So Much for Sunday: Awards

May 25, 2014May 25, 201410 Comments

because you know you really want a slice

Sunday seems like an appropriate day to be particularly thankful for all that is good in the world and so, with that in mind, Across the Bored would first like to send out a very large chocolate-covered Thank You to all who have stuck by us for the longest time through thick and thin, bounty and drought, to all who have followed along, passed by, commented, liked and laughed or just browsed. It is also an opportunity to thank those bloggers who have forwarded awards and to whom (insert profuse apologies here) we have been procrastinating in responding more quickly to…

Boundaries and Edges is sci-fi and experimental fiction author Theresa Barker’s blog: her statement “pushing the boundaries of writing and running along the edges of imagination” extends far beyond to all those who choose to express their creativity in forms that reach out and touch others. Read a great twist on Lost and Found in her Freshly Pressed post. Many thanks go out to Theresa as she was kind enough to forward the Blog of the Year 2013 award which has a few straight-forward rules which may be found by following the link. We hope there will be one for 2014 and would like to pass this one along to Life portoFolio who treats life, love and getting by in Greece with her own particular brand of humour. Have a peek at her Mad Cowz while there!

A big thank you goes to A Day in the Life who has sent along a Most Influential Blogger award – she blogs about “People, Places, Nature, Life!” and participates in many challenges and prompts. Wings and a superhero crest? Yahoo! Across the Bored’s own suit is presently at the dry cleaner’s getting a badly needed refreshing but we do love to virtually win friends and influence people so this one goes straight to the sidebar.

Conditions For Accepting The Award

To accept this award, the awardee must do the following:

Display the Award on your Blog.
Announce your win with a blog post and thank the Blogger who awarded you. Do not lump this award with any other award in a “basket”, “bouquet” or “collection” etc, I would rather you didn’t accept the award.
Present 10 deserving Bloggers with the Award.
Link your awardees in the post and let them know of their being awarded with a comment (or a pingback).
Include an embedded video of your current favourite song (YouTube has virtually everything, just copy and paste the link into your WordPress editor). If a video is not possible you can embed a SoundCloud track.

And the Award goes to:

2812 photography

A is for

Abandoned Kansai

Aperture64 Photography

Backseat Mafia

Cee’s Photography

Gracie Binoya Photography

Hello, Fig

Leya

My Cyber House Rules

Check them all out – each one is influential in their own right, has a distinctive point of view and offers us a unique perspective on how their world looks!

The last dregs of winter are slowly fading away (but it’s almost June, you say!) and the cosmos is conspiring to make us all smile with the prospect of summer. As is usually the case, we stumble upon things that resurrect and sustain us: amazing photographs, a kind word or comment that makes us laugh out loud, a memory long-forgotten, love in its many guises and the possibility of just being. The Wild Smiles know all about it and have captured it in an infectious tune that gets it just right. Go get ’em boys…

Awards on a Grey day

February 7, 201419 Comments

Spring can’t seem to come fast enough in this neck of the woods but our day was brightened considerably when fellow blogger Cee at Cee’s Photography nominated us for the 2 awards below. She is a prolific photographer and hosts many wonderful challenges that include a little bit of something for everyone. Have a look at her absolutely stunning botanical photos; the colours and detail are incredible. Thank you so much Cee for all your support!

And now, down to business…

Inner Peace Award

Rules

Display the logo on a post.
Thank the person who nominated you and link to his/her site.
State seven things about you.
Nominate fourteen other bloggers & inform them via a comment on their blog.

7 (more) Things you wouldn’t know about us until now:

Am convinced that how-to manuals are written by people who have never seen the product
Am horrified at the unexpected development of bingo wings. Not funny, summer’s coming…
Feel sure that the dog just thinks I am a larger dog with opposable thumbs and a communication problem
Have taught the Ghost and Miss Z how to forage: seems to be working, no one has starved yet…
Have way too many shades of nail polish most of which winds up on toes as a decent manicure is impossible to maintain
Am still trying to become a minimalist. Don’t laugh…
Have still not formulated a decent answer for “What do you do?”

