I’d Like Award With You

The awesome Chris of ChrisWhiteWrites recently presented me with the Liebster Award. Woo hoo! Thanks Chris!

Now, the odd thing is that I’ve won this award in the past. It is, as Chris termed it, essentially an Internet high-five, given with the purpose of encouraging bloggers to keep doing what they’re doing. To have won this twice is brilliant, but here’s the weird thing:

It doesn’t even seem like the same award.

The logo has changed. The rules and requirements have changed. There seems now to be some kind of “11″ motif. You know what that means? … I get to respond to this award all over again, and pretend it’s a completely different one! Awww yeah.

So, I present the Liebster Award Rules:

• When you receive the award, post 11 random facts about yourself and answer the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.
• Pass the award onto 11 other blogs (and notify the blogger that you nominated them). Do not nominate the blogger who gave you the award.
• Write up 11 NEW questions directed towards YOUR nominees.
• Paste the award picture into your blog.

I’ve done this whole “Random Facts” thing before (here and here and also here), so I’ll have to get creative and extra-specially-random…

1. My highest scoring character on Super Smash Bros. 64 is Kirby.
2. The chair I’m sitting in is named Po. Because I name everything.
3. The book I’ve probably read the most times is Spud by John Heffernan.
4. I received four brightly coloured ramekins for Christmas, which are awesome.
5. I once had a dream that I was Voldemort’s daughter, and he sent me to go spy on and/or murder Harry Potter, but then I was all like, “Hey Harry, you’re pretty cool, we should run away together”, and he was like, “Yeah, OK.” So we did, but then Daddy Voldemort found us and was all “Avada Kedavra!” and killed my boyfriend, so I was like, “Not cool, Dad.” And then we went home.
6. It costs eighty-freaking-dollars for a parking permit at my university. Not really a random fact about me, but I’m so pissed off about it that I need to vent.
7. I still haven’t ever been pulled over by a cop. Not even for an RBT.
8. I’ve never eaten sushi.
9. When I was in primary school, I saw a tiny, confiscated silver toy car on the teacher’s desk, and I really liked it, so I kinda stole it. The guilt of that stolen car never left me…
10. I’m a little bit of a hoarder. “No, we can’t throw that out, I might need it!” … “You might need this piece of cardboard?” … “Well. Yeah. I dunno, maybe?”
11. I’m also a little bit anal, in the sense that I MUST have the TV volume on an even number or a multiple of five, and in the sense that this whole “11″ motif is making my eye twitch…

Now, time to answer Chris’ 11 (twitch) questions:

1. What are three things you enjoy doing everyday?
   Reading books, eating Nutella and breathing oxygen.
2. What scares you the most, and why?
   Moths. Because they fly at my eyeballs, and want to kill me.
3. If you could be a character in any book you’ve ever read, who would you be and why?
   Nymphadora Tonks. Not only would I live in a world of magic, I would be able to change my appearance at will, and I’d be married to Remus Lupin. WIN!
4. What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
   Crack all my knuckles. Annoying to other people, sooooooo satisfying to me.
5. How many roads must a man walk down?
   Three hundred and ninety-four.
6. Who is your favourite author?
   Ahhh, Chris! Duuuuude. Too hard. But I suppose I’ll go with J.K. Rowling, author of this generation’s most influential series, and an inspiring woman who rose from “nothing” to be so successful.
7. If you could be anywhere right now, where would that be?
   Rome, man. And I wouldn’t be coming back!
8. If you could be anywhen right now, when would that be?
   Somewhere around 2113. Just to check out what’s happening. We got that cancer cure yet? What are my descendants up to? Anyone been to Mars? Have we reached one million Pokémon yet? We must be close…
9. Grab the book nearest you, turn to page 72. Write the third sentence.
   “When the grave covered them they became pure spirits, beneficent, the guardians of mankind.”
10. To be or not to be?
    Not 2B. I prefer HB. (tiddy-boom)
11. What is your favourite animal, and why?
    Now, I know I’ve answered this before… So, heck, I’ll copy/paste that answer! Cats, hands-down. Nothing like a pet that showers you with affection when you get home… Well, sometimes. Other times, they’ll just look you up and down like “What do you want, a hug? You’ve only been gone for a few hours.”

