Thank You, Thank You

By Judy Berman

To be appreciated for what you love to do is to feel as if you’ve been kissed by both sides of the sun.

Recently, two fellow bloggers nominated me for separate awards: Best Moment Award and the Sunshine Award. My apologies to both for a long overdue, but heartfelt, thank you.

• Marilyn Warner of Things I Want To Tell My Mother – said she chose my story, “Musical Memories and Love” for the Best Moment Award because she was humming the songs I included hours after. That story, which ran April 20, 2013, looked at my life thru songs that were popular over several decades. This award, unlike others, singles out only one post, a reader’s favorite “best moment.”
• Jane H. Johann of Johannisthinking selected me for the Sunshine Award, saying “I have chosen Judy because she brings sunbeams to my thinking. Clarity always follows after I read her lines of poetry or essays.”

Now I feel like I am in the Sunshine and this is my Best Moment. I know what a slacker I’ve been, so I will leave it up to my nominees to follow thru – or not – as they see fit. No hard feelings.

Here’s the rules and my nominees for the BEST MOMENT AWARD: Nominate 8 special, specific posts for this award. These are ones that truly touched me, made me laugh, or were memorable. (I cheated. I chose nine.) Please check them out:

-          Arindam – Race of Dreams, Hopes and Needs. While he writes beautiful poetry, he also tackles concerns in his native India. http://arindammohapatra.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/race-of-dreams-hopes-and-needs/

-          Mark Armstrong – His illustration of a smoking sneaker from the Boston Marathon tragedy and the question “Why?” is profound and moving. http://markarmstrongillustration.com/2013/06/18/social-media-not-your-best-guide-to-truth-understanding/

-          Bronx Boy of Mostly Bright Ideas – His post on “Getting Over My Down Under Fantasy” made me laugh and want to shout, “No, Florida is a much scarier place to visit than Australia.” http://mostlybrightideas.wordpress.com/2013/06/19/getting-over-my-down-under-fantasy/

-          Darla of She’s a Maineiac – She can make the most ordinary event laugh-out-loud. “So Here’s The Thing About Walking.” http://shesamaineiac.com/2013/05/23/so-heres-the-thing-about-walking/

-          Kate Shrewsday –  Love her stories on her family, and the ones on history are just riveting. This is one of my favorites that combines both: “Picknicking With Martians.” http://kateshrewsday.com/2013/06/17/picknicking-with-martians/

-          Lisa Tognola of Main Street Musings – I still crack up whenever I think of this story that she wrote about a trunk show in “Revelations From My First CAbi Party.”  http://mainstreetmusingsblog.com/2013/02/04/revelations-from-my-first-cabi-party/

-          Madhu of The Urge to Wander – Her photos from around the world have opened vistas to me that I hope to see in person one day. That’s why “Beyond the Gates” is one of my favorites. http://theurgetowander.com/2013/04/04/beyond-the-gates/

-          Sue Vincent of Daily Echo – Her photos of nature, her dog, Ani, and her views on life are always worth a read. “Late Night Coffee” was one of my favorites for those reasons. http://scvincent.com/2013/06/16/late-night-coffee/

-          Jane H. Johann of Johannisthinking – Sorry, got carried away here. If you’re counting, this is number 9, but when you read “Nadia … my little doctor,” I know you’ll agree this is a beautiful, touching post. It made me think of my grandchildren and of my late Grammy. http://johannisthinking.com/2013/06/11/nadia-my-little-doctor/

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Here’s the rules and my nominees for the SUNSHINE AWARD:

• Include the award’s logo in a post or on your Blog.
• Answer 10 questions about yourself.
• Nominate 10 Bloggers.
• Link your nominees to the post and comment on their Blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.
• Link the person who nominated you.

Ten Questions:

1. Favorite color: plaid (yes, don’t count on me revealing too much here)
2. Favorite animal: dinosaur (because I don’t have to worry about cleaning up after it)
3. Favorite number: 9 (Blame The Beatles)
4. Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Does such a thing exist?
5. Prefer Facebook or Twitter? Neither. Prefer face-to-face communication.
6. My passion(s): My family, humanity, truth, justice, music and travel
7. Prefer getting or giving presents: Giving
8. Favorite pattern: Random
9. Favorite days of the week: weekends
10. Favorite flower: poppy – that’s why I love Claude Monet

10 blogs to nominate:

1. Kate Crimmins of Coffee Kat Blog. Her experiences working as a Human Resources executive and her cats are both something I love reading about. http://coffeekatblog.com/

2. Marilyn Warner of Things I Want to Tell My Mother. So much of what she writes triggers my own fond memories about my parents. http://warnerwriting.wordpress.com/

3. Island Traveler of This Man’s Journey. His photos and stories about family remind me to hold my own family closer. http://thismansjourney.net/

4.  Timethief of One Cool Site – is a source I’ve turned to on quite a few occasions for blogging tips and have appreciated the advice. http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/

5. Jen of Rumpydog – who cares passionately about animals, both domestic and wild. She works tirelessly to ensure legislation is passed to protect their rights. http://rumpydog.com/

6. Promethean Times – for its satirical look at the headlines. It bills itself as a “collection of oddities calculated to amuse, enlighten and horrify.”    http://prometheantimes.com/

7. Deb Adams – Gorgeous illustrations, delightful cartoon characters and Flash writing that will make you pause … and, go, hmmmm! http://adamsart.wordpress.com/

8. Shakti Ghosal – His posts on life and philosophy always make me think deeper. Very enjoyable read. http://esgeemusings.com/

9. Cult Fit – wonderful writings on philosophy, workouts and health. http://cultfit.wordpress.com/

10. My So Called Life Journey – a look at life and Dr. Who and much more from an up and coming writer. (Full disclosure: my youngest daughter, Jenn) http://mysocalledlifejourney.wordpress.com/

Pardon the very long post and my procrastination. These creative bloggers all do an excellent job in entertaining, informing and amazing us with their stories, illustrations and photos.