Sunday, July 1, 2007

Taking care of business...

is for what Mondays were created. So in that vein, first I need to thank three bloggers who were recently kindly generous in remarks they made regarding my blogging. One of the quirks of blogging and its sphere that took me a long time to understand were all the various awards and buttons I noticed in the sidebars. I had no idea as to how the award was either given or received. Not knowing just how deep the blogosphere pool was, I didn't know if some of the awards were actually widely known or more regional in nature.

However, all that "how'd it get there" nonsense aside, as I swam around in the pool, the awards that most fascinated me were the meme awards. I've come to call them that for lack of a better term. You know to what I refer. They are of meme nature in that there are specific rules to be complied with and usually those same rules are either quickly bent or completely broken, and they center around an internet tag type game. Once you've been tagged, you then pass the tag on to another group of bloggers who then tag and so on. It's the blog version of a kindly pyramid scheme with certain virtues being necessary for award receipt.

The two latest I've seen are the Blogger Reflection Award and the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award. To be perfectly honest I am the biggest dolt of all things technical and have no sense of how to accurately put the button images onto my blog resulting in the total lack of visual effect. Any buttons or graphics in my sidebar have been generously put there by Jules who takes great pity on me for my pathetic ineptitude.

Anyway, my point is not to ramble but to publicly via blog respond to the bloggers who noted me for these awards, and of course to bend, er, break the rules of the tag.

The Blogger Reflection Award comes to me by Kim of Hiraeth and Christa of Blakeyblog. Honestly, I'm very humbled for their gentle remarks because I hold both of these ladies in great esteem as well. I met Kim through SolaMoms and love her bookmarks to pieces (another post on that in a day or two). She has a genuinely passionate heart for the glory of God, an abiding gratitude for the sovereignty of God, and demonstrates both in her blogging, holding to sola scriptura without apology.

Christa is who I wish I had been in my twenties rather than the embracing error gal I was, trying one silly thing after another, tossed to and fro in diverse teachings that had just enough of the truth to be dangerously deceptive. But Christa demonstrates a spiritual maturity that belies her years. She fills the content of her posts with meat worth chewing, tackling with grace and sensitivity the issues that I yearn for women today to have their minds upon.

The point of the Blogger Reflection Award is to note other bloggers who have "been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have been a Godly example." To wit I can heartily return such praise to both Kim and Christa.

The Rockin' Girl Blogger Award came to me by way of Lisa of Lisa Writes. This award must have been started by a former teen of the 80's because that was our phrase, "you rock!" I know that other generations have tried to claim it as their own, but those of us who wore our Vans and parachute pants with Members Only jackets sporting the biggest hair Dolly P. has not yet put on were certainly "rockin"! The fact that it might have been rocks in our heads is not something up for discussion. I'm writing about nice awards, ladies.

Anyway, Lisa is another blogging friend who honestly delights me with her posts. She has invited me to go with her to a really nice beach, and I've reciprocated with an offer of the mountains. It is only natural that two former 80's ladies who are now trying to raise houses full of only boys should have title to a hot pink Rockin' Girl Blogger Award--especially if it comes with an estrogen toddy.

Aye, here's the rub with these awards. According to the rules I'm now to pass on these tags to other bloggers. In truth though, I'm a lucy come lately to the awards writing post and at publishing time my picks would be more repeats. I remain fascinated by these meme awards because the result has always led me to more great blogs--can everyone say Google Reader double digit subscriptions? And I desire to lead others to great blogs as well. Not only would I certainly recommend the ladies who are in my blogroll, but also as much as possible I'm still working through reading their blogrolls and recommendations as well.

I think these type of awards serve their best purpose in the mutual encouragement of one another for the shared appreciation of godly virtues as well as granting a typed hug of thanks for one another in the mutual hobby of blogging. As my life has been blessed by these three bloggers and the numbers of others I continue to meet and enjoy through comments. In fact, I invite you to check out the commenters' blogs as well seeing that they are also an informed and insightful group. To finish, while I might not get the button into the sidebar, may I take this last sentence to give each reader, whether blogger or not, my genuine thanks for the time you take in coming to visit A Complete Thought.

2 comments:

  1. Aw, Elle, that brought tears to my eyes!

    (and it wasn't ONLY the fact that my eldest son had a "members only" jacket when he was 10)

    Thank you for the kind words and for inviting your readers over for a peek at my blog.

    "Short Cuts" are starting back up today, so I hope they aren't disappointed! hehehe

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  2. "It is only natural that two former 80's ladies who are now trying to raise houses full of only boys should have title to a hot pink Rockin' Girl Blogger Award--especially if it comes with an estrogen toddy."

    yes and amen! You do rock, my friend!

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