Sweet Jesus on a bicycle, this is a long post. I’m now supposed to pick 11 bloggers, but the thing is, many of the blogs I follow don’t accept/give awards. They have a schedule and they stick to it. So, I’m breaking away from “11″, and giving the award to a special few:

• Katy at Storytelling Nomad
• Stef at Dodging Commas
• Spider at Anansi’s Web
• Hannah at The (Writer’s) Waiting Room

That will do, yes?

Now, bloggers, I present you with your 11 questions:

1. Who is your literary soul-mate, and why?
2. What is your least favourite book of all time?
3. Facebook or Twitter?
4. Cats or dogs?
5. What superpower do you wish you could have?
6. What is your favourite season of the year?
7. FanFiction — yay or nay?
8. What are the constants in your refridgerator?
9. You and one book character hero are stranded on an island. Who is the hero?
10. Same island, but you’re trapped with the bad guy! Who’s your villain of choice?
11. What is the story behind your blog’s name?

Done!!

…I think I need to go lie down for a while.

- Love The Bad Guy

I’m Walking On Sunshine Awards… WOAH-OH-OH!

Guess what?! I received The Sunshine Blog Award, and, needless to say, I’M WALKING ON SUNSHINE!

I’ll give you a moment to be struck by awe in the face of my witty and well-thought-out puns. I have more, too. There are so many songs I could have alluded to!

I’m walking on sunshine. Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows, everything… Sunshine, you are my sunshine. Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone. Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.

Shall I go on? … No? Fine.

I digress.

My gratitude goes to Tanya from Green Paw-Paw, who very kindly gave me this award. You should definitely go check out the post in which she gave out the award. There are Harry Potter references coming out the wazoo!

Now, down to business. Rules:

1. Link back to the person who gave you the award. (Check! And thanks again!)

2. Post a picture of the award. (The one up top, I made myself, ’cause I was bored. Here’s the legit one:)

3. Answer ten questions about yourself.

4. Nominate any number of bloggers, so long as they fit the criteria of making you smile. (I was so honoured that Tanya picked me after I read this fine print. I make her smile! Yay!)

Okey dokey then. Ten questions – here we go:

1. Favourite colour: Too many. My room is painted orange, because it’s so bright and happy and Garfield-y. I like wearing blue or purple, because it’s soothing and calm. I also like black, ’cause it’s sexy.

2. Favourite animal: Cats, hands-down. Nothing like a pet that showers you with affection when you get home… Well, sometimes. Other times, they’ll just look you up and down like “What do you want, a hug? You’ve only been gone for a few hours.”

3. Favourite number: Thirteen. Two reasons: (a) That’s my birthday! (b) I like the superstitions behind it.

4. Favourite non-alchoholic drink: Hmm… Liption Ice/Green Tea, perhaps?

5. Prefer Facebook or Twitter: Facebook. I don’t understand Twitter; I’ve never used it and don’t plan to do so anytime soon.

6. My passion: Have you ever read my blog? Then I think you know what my passions are. But let’s sum it up: Reading. Writing. Bad Guys.

7. Prefer getting or giving presents: Both! Getting presents is always nice, but searching for that perfect thing that’ll will make a loved one smile is also wonderful. Hence why I like Christmas more than my birthday.

8. Favourite pattern: Lexical. *tiddy-boom*

9. Favourite day of the week: Oh, this is hard. Friday is nice — last day of the working week and all that. Saturday is also fantastic, because it’s the birth of the weekend where you can sleep-in and stay up late. And then there’s Sunday, which, although slightly burdened by the knowledge that Monday is to follow, is also great, because it is the lazy day of the week. You can stay in your pyjamas all day, and no one will blink an eye.

10. Favourite flower: Lilies. Beautiful! Thus why I used that image to remake the award pic. (You can also imagine how happy I was when Tinny ordered a bunch of beautiful oriental lilies to be sent to me on Valentine’s Day!)

And, without further ado, I now present the Sunshine Award to the following blogs:

• Dodging Commas (Stef’s inspirational travels and beautifully written posts always make me smile.)
• Reasonably Ludicrous (Not the first time that I’ve given these guys an award, but I can’t help it. They make me laugh, and that definitely fits the criteria of the award.)
• MJ Shorts (Mike is ridiculously talented; it is always a pleasure to read the stories that he posts.)
• Something A Week (Kyle does “something” each week, in case the blog title didn’t clue you in. Because of this, I don’t know if he is one for sharing Blog Awards with others; nonetheless, his creativity and mad-awesome skills always put a smile on my face, so I shall happily award him and share his fantastic-ness with you all.)