This is the part we always get stuck on: sorry, but 7 is one of our favourite numbers so that is how many
We Nominate:

A New Day
Scrapydo
Beyond the Brush
The Serenity Space
Zeebra Designs & Destinations
rfljenksy – Practicing Simplicity
This is not Bangkok

The Lighthouse Award

Rules

the-lighthouse-award

Display the Award certificate on your blog.
Write a post and link back to the blogger that nominated you.
Inform your nominees of their award nominations
Share three ways that you like to help other people.
There is no limit to the number of people that you can nominate.
HAVE FUN!!!

3 ways we like to help:

We are huge believers in Reduce, Recycle and Reuse and, as many of you are aware from previous posts, we have been blessed with an abundance of MUCH. So much, in fact, that we periodically do triage and pass along what can be spared to our local community resource centre for their “boutique”. Items not given away to young families in need are offered at rock-bottom prices or sold at their bi-annual garage sale to raise funds for the in-house education programmes. We love this domino effect!
When the Ghost and Miss Z were in school we volunteered our talents without reservation, now we use our blog to (hopefully) inspire a whole new audience!
By listening carefully, biting our tongue, swallowing our words and taking a deep breath…. Sometimes you have to.

We nominate:

Ohm Sweet Ohm – Allan always finds an illuminating perspective to offer, whether an observation, helpful tip, interesting clip, memoir or letting us accompany him to places we could never go through his photography of the Golden Gate Bridge, he truly does “bring light to a dark world”.

As with all things, it is the thought that counts… We wish there were more hours in the day to visit so a very many, many heartfelt thanks to all those who have followed, read, liked, commented, cajoled, inspired and encouraged since we began this endeavour – this one’s for you…

Fantabulous Four!

December 11, 201321 Comments

What a few weeks it has been! So many best-laid plans made with good intentions have been only somewhat accomplished but as the tendency to over-extend ourselves and to THINK BIG at this time of year seems to be the norm, one would think we would know better by now… Seems like a good time to put aside the holiday scurrying around and thank all the wonderful bloggers who have sent us some early Christmas treats!

Our favourite big dog with a blog, Clowie, over at Clowie’s Corner has sent along the Fantabulous Award. This one is truly fantabulous in every way because, according to the originator, there are “no-strings-attached” and can be “bestowed upon others as (we) see fit” – and it does seem to sum up the mood of the season in that here it really is the thought that counts! Do go and have a look at Clowie’s blog if you love all things humorous and canine, there are some doggy words of wisdom us bipeds would be wise to heed and a few felines thrown in for good measure… This little gem of an award is being passed along to Spumoni Caddo who is always there with a good word or piece of wise advice for those who need it and who certainly has her hands more than full enough without having to deal with the rigours of an award with a lot of rules!

Tom, who writes the tech-oriented blog TechnoTom filled with tips and reviews, has come up with a new award which he was nice enough to send our way:

The rules of this award are simple:
– When you receive the award, publish a post mentioning the award and thank the blogger that sent it along (linking back to their blog);
– Read their post on the award (don’t forget to give them a like!);
– Mention the rules above and below:
– Answer why you think you’ve been given the award
– Nominate 10 other bloggers you find interesting (linking to their blog) and leave a comment on their blog (leaving a link to the post you’ve just published)
– Post the “Read-On Blogging Award” image on your blog sidebar!

We are all for an award that has its roots in literacy, not only going forward but also going back – the beauty of our blogs (and reading in general) is that we can pick it up at any point in time and see what has gone before, re-read our favourites, pick and choose what strikes our fancy and thrill to the next post or page. We’d like to think that Across the Bored inspires everyone to “read-on”! Those who have followed us for awhile will know how hard it is for us to do 1 of anything let alone 10 so we are going to fudge (hey, it’s the holiday season and the elves are on strike in our neighbourhood) and nominate 5 blogs. These five have two things in common, they have followed us from the beginning and their authors make a special effort to craft posts that are word-oriented whether the emphasis is on a technical aspect, family, work, love or just the humorous side of life.

Island Traveler
Aperture 64
Naomikko
NMNPHX
The Bright Old Oak

Another thank-you goes out to Ann, at afriendofJESUS2013Blog, who has nominated us for a Blog of The Year Award 2013! She writes on all manner of topics religious and has visitors from over 111 countries reading her inspirational quotations. This award lets you collect stars and even if you or your nominee has already been given the award by someone else – you can still bestow it on them again and help them to reach the maximum 6 stars!

