Happy Second Annibirthsary!

Well, my goodness, readers. What with all the stress and panic of this marvellous Honours year, I let a very important date slip by without mention.

Two days ago, on the 5th day of May, Love The Bad Guy celebrated its second annibirthsary!

My computer is very helpfully putting a squiggly red line under “annibirthsary“, but it can just shut the hell up, because I know what I mean — my blog has been floating around cyberspace for two years (and two days!) now, and I want to mark the occasion of its not-quite-a-birthday-not-quite-an-anniversary moment.

So, what has happened with us after two years, dear blog and I? Well…

We’ve accrued over 25,000 views.

We’ve gathered 177 fellow bad guy lovers.

We’ve published 283 posts (wait… 284!).

(We still have not freaking been Freshly Pressed, and I really, REALLY wanna be… *sigh*)

Our most popular post has been this little shared snippet of awesomeness.

Our most popular segment has been Why I Love That Bad Guy (and it’s been our most favourite to share with you, readers).

And it seems most of my lovely readers are from America, Canada or England. Hmmm. I find this mildly interesting. We’ve learned something here today.

But moving away from the stats, it is rather nice to float down memory lane and take a gander at some of my personal favourite moments of the past year…

I had an absolute ball writing Will You Survive The End Of the World? in which readers can discover what apocalypse they’ll face, which fictional character they’ll face it with, and whether or not they’ll survive. I loved reading your outcomes, so if you haven’t yet, go take a journey!

I wrote a poem for Christmas. A poem about Tom Riddle, a.k.a. Adorable Lil’ Voldie. Awesome, yes?

I started getting into the Trifecta writing prompts, particularly their weekend 33-word challenges. I’ve even won a bronze and silver medals with my pieces Webbed and Guardian Angel, respectively. Woohoo!

I had a giggle writing my Valentine’s Day post for ALL DA SINGLE LADIES! ALL DA SINGLE LADIES out there (and all the single fellas, too. I’m not trying to be sexist or nothing).

I finally overwrote all my sister’s high scores in Tetris. HELL YEEEEAAAH.

I lamented over my severe name-a-holism. It’s like alcoholism, but with less alcohol and more naming of things.

And I had my day — my year — absolutely made with a single phone call from Random House Publishing telling me that I’d won their Romance Writing Competition. This lovely lady recently emailed me again to tell me that Trash to Treasure has since been downloaded over 7000 times! I’m giddy…

It’s been a hell of a year, readers, and I have you to thank. So…

Thank you!

For the kind words, comments and constructive criticism.

For the “likes”.

For the congratulations of my triumphs, and comforts for my trials.

Seriously — you guys are awesome.

- Love The Bad Guy [Now and Always]

Stuff No One Told Us (So I’ll Share It With You)

University is keeping me pretty busy at the moment (What a bully…), and so I’ve not had much time to write posts. Thus, I come to you with stolen awesomeness from someone else.

The blog Stuff No One Told Me contains many brilliant comics and cartoons by Alex Noriega, who shares his interpretations and realisations about the world in hilarious (and often deep) ways.

I highly recommend you head over to his blog and check out his work.

But for now, please enjoy some of my personal favourite pictures from his collection.

- Love The Bad Guy

Please Vote! (I’ll Love You Forever)

My dear readers, it’s that time of year again:

The Best Australian Blogs Competition for 2013
is now open, and I need your votes!

I’d very much appreciate if you could spare me two minutes of your time to follow this link to the Comp’s website, find and tick Love The Bad Guy (it’s on the third page), then fill in your details and submit. Too easy!

You don’t need to be Australian to vote, so if you’ve ever found yourself chuckling quietly, nodding thoughtfully or smiling appreciatively at any of my posts, I hope you’ll take a short moment to show your support. (And hey, if anyone wants to spread the word about it, I wouldn’t have a problem with that… Twitter hashtag is #bestblogs13, just in case anyone wants to know…)

Voting closes on Tuesday, 30th April.

Cheers, readers!

- Love The Bad Guy

Give A Bull

Today is National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence in Australia, which is a long title for a simple issue: opposing bullying, and providing all children with a safe and happy environment.

Bullying comes in many forms — cyber-bullying, physical violence, name-calling, discrimination and mental abuse — but it must never be tolerated.

So give a bull about bullying. If you witness bullying, put a stop to it, and more importantly, always treat others the way you wish to be treated.

Let’s take a stand now, because the effects of bullying can ripple throughout one’s entire life.

- Love The Bad Guy

“To This Day Project” – Shane Koyczan

Welcome To HELL101

Tomorrow, dear readers, I return to university for my fourth and final year.

Start praying for me now…

As I’ve mentioned previously, 2013 shall be my Honours year, so despite the fact that I’ve already survived three years of study (and done so quite competently, I might add!), this time round, it kind of feels like I’m entering the sequel to a bad horror flick.

“University 2: The Deadening”

Adding to these comforting feelings are the numerous smirks that I’ve received from uni-veterans, who shake their heads pityingly and mutter, “Honours… Worst year of your life.”