Congrats guys! Go spread the sunshine, and keep making us all smile.

- Love The Bad Guy

Ich bin ein Bösewicht (with an award)!

Look at me, knocking all these things off my to-do list! Here is another blog-award that was given to me by the lovely Janece at The Wild Pomegranate. Thank you so much, m’dear! You never fail to put a smile on my face.

The Liebster Award takes its name from the German word, meaning beloved, dearest or favourite. And if that doesn’t make my head simply explode with pride, nothing will! The idea of the Liebster is to reward bloggers with a smaller following — approximately 200 followers of less.

The RULES are:

• Link back to the blogger who gave you the award. (Thanks again, Janece!)
• List up to five deserving bloggers, and leave them a comment to let them know you’ve awarded them the Liebster.
• Bask in the glory of being beloved. BASK, I SAY!

It is difficult to know which blogs have larger followings, so I hope the bloggers I chose need that lil’ bit of extra attention. Congrats, everyone!

1. Chris from Chris White Writes
2. Erin from Grammar Party
3. And the lovely gal from Things You Realise After You Get Married

Go spread the good karma!

- Love The Bad Guy

A-Ward to the Wise

So, a short while ago, the kind gents from over at Reasonably Ludicrous presented me with a blog award!

Ooooh, I’m a liar. “A short while” was actually approximately fifty-one days ago, but who’s counting, right?

Anyhoodley-doodley, here it finally is, my prestigious You Are Good At Talking About Yourself (I Presume, And Hopefully Your Post About This Award Won’t Make A Liar Out Of Me) x 9.89 AWARD! *gasps for air*

If you haven’t heard of this award before, there is probably good reason. You see, technically, this is the 7×7 Award that I posted about a few months back. But, Reasonably Ludicrous received the award twice, and through a short series of mathematical equations that hurt my head, they decided that this resulted in the 9.89×9.89 Award!

So, what to do:

• Acknowledge the glory of the person who nominated you.
• Tell your adoring public 7 things about yourself (…although, this is a 9.89 Award, so I guess an extra 2.89 fraction of awesomeness is in order.)
• Pass the Award on to five other purveyors of blog-epicness.

Aaaaand… BEGIN!

1. I hate lasagna. Yup, I am obsessed with Garfield, but I hate his favourite food. I-ron-eeeeeeey.
   .
2. I can’t wear rings. I don’t know what it is. Maybe some strange form of claustrophobia? But I put a ring on my finger and I immediately assume that I will never be able to get it off, so I panic and try to yank it off, and, naturally, it gets stuck, so I struggle and cause a scene until I manage to rip it off and hurl it a good ten metres away. Better just to not wear them, right?
   .
3. My favourite poem is “Speed, A Pastoral” by John  Forbes. Mayhaps I will post it for you all sometime soon, so you can read it and question my mental health behind my back.
   .
4. My favourite cartoon is “Invader Zim”. Those who know the show, and those who know me, will not be surprised by this revelation. I AM NORMAL!
   .
5.  I love Irish accents. A natural Irish lilt is very sexy to me… *quirks eyebrows*
   .
6. I am a bad driver… Or maybe I’m a very good driver. I don’t know. Let’s just say I’m overly cautious, and sometimes that irks people. A lot.
   .
7. I always choose Bowser in Mario Kart. And isn’t that just a delightful tidbit of information that reveals so much about me? (By the way, I never realised until now, but… Bowser is a bad guy, isn’t he? Wow… I’ve liked bad guys since I was a child innocently choosing a Nintendo character! Fantastic stuff.)
   .
8. I broke my collar bone when I was a toddler. It’s the only bone I’ve ever broken, and I don’t even remember it. All I have are some adorable photos of me in red pajamas and a tiny sling, and stories about a neglectful babysitter and a high chair…
   .
9. (Oh boy, running out of steam here. Um…) I don’t know how to boil an egg. Sad, I know. Please save your mocking for after I leave the room.