This is a particularly nice touch and seeing that we were never very good with stars even at the most elementary level, we are going to help Ann with her collection. If anyone out there knows blogs that are collecting stars for this award, please leave a link in the comment box below and we will go and have a look. The instructions for this award are simple and the full set of rules are available at The Thought Palette where the award originated.

Imagine our surprise when we got a notification through our fledgling Twitter account that Destino had nominated us for the Versatile Blogger Award. Her blog combines observations on daily life with photography – how can you not want to visit someone who “laugh(s) really loud” and likes “change. And coffee”!

The rules for this award are:
– Display the Award Certificate on your blog
– Write a post and link back to the blogger who nominated you
– Nominate 15 other bloggers and inform them of their nomination via comment on their blog
– Post 7 interesting things about yourself

Here we go:
– I have taught the dog how to eat politely off a fork (but never at the table)
– I am equally wary of both the dentist and the hairdresser for both have my head in their hands
– I have enough needlepoint wool to open a store (it’s a long story – if you are interested, leave me a comment)
– I would gladly wear a white t-shirt and jeans daily BUT
– don’t ask me to give up stylish shoes
– I still dance around the living room when no one is home
– I have Christmas tree OCD, meaning that there is only my way to trim it so just sit back and watch, thank you…

Remember those elves from earlier on, well they are still working to rule so the 5 nominees are:

The Bookshelf Gargoyle
Hope* the happy hugger
West Seventh Freelance
Animalcouriers
Vastly Curious

Well, it looks as though we have a nice start to the season where the unexpected brings a smile and reminds us that the best gifts don’t always come in boxes.

May your days be merry and bright…

Two Cents Tuesday Challenge: Writing – Week 2

November 26, 2013November 25, 201315 Comments

just pondering… not forgotten!

There aren’t enough hours in the day for Across the Bored to get even half the things we desire accomplished – and don’t even think of asking to cut back on the necessary luxury of a seven-hour beauty rest – for there are always those little ideas that need more thought, the bits and pieces that need fixing or filing, scrubbing or tossing, editing or revising. This stuff of life gets in the way of reading all those unopened novels, penning that prize-winning book and getting in shape – activities that ensure we don’t wind up as curmudgeonly as our DNA would like to have it. Would we had those extra minutes to scribe a few eloquent lines on the marvellous things we see on others’ pages and answer all their comments with more than just a “thanks!” – so interacting with and especially thanking all those who follow and visit our little space in virtual reality comes in measured, but precious, doses.

We don’t know how some of you do it – we can barely keep our head above the bloggy waters let alone swim back to all the visitor’s corners of the world, as much as we long to. This fortnight’s Two Cents Tuesday Challenge theme – Writing – gives us that chance to reach out and today’s post is dedicated to Fill the Empty Spaces. Ideafill has a lovely clean blog filled with little gems of music and art, bits and pieces of pretty things and neat stuff we would gladly trade our clutter for. She has nominated Across the Bored for a Versatile Blogger Award for which we are most delighted!

Here are the basic rules for this award:
1. Display the badge on your blog
2. Write a post and link back to the blogger who nominated you
3. Nominate 15 bloggers (not going to happen, sorry – I’ll spring for 6) and inform them of the nomination via comment in their site
4. State 7 interesting things about yourself

The nominees that inspire us, make us smile and think are:

Abandoned Kansai
Diplomatic Dog
Hello Fig
Life: A Scot in Norway
Nylon Daze
Paris: People, Places and Bling!

7 interesting things about Across the Bored, not necessarily in any sort of order…

I would like to learn how to ride a motorcycle;
Have lost those 40 extra baby pounds gained 18 years ago in the last 9 months;
Can now fit into Miss Z’s cast-off jeans – whoopee!
Dyed my hair red just like in 1976, probably to my mother’s chagrin;
Need to learn how to travel lighter, both metaphorically and actually;
Enjoy speed-editing iphoneography;
With that said, and as much as I hate to admit it, cannot live without my iPhone…

Why not send us something interesting in return? To come full circle, last week Across the Bored put forward – “What form does writing take for you?” – Feather and quill, a typewriter still, texts and tweets, parking tickets in the street, a child’s first scrawl or graffiti on the wall … We would love to see your vision.