Consequently and understandably, I’m not feeling particularly warm and fuzzy at the prospect of undergoing Honours, but…

BUT!

I will persevere.

I didn’t come this far to quit now. And so I shall dive into the horror of horrors, and God dangit, I’m gonna smash it.

…I’m also going to neglect you, readers.

I’ll try not to, I promise! I’ll try to keep writing responses to various prompt challenges and the like, and I have a small stockpile of draft posts to leak out over time. I may also point you in the direction of other people’s awesomeness, if I don’t have time to provide my own.

Either way, I’ll make sure to check in every now and again to let you know I’m still breathing, and I’ll keep providing posts of varying amusement and randomness, just as often as I can.

Wish me luck, readers!

- Love The [Stupid! Why Am I Doing This To
Myself?! Oh God, Oh God, OH GOD!] Bad Guy

“F*#% You, Single People!” – Cupid

The Blogosphere is a wonderful place to be on Valentine’s Day — if you’re single, that is.

If you’re one half of a couple, you’ll instead be drawn towards roses and chocolates and over-sized teddy bears. This is a lovey-dovey holiday catered specifically for you, un-single person. Pay no heed to the sulking/angry/devastated/callous/ignorant/apathetic bachelors and bachelorettes, who will likely cringe away from the shower of affection you and your partner demonstrate, hissing and screaming as if it burns like acid rain.

Or not. Maybe I’m just dramatic like that.

All I know is that this Valentine’s Day feels particularly disappointing, given that this time last year, I was glowing with the excitement of a young relationship, a first kiss, an unexpected gift.

None of that this year, I’m afraid. But I digress — back to the Blogosphere.

Nabhan Abdullatif © 2013

Many blogs feature love-related posts, so if you’re single like me, you may find amusement and comfort through random browsing. I can recall several great posts, including Reasonably Ludicrous’s very funny Single Person’s Guide to Not Being Sad on Valentine’s Day, Dodging Commas’ touching, inspirational advice, Date a Man Who Reads, and BeKindRewrite’s movie suggestions for Singles Awareness Day.

And now I join them, offering up my own version of random amusement and comfort to all those halves-of-an-absent-whole, because there is nothing I would rather do than to spout my own Valentiney angst on the Internet.

Hey, I figure I either do this, or I’ll wind up wandering the streets, cringing before shop window displays that look like a cupid exploded, until I finally snap and delve into a boisterous performance of ALL THE SINGLE LADIES! ALL THE SINGLE LADIES! OH! OH OH! in the middle of a terrified crowd of innocent bystanders.

Nabhan Abdullatif © 2013

But let’s not allow this holiday to overwhelm us. For couples, yes, it is a chance to show their partner how truly and deeply they are loved. For those still waiting for their soul mate, it is a reminder to keep on searching for the person who makes you happy. And for people who are single and are loving it, it may simply be a day for self-luxary and solitary joy.

So to all you single people out there, enjoy a liberating Valentine’s Day.

Smell roses.

Eat chocolate.

Indulge in a secret love affair with your favourite book character. (What’s that, Tom Riddle? You don’t have a date for Valentine’s Day? Why, I don’t have a date for Valentine’s Day! What a strange and unexpected twist of fate! We should hang out…)

But most importantly, love yourself. Love yourself to such a degree that couples everywhere hiss and scream in the face of your burning self-adoration.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Nabhan Abdullatif © 2013

- Love [Love, LOVE!] The Bad Guy

All images by the very talented Nabhan Abdullatif.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nabhan-Abdullatif/218421908222045

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

2012, Henceforth Known As “The Year In Which The World Did Not End”

Well, my dear readers, 2012 is wrapping up, and what a year it was!

I dated my first boyfriend. I experienced my first kiss. I went through my first break-up (c’est la vie). I finished my Bachelor Degree and enrolled for a year of Honours (2013 – Bring. It. ON!). I was reminded of how much it sucks to be unemployed in a small, non-hiring town. I was reminded of how much it rules to be unemployed during Uni breaks. (Reading! Playing video games! More reading! Writing stories! Going to book stores! Being a nerd! HUZZAH!)

The world was predicted to end. It did not. And good thing, too, or I would never have been given The Casual Vacancy for Christmas.

In terms of my own lil’ slice of the Internet, Love The Bad Guy has been steadily growing, both in stats and followers. No extraordinary numbers yet, but I treasure each and every comment and follower I gain, so thank you all.

…My numbers would probs be bigger if I were ever to be Freshly Pressed. Sooo… That’s something for you kind WordPress folk to toss around in the ol’ noggin, there.

And speaking of the masterminds behind WordPress.com, I’ve been supplied with a lovely little Annual Report of my bloggy achievements for 2012:

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 16,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 4 Film Festivals.

In 2012, there were 161 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 247 posts. There were 191 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 69 MB. That’s about 4 pictures per week.

Click here to see the complete report.

Now, working off the assumption that very few readers will actually click on that link, I feel I should highlight one of the most important aspects of the Report: my top commenters.

