different direction for this post instead…

  

You see, a few weeks ago I received a comment on the post where I wrote a letter to myself informing me that I had been nominated for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award by Views Splash.  I forgot about it until the other day.

Initially I scratched my head at the nomination. Is my blog inspiring? It is very inspiring? How would stories about me being socially inept and/or embarrassing myself be a cause to inspire anyone?

I have never been referred to as ‘inspiring’ before and cannot recall an instance where I was called an inspiration (well…without the comment dripping with so much sarcasm I needed to put on waterproofs!) so I was genuinely baffled. Unless he meant that my blog inspires people how not to live their lives.

I realised that maybe I was reading into this a little too much and it was simply a tip of the cap from a fellow blogger who wanted to acknowledge my blog and try to spread the word to anyone who reads his blog. That’s how these awards usually work anyways.

Therefore, I wanted to say a big thank you to Views Splash for his nomination. I am truly grateful. You’ll be happy to know that I read your blog most days mate. Those links of Dilbert cartoon strips that pop up in my reader never fail to make me smile. When you guys have a moment you should all check it out too.

Anyways, let get down to business…

  

The Very Inspiring Blogger Award

The rules are simple for the Award are painfully simple:

1.) Display the award logo.

2.) Link back to the person who gave you this award nomination.

3.) State seven pieces of information about yourself.

4.) Nominate 15 fellow bloggers, post links to their page and drop them a comment to let them know.

As 1 & 2 have already been taken care of, I can get on with the business of sharing some information with you all and nominate some deserving blogs. I will try to avoid using the usual information that people share in these things. I will also let you know how each blogger that I have nominated inspires me.

 

7 pieces of information:

1) My name is Jay. Just Jay; not Jason, James, Joe or Jamie. Jay is not short for anything at all. I can show you my I.D. to prove this if you like. This is a conversation that I have roughly 4 times a week.

2) None of my friends or family know about this blog.

3) At school I had a huge crush on a girl called Emma Kerr but I did not have the nerve to talk to her. By the time we got to college I had worked up the courage to engage her and we actually got on well. One May afternoon we were out on the football field engaging in a spot of heavy handed flirting/playfighting. Somehow this got out of hand and I (accidentally, I must stress) broke her arm. We have not spoken since.

4) As a kid there was some graffiti outside a supermarket by my mum’s house. It read “Jay is Gay”. My mum told me that she had written it…about me. To this day she still won’t admit that it wasn’t (a) written by her & (b) written about me. This was also how I learned what the word gay meant.

5) I am ambidextrous. This helps me greatly when playing sport.  It doesn’t serve many other purposes really.

6) Somehow, I am the guy in our circle of friends who the others come to with their secrets.  I hate this. Currently I am harbouring news about a friend having an affair, someone about to dump his girlfriend, a pregnancy, gambling debts and a impending redundancy. I am buckling under the weight of this and constantly worry that I will, accidentally, let something slip out.

7) I got a friend request on Facebook yesterday from a girl called Laura Anderson. She was my girlfriend from the ages of 8-10 until she moved away that summer, never to be seen again. I thought back on my time with Laura and suddenly realised that she and I never officially broke up. This means that technically we have been together for well over 15 years now and I have definitely cheated on her…quite a few times! Am I a bad person? I should really break up with her.

 

Fellow Deserving Bloggers:

Happy Cancer Girl  – A genuinely inspiring blog about a woman who has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is blogging about her experiences. Whilst I seldom comment on the blog I do read every post she writes. She motivates me to make the most of life as you never know what is around the corner. She also post music videos, normally they are good ones too!

Awkwardcharm – My sister in awkwardness inspires me to be myself. It’s reassuring to know that there are other people like me out there. Because of her I now more eager to embrace my awkward ways!

Currentlynaive – She inspires me to be more honest. Natalie writes about her life, her OCD and her family very openly. I wish I had that courage. She also writes poetry at frequentneed. I wish I was creative enough to write poetry. I once tried to but after realising I had rhymed the word ‘defenders’ with the word ‘defenders’ I knew that poetry was not my forte.

Guyliner – This guy is one extremely talented writer who I am very much in awe of. I also imagine he is very much above accepting awards such as this. None-the-less he inspires me to constantly improve my work in the hope that one day, when I grow up, I will be half as talented as he is. You all should read his blog.

SunnyDaysinDC – This girl is beyond funny and I am sure she inspires me somehow….I can think of how at this very moment but she does…probably. However, I am mostly including her as I know this will piss her off greatly! What was it you called it? Blog Herpes? Well consider yourself infected again!

A Dad’s Guide to Growing a Nerd – He inspires me to the belief that one day, eventually, I will grow up and will finally be able to figure life (and the world all around me as a whole) all out.

Parlez-vous moo? – Inspires me to be more creative. Her posts on ‘people watching’ are up there with some of the best stuff I have ever read on WordPress. Write more please Nutty Cow!

Hermitage No8 – She inspires me with her advice. Her comments on my blog posts are always wise. I imagine she is like a female Yoda…with a better grasp of syntax of course!

Sociopathicuttlefish – This guy has opinions…on a lot of subjects. Whereas I am more of an apathetic guy who shrugs his shoulders at most news stories. This blog inspires me to think about subjects and topics that I normally would not. I try to chip in on his posts in the hope that he thinks that I am smart.

Stressing Out College – She is very, very clever and it translates through her blog. Reading her blog inspires me to be smarter in my posts (i.e. use terms like ‘stuff’ and ‘things’ less).

Thesecretawkwardlife – An honest and funny account of a 20 something girl who is trying to make sense of the world around her. Reading her blog inspires me to try and be a little more open in regards to how I live my life.

Diary of a Plain, Awkward Girl – In my head I have come to view her as a little sister of sorts (although I think we are similar in age). I attribute this to her talent as a writer.  If I was smarter, I would be able to fathom up a reason why she inspires me but I am drawing a blank. Her blog is awesome though.

Reasons Why i’m Still Single – This blog is too funny not to get a mention. His blog actually inspired me to watch Scooby Doo the other day. This is never a bad thing.

Socially Oxward – Another blog where I am not entirely sure how I am ‘inspired’ by it. What I will say is that I thoroughly enjoy this blog, it always makes me laugh. At times I swear these two are in my head…or at least some sort of female alter-ego of mine. I imagine that receiving this award will make their day!

 

*On a side note. I feel that I am currently neglecting my blog a tad at the moment. The sole reason for this is that nothing of interest or note has really happened as of late. I doubt that this will last!*