For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.

Everything is Peachy

September 16, 20132 Comments

Across the Bored was diagnosed as myopic quite early in life – not because we were unable or unwilling to act prudently or exhibited that nasty trait of lacking tolerance and understanding but rather in the opthalmological sense – we were a small, curious child with the distinct inability to see distant objects clearly. Anyone who wore glasses in school in the 1960s clearly remembers the agony of choosing one of four available frame shapes in either black or brown and the horror of knowing the coke bottle lenses placed therein would bring taunts, cruel rhymes or worse. Like most things, we suffered through it and to this day are still plagued by less than perfect vision.

Some recommend laser surgery which seems like a fate worse than death due to the underlying fear of having needles and sharp scalpels placed anywhere in the vicinity of our eyes. So we stick to a regular prescription for just being able to get about, reading glasses for computer work and contact lens for vanity’s sake. All those people you notice taking their glasses off in the grocery store to read the fine print on the label? We are now one of them…

An odd realization struck recently, that being nearsighted had coloured the way we view the world – that we tend to see the beauty of things up close, focusing on the small details and often breaking down the larger picture into components that stand alone on their own merit. Across the Bored has written previously of the multitude of photographers and artists to be found on EyeEm – a fast scroll through our own gallery proved that indeed there were quite a few close-ups of our favourite subjects, including the one below.

Photo notes: iPhone 5 native camera, snapseed, camera awesome, glazed, and distressed fx

It was selected to appear in NEM Painterly – Featured Art 6 curated by MaryJane Sarvis – NEM, the New ERA Museum, “takes shape mainly to spread the concept of pristine Art, affordable and available to everyone by potentially forging new artists to new techniques of digital mobile processing.” What a thrill to be included among this group of talented and groundbreaking photographers.

If you would like to see more in our gallery, click on the EyEm icon in the sidebar. The bounty of autumn’s harvest only begins…

Just what the Doctor ordered

June 8, 2013June 8, 201311 Comments

how can one forget something this sweet?

Across the Bored tends to get easily waylaid – doggy daily constitutionals, Miss Z’s litany of wardrobe woes, the Ghost’s ongoing forays into the depths of academia and the editorial reviews they engender, the supposed approach of spring/summer and the garden that is not (yet), laundry, laundry, the lure of the iPhone, never mind work – the basic stuff of life – so inevitably we sometimes lose bits. Luckily, there are outside prompts to remind us of those things that we meant to get to but didn’t and so now we are.

Heyjude from Travel Words was kind enough to pass along the Super Sweet Blogging award to us ( a fave ‘cuz it has cupcakes)! She has a lovely blog filled with tons of lush pictures from her travels, tidbits of history, neighbourhood trivia and fun facts about places that we might not get to otherwise – well worth settling yourself in for a little armchair afternoon’s journey.

As with most, if not all, awards there are some Rules…

The Rules for accepting your nomination:

Thank the Super Sweet Blogger who awarded
Answer five Super Sweet questions.
Include the Super Sweet Blogging Award image in your blog post.
Nominate a baker’s dozen (13) other bloggers, or half a baker’s dozen (7) if 13 seems like a lot.
Notify your nominees on their blog.

The Five Super Sweet Questions:

Cookies or Cake?
Chocolate or Vanilla?
Favourite Sweet Treat?
When do you crave sweet things the most?
Sweet nickname?

How about a torte…
Is there anything else besides Chocolate?
LaDurée Macarons
4 pm melt-down or after dinner
The ones I have for family members are more savoury!

Now for the nominees – half a baker’s dozen because we are on a diet!

Gracie Binoya Photography
Talker Huge
A is for Amuseless
3rdculturechildren
PragueByKaty
PhotographyArtPlus
VisualRiver’s Blog

Pass by and have a look, there’s something for everyone! Thank you once again to Heyjude for taking time out of her travels to pop by – we appreciate it.

A bouquet of Awards

May 7, 201316 Comments

Scrapydo and her adorable dog Trompie sent us a lovely bouquet of 3 Awards! What a lovely Spring surprise to brighten our day and remind us how thankful (and honoured) we should be that yes, we have made a connection with other bloggers who read, benefit in some small way, hopefully laugh and even shake their heads in disbelief at our posts, pictures and postulations! So here they are, in no particular order….