(aaaand…) 9.89. I have a different last name to my entire family. That would be a result of divorce. My Grandparents, Mum, Sister and Niece all have the last name Pennell. Mine, meanwhile, is — [ERROR: 0.11% of information not found.]

Holy freaking hell. That was a lot of random crap about me. I think I have to sit down for a second.

…

Okay. Here, now, are some brilliant bloggers with whom I wish to share the love of the 9.89×9.89 Award. (Sorry I can’t choose you all!)

1. Janece from The Wild Pomegranate
2. Mike from Short Stories
3. Stef from Dodging Commas
4. Louise from My Other Book is a Tolstoy
5. Barmy from I’ve Become My Parents

Congrats!

- Love The Bad Guy

7×7=49 and an AWARD!

A while back, I discovered a blog called The Wild Pomegranate. Not only are pomegranates a fantastic source of vitamins, but the blog’s creator, Janece, writes brilliant posts, and always tries to find the time to leave kind comments on the works of others.

And now I love her even more, because she has awarded me with the 7×7 Award! Thank you, Janece!

What is this? I hear you ask. (I have excellent hearing.)

Well, it is a lovely little thing that asks you to answer seven questions about your blog, and then pass the award on to seven other awesome bloggers, where they will do the same, and the world keeps on spinning.

So, here we go:

1. Most Beautiful Post: This one. I mean, sure, that post has a rather morose story in it, but that story is about the endless bond of sisters, and, more importantly, that post announced the birth of my niece! If that isn’t beautiful, what is?

2. Most Popular Post: Judging from the number of comments it received, I would have to say that it was Angel in a Wedding Dress, which was an entry for the fabulous Voice Week 2011.

3. Most Controversial Post: Ha ha, please (she scoffs mockingly). When have I ever been controversial? I’m too lovable to cause controversy! But fine, I guess I’ll respond with Hungry. I posted this for the simultaneous events of Blog Action Day and World Food Day, to assist in highlighting some vital issues in the world. That’s about as close to controversy as I’m gonna get.

4. Most Helpful Post: Probably my post on the use and origin of [sic]. This response may or may not be a result of the fact that it is virtually the only post I’ve done that aims to teach you something. Well, something useful, anyway.

5. Most Surprisingly Successful Post: In my opinion, that would be my first segment of Why I Love That Bad Guy. I wrote about my adoration for Voldemort to have a laugh, but apparently people enjoyed it … which resulted in the awesome discovery that my blog had been located by somebody using the Google phrase: lord voldemort sexy.

6. Most Underrated Post: This one. It was my very first blog post, so at the time I was technically addressing no-one. While I now have a small band of awesome followers, nobody bothers to go back to the beginning. Poor little ignored thing.

7. Most Pride-Worthy Post: There are many posts that I am proud of. Heck, so long as someone “likes” my work or leaves a single word of encouragement, I’ll be glowing all day. But I think this would have to be my most pride-worthy post. It was written in celebration of reaching 100 views — a small number, yes, but at the time it seemed so immense and unreachable that I nearly burst with joy to have achieved it. It was my sixth post on Love The Bad Guy, but it was the first time that I received a comment. Pride-worthy, indeed.

And now I get to spread the joy! There are many blogs that I adore — far more than seven — but rules is rules. So congrats to these people:

1. Dear Optimists: I’ve posted about them before, but Nadia and Den truly are fantastic, and they never fail to put a smile on my face.

2. Twinfamy: A stay-at-home dad who takes care of his twins, but still has time to write an awesome blog.

3. Dodging Commas: Having trouble with those tricky grammar points? Not any more. Stef is an excellent teacher and blogger.

4. Storytelling Nomad: The brains behind this gem is Katy — a very talented (and fellow Aussie!) writer.

5. BeKindRewrite: This is where the genius that is Inspiration Monday comes from. If you’re looking for a weekly writing challenge, then you should definitely check them out.

6. I’ve Become My Parents: I am a looooong way away from having children. And yet, I leave this blog feeling like I’ve learned something… Either that, or I’ve laughed so hard that I’ve suffered a brain aneurism.

7. Reasonably Ludicrous: Russ (writer) and Sam (illustrator… and occasional writer) were Freshly Pressed on their first post. If that doesn’t demonstrate their sheer awesomeness, nothing will!