Blogging is hard. Fellow bloggers will appreciate the sheer delight that comes with seeing that little orange indicator light up with a new “like”, reblog, follower or comment. And so, at this momentous time of year, I feel I should give thanks to my top commenters for 2012:

• Spider42 – a bloke who disappears every now and again, then suddenly causes an influx of notifications with his kind and in-depth comments. Cheers to you, mate!
  *
• BeKindReWrite — this makes sense, given that I contribute sporadically to the wonderful prompts of Inspiration Monday. However, many bloggers offer writing prompts; not all of them take the time to read and comment on all entries. Thank you, Steph!
   
• Lizzie — I’m not entirely sure where this lovely girl has disappeared off to. We “met” in the comment stream of 1000AwesomeThings.com, and she followed me over here to supply, quite frankly, hilarious comments. While I’ve not heard from her in a while, she has my gratitude.
   
• Katy – a brilliant blogger and a kindred spirit. This wonderful writer hosts The Storytelling Nomad. She’s currently taking a break to focus on her uni requirements, but her comments always make me smile when she finds the time to wander through my posts. Best of luck with everything, Katy!

And, of course, to all of you who have commented, “liked”, or simply come by and enjoyed my works, even once, I would like to say…

THANK YOU

and

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

- Love The Bad Guy

Why I Love That Bad Guy: The Grinch

Here we are readers, once again taking the disturbingly joyful (or joyfully disturbing…) stroll down the path of my Bad Guy Adoration.

Did you have a good Christmas? Is that holly, jolly spirit still flowing through you? I hope so, because at this time of year, I could think of no better bad guy to idolise than that mean, green Christmas-hating villain…

Name: The Grinch

Origin: Dr. Seuss’s 1957 children’s story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

History: The Grinch lives just north of the peaceful, Christmas-loving town of Who-ville, with his sole companion — his dog, Max. With a heart two sizes too small, the Grinch devises a cunning plan to steal every decoration, present and scrap of Christmas from the town, and thus end the Whos’ happiness.

However, the Grinch learns that all-important lesson — that Christmas is not about things, but about the love we share. Filled with the joy of Christmas, the Grinch’s heart grows three sizes that day; he returns to the Whos all of their possessions, and is warmly welcomed into the Who-ville community.

Why I Love Him:

• He often speaks in rhyme — he clearly has the soul of a poet.
• He’s as cuddly as a cactus and as charming as an eel.
• His two-sizes-too-small heart has room for a dog. A dog called “Max”. How small could that heart really be?
• He, unlike many villains, is able to enjoy a happy ending. There’s nothing like the endearment of redeement. (What’s that? The word is “redemption”? But… But… That doesn’t rhyme. You’re ruining my rhyme.)
• He was portrayed by Jim Carrey in the 2000 live-action film, one of my all-time favourite comedic actors. (And unlike Mike Meyer’s Cat in the Hat, I wasn’t completely creeped out.)

I Would Love Him More If…

• …he hadn’t tried to… you know… Steal Christmas. Yes, that’s the point of his tale; yes, it leads to his happy ending, but… C’mon. It’s Christmas. You can’t not like Christmas! (Or its festive counterparts, like Kwanzaa and Hanukkah, of course!)
• …he wasn’t a procrastinator. Okay, Mr Grinch, you don’t like Christmas, then fine — eliminate it. But why wait fifty-three years to do it? Pull your thumb out, son.

Favourite Quote:

“It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags! … Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more!”

Interesting Facts about the Grinch:

Like Charles Dickens’s famous character, Ebenezer Scrooge, the very name “Grinch” is widely used to refer to someone who acts unfavourably in the holiday season. The 2000 live-action film made reference to this, with “The Book of Who” stating: “The term Grinchy shall apply when Christmas spirit is in short supply.”

And here’s a bonus fact about the Grinch’s creator: Did you know that the correct pronunciation of “Seuss” does not rhyme with “goose”, but with “voice”? Weird, huh?

Verdict: AWESOME.

- Love The Bad Guy

I Am One Bad Relationship Away From Having 30 Cats

Fellow bloggers will surely understand the intrigue of blog stats. Little bars that reach up to sporadic numbers to tell us whether or not anyone cares about what we’re writing.

Fellow bloggers will also understand how amusing one portion of these stats can be. I’m talking, of course, about the search terms.

The search terms stat page is a record of the things that a person may have typed into a Google or Yahoo or Bing search bar (I’m just kidding. Who the heck uses Bing?) and which subsequently led said person to a particular blog.

My blog, for instance, has a great many search terms that make sense:

happy voldemort

funny voldemort

love the bad guy

Then there are some that seem weird, at first, but which make sense when I remember the similarly weird post that would have been connected to it:

avada kedavra hakuna matata

cheshire cat smile

cartoon helicopter

And then there are some that sit at the bottom of the search terms list, having only been searched once or twice. These are the ones that seem weird, at first… And then become even weirder after you’ve thought about it for a bit, because… Well, quite frankly, where the heck have they come from?

Feast your eyes.

Smile and nod, guys. Smile and nod.

- Love The [Bemused] Bad Guy