The Versatile Blogger Award Rules:

Thank the person who gave you this award – of course!
Include a link to their blog – done!
Select and nominate for the Versatile Blogger Award 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly – see below
Finally, tell the person who nominated you (and the rest of the world) 7 things about yourself – this is always challenging…

Next up, one we are unfamiliar with:

Awarding the people who live in the moment
The noble who write and capture the best in life
The bold who reminded us what really mattered
Savoring the experience of quality time

A lovely thought to carry forward and The Best Moment Award Rules are quite simple:

Re-post the badge and acknowledgement completely with an acceptance speech (either a video or written post) – done!
Pass the award on to 15 other bloggers worthy of the award – these will be the same 15 as the VBA
Notify them of the great news -the wonders of the link never cease to amaze…

And last but not least: sunshine-blog-award

The Sunshine Award Rules:

Include the award logo in your post or on your blog – of course!
Answer 10 questions about yourself (use the ones below or make up your own) – we will fudge this one a bit
Nominate 10 other wonderful bloggers – same as above
Let the other nominees know they are nominated and include links to their blog – done!
Link the person who nominated you – Scrapydo

As these awards were received as a bouquet it seems appropriate that the rules get bundled into a neat little package as well. Below are 7 fun facts about us, 12 questions answered and 15 blogs Across the Bored is nominating for this wonderful trio:

7 things very few people know about Across the Bored:

We have shredded enough old, unneeded tax receipts in the last week to fill 6 garbage bags and are still not finished
We had a Learner’s Driving Permit for 17 years, don’t ask….
Members of the family think it is hilarious to challenge our organizational skills on a daily basis… not funny
Given the choice between buying new pants or new shoes, footwear wins every time
We can remember where and when 99% of the things we own were acquired, people’s names not so much…
We still make the Ghost and Miss Z’s lunch even though they are old enough to do it themselves – this way we know what they are eating and we are up early anyways…
We have been accused of being a hipster though judging from appearances one would never guess it

A mix of 12 questions culled from different Sunshine Award sources:

What is your favourite Colour – Turquoise
What is your favourite Animal – one that doesn’t make a mess in the house or bite
What is your favourite Number – 42
What is your favourite Drink – almost every flavour of David’s Tea hot or cold
What is your favourite Flower – Iris
What is your favourite Day – any day that is a good one
Who is your favourite Philosopher – Harpo Marx
What was your favorite vacation – Maui
What is your favourite physical activity – getting out of bed in the morning rested
What is your Passion – Art
Facebook or Twitter – due to copyright infringement the answer is “no comment”
Giving or getting presents – both!

The bouquet of Awards goes out to:

this man’s journey
Aperture 64
under the skies of arkansas
FrontRangeScribbles
My SweetPaintedDreams
Le Superkikke
mamacormier
the bookshelf gargoyle
West Seventh Freelance
The Day After
MOTION Photography
Richard Sugden Photography
matteringsofmind
Animalcouriers
Vastly Curious

For the many blogs who (understandably) don’t accept accolades although they certainly deserve them, follow, read our posts and leave great comments, we send out an Across the Bored Virtual Award – Thank you everyone!

Surrounded by Sweet

February 13, 2013February 13, 201315 Comments

Candy is Dandy but…

Having unfortunately inherited much of our genetic predispositions from a lineage whose DNA is still awaiting another Ice Age, we watch what we eat. Gum makes our jaws ache, hard sweets and jujubes just put money in our dentist’s Fiji fund, lollipops and candy canes give us a white sugar rush – not to say that we didn’t spend our allowance like every other kid at the penny candy counter but things have changed. Miss Z has made us more than conscious of what we stick in our mouths and so when we want to indulge it is good chocolate and every once in a very long while, a cupcake.

This week the Easter bunnies are edging the red satin hearts off the shelves in an attempt to get their share of the market but we are able to resist temptation as Furrylittlegnome has nominated Across the Bored for the Super Sweet Blogging Award! Who can resist that morsel of delight? An extra slice of something delicious goes out for her Sweet 100th Post – have a look at her blog for a little taste of travel, food and photography with a dash of humour in the mix.