And that’s the way (uh-huh, uh-huh) we like it.

- Love The Bad Guy

I’d like to thank the evil people…

“And the winner is… Love The Bad Guy!”

<insert APPLAUSE here>

I am blushing like a school-girl, folks, because I have been granted the endearing, encouraging, exciting award, The Versatile Blogger.

The lovely Stef from over at Dodging Commas passed it on to me and a handful of others, and we shall now do the same (even if I am doing so several weeks after she gave it to me… My bad, you guys). During my travels through the world of blogging, I have seen that glorious green logo pass through numerous hands with grateful words and triumphant posts. To have it now sitting prettily in my own little slice of the Internet fills me with more pride than you can imagine.

I would fall upon the old cliché that ”I’d like to thank the little people”, but at my height, they don’t get much smaller. Besides, the bad guys are who I write about, so, heck with it, I’ll thank the evil people.

Now, down to business…

• Post a link to the person who gave you the award.
• Tell your readers seven random things about yourself.
• Award up to 15 newly discovered blogs.
• Send them a note letting them know you nominated them.

So you wanna know seven things about me? (…No? Tough, I’m telling you anyway.)

1. I hate Vegemite. That’s right – I am an Australian, but I am not a happy little vegemite. Seriously, it’s derived from beer, it smells awful and tastes like feet. I don’t know how I know it tastes like feet, but I am about 97% certain that it does.
2. I’ve never left the country. In fact, I barely travel at all, though not for lack of trying. Unfortunately, when one wishes to travel, one requires this bothersome thing called money. And I have none of it. One day, I would love to go to the “big ones” – London, Paris, Rome… Especially Rome. Most beautiful city in the world, or so my Italian instructor keeps telling me.
3. I have a ridiculously large DVD collection. You see, I never rent movies. I simply buy them for myself, relying on the basis that I will surely want to watch them more than once. And don’t get me started on my “TV-on-DVD” collection! I almost have a television show for every letter of the alphabet! (Speaking of alphabet… All my DVDs are in alphabetical order. ‘Cause that’s just the way I roll…)
4. I am a cat person. (i.e. the type of person who doesn’t mind cat fur. All. Over. Everything.) I’ve owned many cats over my lifetime; I’ve had to say goodbye to many of them, too. But there is just something absolutely perfect about sitting in a warm chair with a sweet cup of tea, a good book, and a purring cat on your lap. Haven’t tried it? You don’t know what you’re missing. (Bonus fact: My current baby’s name is Charlie, and he is just awesome.)
5. Never been kissed. Yes, that is a statement about my life and not a reference to the movie. “Sweet sixteen and never been kissed”? Phhttt. I got that beat. My theory is: I’ve waited this long, so surely my first will seem all the more romantic. (Call me an optimist!)
6. I can say the alphabet backwards. And I mean fluently. I’m always hoping that a cop will pull me over and jokingly request that I do so, and then BAM! I do exactly that in ten seconds flat. (Bonus fact II: I have never been pulled over by a cop. I assume they see me coming and think, “Huh. That chick wears glasses. She must be smart, she wouldn’t be drinking and driving.” And away I go…)
7. I collect Garfields. If any of my readers are thinking to themselves right now, What’s a Garfield?, then you should know that somewhere, somehow, a small piece of me just died. I adore Garfield, and have done so ever since I was a child. And this isn’t your regular run-of-the-mill fascination. This is full-blown, undeniable, move-out-of-my-way-and-put-down-the-Garfield-toy-or-I-will-destroy-you obsession.

Want some proof? Here’s a picture of just one corner of my bedroom:

Yeah. I kinda sorta love that cartoon cat.

Moving on to the Versatile Blogger Award nominees:

I have only been present in the blogosphere for a short time, and while I have discovered quite a few blogs that I adore, most of them are either incredibly popular and were discovered some time ago, or have already received the Versy Award. That is why my list is rather pitifully small. Only 33% of what it could have been, for you maths buffs. Nevertheless, these guys are awesome, so congrats! You deserve it.

Go spread the love.

• The (Writer’s) Waiting Room
• The Rhyming Med Student
• Mike’s Short Stories
• The Write Project
• Chris White Writes

 - Love The [Flattered] Bad Guy