An Excellent Award!

I can't believe this award! Excellent? My blog? Oh the pressure! The expectation! The swelled head!
Thank you so much to Harlekwin over at Boho Rap for bestowing this honour upon me.

She is an intelligent, creative blogger whose writing can be emotional and insightful, technical and useful, challenging and thought provoking or just plain amusing. Her incredible page designs are an inspiration although sometimes I miss a good one when she replaces it. Currently she is celebrating having moved into her 51st year with cupcakes, frogs and a challenge to the universe to give her a 'prince'!!!!!!!! An Excellent blog indeed.

Passing this award on is tough.

I mean, you could give it to everyone at some time for posts that have moved you, made you laugh or informed you. There is a certain pressure to give it to your 'fave' reads because you've grown to know and love them, there are others who deserve it but hey...they already get heaps of awards....so.....what constitutes an Excellent blog?

One of the criteria I think is variety, another is regularity of posting and a third is the ability to make you think, question and consider. Honest, quality writing is essential and clever use of photography to illustrate points and bring intimacy and immediacy to a post is also desirable. Weekly regular features give you something to look forward to and the quality of comments add to your blog reading experience.

It's rare to find all of these features in one blog. Mine certainly does not qualify.

A couple spring to mind. One is Chris in Oxford, but he already has the award so without further ado I award an E for Excellence to two very different blogs.

The first is Susie J; an inspiring read by a gifted Mom writer with many excellent photos, recipes, regular features and tabs to constant posts (look up the top).

The second is a very different kettle of fish.

Deutschland Uber Elvis is the blog of my very dear friend from the 'old' days, Headbang8. He is the least Headbangy person I know and this moniker is a clue to his well developed sense of irony! D.U.E. fulfills all my criteria but I must warn some of my more conservative readers that Headbang is a happily partnered 'late out' gay guy and with his razor sharp wit and shining intellect (you can pay me later H8) he does examine some of the issues of the gay world so if humourous and intelligent discussions of culture and sexuality offend best not click here. Being both an ex-pat American and Australian he also has a colourful vocabulary although this is rarely ever gratuitous and to top it all off dear friends, he is an athiest.

Here's a quote from his sidebar

In his blog, he discusses matters of importance to him; the interplay of cultures in the
modern world, recovery from family dysfunction, management of his harem of fag hags, his
belief in secularism, and of course, all things gay.

So, for those of you who don't mind a bit of a challenge, love good photography and appreciate clever observation of culture, language and people, Deutschland Uber Elvis is an Excellent blog.

I stand, as ever, humbled by this award myself. Thank you so much Harlekwin.