As with most blogging awards, there are a few requirements for accepting:
1. Give credit to the person who has nominated you
2. Answer the 5 “Super Sweet” questions
3. Nominate a “Bakers Dozen” – 13 blogs
4. Grab the badge and indulge!

Across the Bored’s “Super Sweet” answers are…
1. Cookies or cake? It has to be one heck of a cookie and cake is for special occasions
2. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate, definitely – the darker the better
3. What is your favorite sweet treat – cheesecake or frozen yogurt? With an eastern-european mother-in-law we have eaten enough kinds of cheesecake to last 4 lifetimes – TCBY frozen yogurt with all the trimmings wins.
4. When do you crave sweet things the most? In the middle of particularly complex projects – it’s brain food
5. If you had a sweet nickname, what would it be? Our Lady of Perpetual Truffles

Our Nominees for Baker’s Dozen (in no particular order) ready for your sampling:

Belle Grove Plantation Bed and Breakfast
Patriciaddrury
KnowledgeKnut
Wanderer.Wonderer.
Meg Travels
A New Day
Betzabeth
D.mooncrab
FrontRangeScribbles
Caddo Veil
The Serenity Space
brissiemaz
Clowie’s Corner

Now it’s off to find a tasty treat for tomorrow…

February Spotlight Awards – Just what the Doctor ordered

February 6, 2013Leave a comment

Because Roz Chast knows all about it

Across the Bored has been feeling a little under the weather lately due to the fusion of PTXD (post-traumatic Christmas disorder), looming deadlines, long overdue wrap-ups and the general malaise that February in an arctic climate can bring. No amount of retail therapy can cure this although the exuberant Miss Z would beg to differ judging from her accounts of the marvels of Macy’s yesterday. We also learned that fated Tuesday that Chocolate Chili Chai tea and a banana for lunch, no matter how healthy, are not willing partners in any gastrointestinal dance – so with the dog sleeping off his all-night patrol duty, the Professor away on work-related pursuits and the Ghost and his partner-in-crime, the inscrutable Dr. Fu, otherwise engaged in the entanglements of university life, we have taken to our bed to watch endless episodes of Cake Boss on Youtube and catch up on computer stuff. Could be worse, we could actually have to justify our actions to someone other than ourselves….

Not to say that we are actually getting caught up on those past-the-due date emails and god forbid forwarded Facebook notifications which we have been consciously ignoring in some sort of unnoticed protest but we are being constructive, sort of. The bright spot is that we were able to have a second cup of coffee this morning and a more leisurely look at a few of the posts popping up on the reader, discovering in the process some great music, photos and new blogs. It is time consuming. Somewhere around mid-afternoon the realization that we should get on with it kicked in.

What make us feel better in the grand scheme of things? Apart from the obvious and depending on the situation, much of the time it is pretty simple. Most recently it has been the reminder that yes, there is someone out there that is reading, enjoying and perhaps even being inspired by what we do. Our memo arrived via Nicole over at NMNPHX who was kind enough to include Across the Bored in her picks for her February Spotlight Awards!

Every month she highlights 3-5 blogs that she has found “awesome”, telling her readers a little something about them and urging them to visit – we did and were glad for the effort. There is a Past Spotlight Winners link in her menu where you will find over 6 months-worth of blogs and perhaps even a few familiar names. Ours can be a small world so be sure to check out Nicole’s blog – especially the “Spam Comment of the Week” posts!

Now, about those emails…

Awards – Christmas comes twice this year

December 30, 2012December 30, 201221 Comments

Across the Bored finds itself, going forward into this wondrous year 2013, the recipient of an embarassment of riches courtesy of Richard at The Future is Papier Mâché. Author of a photography blog that documents the denizens of Greater London, with the bonus of book reviews and collaborations, it is well worth more than the occasional look. He has nominated us for a few choice awards below.

According to Google, the origins of the Very Inspiring Blogger Award are lost in the primal swirl of the mulitverse – no matter, it is still a lovely thing to receive at this time of year when more is going out than coming in…

The Rules of this award, in shortform, are:

Link back to the blog that nominated you
Tell the world 7 facts about yourself
Nominate 15 (yes, that’s 15 – count’em) fellow bloggers

You may, of course, grab the badge and display it as prominently as you see fit!

7 facts about Across the Bored:

There are at least 7 different language dictionaries in our library, none of which I fluently speak apart from French
I used to darn socks but soon discovered it was a futile and annoying pastime
I am always at a loss when asked what I do
People who ask me what I have been up to then proceed to cut me off and talk about their own jobs, vacations, spouses and children soon find themselves in a one way conversation
The desire to reconnect on facebook is not anywhere near the top of my list of priorities
I wanted to open a candy shop near a high school
Despite the inconvenience, I like snow and PETA be damned will wear a fur coat when it is -20☃

For all their inspiration, here are my 15 Nominees:

A New Day
bentorrific
Canadian Hiking Photography
Cee’s Photography
Ivanterzic
Lateral Love Australia
Milners Blog
Ohm Sweet Ohm
Rarasaur
Stephen Kelly Creative
Tahira’s Shenanigan’s
Travel. Garden. Eat.
Where’s My Backpack?
The World according to Dina
Zeebra Designs & Destinations

The Reality Blog Award

The Rules are concise:

Link back to the blogger that nominated you
Post the badge on your blog where you see fit
Answer the 5 questions below
Nominate 8 bloggers

Questions and Answers:

Q: If you could change something what would you change?
A: The interface between my creaking fingers and my mouse

Q: If you could repeat an age, what age would it be?
A: The Age of Enlightenment with an unlimited battery iphone and a teleporter

Q: What one thing really scares you?
A: The power of bureaucracy

Q: What one dream have you not completed yet and do you think you will be able to complete it?
A: Yes, the current project that I have been procrastinating on

Q: If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be?
A: The dog – so that I could laze around on a comfy pillow in a sunny window for hours on end, without the least bit of guilt at not being productive, while someone fed me treats at the bat of an eyelash…

The 8 Nominees are:

Caddo Veil
Clowie’s Corner
Loving Life: A Green Journey
masadiso79’s Blog
Naomikko
NMNPHX
Scrapydo
What’s [in] the picture?

A double nomination for The Blog of the Year 2012 Award was from both Richard at The Future is Papier Mâché and Nutsfortreasure at Living and Lovin, a blog that has a little bit of everything for everyone! The Rules for this award, in their entirety, may be viewed at the Thought Palette where it originated. While a lovely award and greatly appreciated, Across the Bored doesn’t do facebook or collect stars (a long story the gory details of which may one day be the subject of another post) – besides 2012 has wrapped itself up in a post-nonapocalyptic shroud so that pretty much settles that…

The One Lovely Blog Award was sent along by Katy of PragueByKaty – Thank you so much for thinking of Across the Bored as lovely enough to grace your readings. Katy shows us a side of her city and travels that make one want to throw our gear in a bag and get on the next plane!

As with the other awards, there are some Rules:

Link back to the person who nominated you
Post the badge in a lovely place
State 7 things about yourself
Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them

Across the Bored has taken the liberty of fudging and applying a bit of blog math as follows:
≧17 hours of post time ÷ 4 awards × 38+ nominees = 10 stiff fingers + 7 more random facts ± the last 8/15 nominees

So here we have 7 more Random things about Across the Bored:

Cold hands, warm heart
I don’t have much use for horror movies
With that said, I own way too many VHS tapes and DVDs
I make a mean fried egg but won’t eat them
and fantasize about the ultimate in kitchen storage
I enjoy the Ghost and Miss Z’s playlists (everything from Aussie rap and hipster unknowns to gamer symphonics)
but cannot stand those nasty little earbuds

The 8 Nominees are:

Ania Archer
Backseat Mafia
Corina Lăzărescu
Diamond Mike Watson
Grishmanphotography
Retireediary
Richard Sugden Photography
The Bright Old Oak

Some blogs deserve recognition but don’t want any awards, so we will bestow upon them an Honourable Mention – Please have a look at the incredible work of Gary Schollmeier at http://garyschollmeier.com.

Thanks once again to Richard, Nutsfortreasure and Katy!

ACROSS THE BORED

Words : Life : iPhoneography : Presumptions and Postulations

Category: AWARDS