Thursday, December 6, 2007

You, too, can be Shameless


It is time to get a little crazy, my friends.

It's time to break out the fuschia font.

ROOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!!

Okay, not quite a barbaric yawp, but close enough.

quill was so kind as to honor me (and Wayne Shannon, among others) with this lovely blogging award. Having my writing called "engaging" and "heartfelt" is even more thrilling than inviting a hot-pink lion into my shabby little den. I really appreciate the sentiment and good will behind Seamus Kearny's effort to build a community of writers, and kindred spirits. And I already have a whole heap of new blogs to explore as a result. Thank you, quill!

About the award:

Seamus Kearney of Shameless Words believes in powerful writing, and he believes that it can be, and is, found in many places on the internet. This award was developed by him to put forth that belief and to encourage writers to roar.

The rules are simple and can be found at the original site. Please follow the link and pick up your award. The Shameless Lions Writing Circle

My 3 Writing Requirements:

Confidence: I didn't start writing until four years ago. Simply didn't believe I had it in me. And while I have yet to transform into a pillar of strength, I am light years more secure about myself than I was before. We all need to believe that we are good, but more importantly, that we can be better.

Empathy: As character builders, we need to be able to flip our perspectives, and tunnel into new skins.

Lyricism: Character is not enough. As writers, we must love language. We must stretch its boundaries, and be willing to fight for the words that will elevate our writing above the commonplace. When we succeed, we elevate our readers, too.

And my 5 picks for the award (note: I tried to pick blogs that have not recently been honored, or don't have the big kitty already in their sidebar):

The Clarity of Night
Jason Evans' blog is less a web destination than a nighttime harbor. I can almost feel my pulse slow, and my muscles relax, when I see that twilight background and his beautiful photos. Through his poetry, fiction, and photography, Jason challenges us to explore the world from different perspectives, before taking our hands to guide us, gently, along the way.

Jaye's Blahg
She calls her kid Spawn. She introduced me to "crypt lit." She makes me kinda like Texas. Jaye Wells is super-smart, wickedly clever, and endlessly provocative. Oh, and she's also a powerful, sharp writer. In each of her posts, Jaye clears away the cobwebs, and finds some buried treasure. But watch out for that heel...

The Reluctant Writer
Abhinav is passion personified. Whenever I read his lovely writings, I sense his generosity of spirit, and a conviction that will never fail him. He's young, but (and I know this phrase has become trite) he truly is an old soul. He reminds me of the fact that we are all still students, sharing a common classroom.

ABenchPress
Church Lady is our web guardian. She's everywhere, and we all love her. Her blog is reflective of her personality: open-hearted, and wildly curious about everything. Through her writing exercises, contests, and free-flowing trivia, Church Lady's blog is a party that never ends (it better never end!). And none of that love of fun detracts from the fact that she is a profoundly gifted writer.

Hotwire Reality
I have only recently stumbled across Hotwire's blog. His vignettes are wonderfully free of pretension and altogether unique. When reading his stories, I feel like I'm drifting down a river that bends and curves, until arriving at a destination so quietly joyful, or melancholy, that the heart sighs to recognize that intangible thing called truth.

So there you have it! The honorees may feel free to select five more blogs to broaden the circle, or they can just wrap their arms around the kitty, and squeeze.

Now I want to thank my husband, my children, my Apple laptop, my dog, the jackass neighbors with the crazy-loud pickups and the rotting pumpkins, and most importantly, God, for this truly humbling award. I feel God in this blog roll tonight. Now let's all raise our (*exit music playing*)

Hey! Wait a minute!

No fair! More names! I think Al Gore deserves a shout--

aw, crap.

17 comments:

Patti said...

i am in the same admiration club with you over hotwire's writing...yours is great too.

(great?! that's the best i could come up with?! and now ending a sentence in a preposition?! no wonder i don't win awards...~sheesh~)

Anonymous said...

I'm laughing out loud. I hate when they cue the music too early! You can make like Sinatra and just threaten to beat someone up. ;)

Seriously, I'm very humbled by the award, Sarah. I guess I have that feeder instinct in me. Just like the satisfaction of preparing food and serving guests, I take great pleasure in creating a quiet place for people to lay aside the harsh light of world. Even if only for a little while.

Aine said...

Great. Thanks. Now I have to live with Mr. Bighead.

Just kidding!! I'm his biggest fan, so I think he deserves all awards.

My heart bursts with such love and pride when Jason's vision of creating that atmosphere (which is The Clarity of Night) with mere words is recognized by others.

Thanks for introducing a few new blogs, too! Shuffles away to check them out....

Jaye Wells said...

Well, this was a nice surprise. Thanks, Sarah. What a great way for each of us to encourage those who, like us, toil away in the word mines all day long.

Sarah Hina said...

LOL, patti! I promise I won't hold it against you. ;)

And thanks for stopping by!

Jason, I'll just have to get rip-roaring drunk and punch a hole in the wall. ;)

I'm glad I could honor your blog in some small way. You are a wonderful host. :)

Aine, LOL! You deserve a lot of the credit, I'm sure!

And I bet Jason would concur. None of us creates in a vacuum.

:)

Sarah Hina said...

Oops, Jaye. Didn't see you slip in.

I love your blog, and am glad to recognize it in my humble fashion.

:)

Chris Eldin said...

Sarah, I'm reading through your post and getting ready to congratulate *YOU* and tell you how great fushcia looks on you, then I see the five people you nominated.
It's not easy to make Church Lady cry. (okay. it is.)
Thank you so much for your generous words. They really touch my heart, especially right now because I haven't written much lately and am feeling somewhat discouraged about this whole writing process. This truly means a lot to me. Thank you!!!
I just visited Shameless for the first time yesterday, and have linked him. Now I'm going to click on your link.

Mwah!! xoxo

Sarah Hina said...

Don't you cry!

I'm awready dwunk and me nuckles are a misewy fwom punchin dat wall...

Oh, oh!

MWAAAAHHH!

You got me, CL.

(for some reason, I become Elmer Fudd when I drink)

xoxo

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

Sarah, you write like you came out of the womb with a pen in hand, can't believe it has only been 4 years! Congrats on the award!

S. Kearney said...

Hey, congratulations on the award! When I launched that lion's roar, blogs like yours were at the front of my mind. I'm so pleased to see that the award took off and went out to corners of the blogosphere I have never been. Exponential is the word, and I'm so pleased some powerful writing on the Internet is getting recognised. The blogosphere's had a bit of a bashing in the mainstream press recently!

Sarah Hina said...

Ello, I just had writer's block until then. :)

Thanks, and I loved your Moonrat piece yesterday. I almost wet myself. ;)

Shameless, you've started something pretty remarkable here. It's not easy to foster a sense of community among people who have never met, but you've done just that. So congrats to you, too! And thank you.

Steve H said...

sarah, i have to be honest and say that this really made my day. as someone who doesn't consider himself a writer but rather someone who just needs a vehicle to let stuff out once in a while i am truly humbled. thanks so much!

Sarah Hina said...

I am so glad to shine a light (albeit a low-watt one) on your wonderful blog, Hotwire. You're very welcome. :)

And you could have fooled me about not being a writer.

;)

Abhinav said...

@Sarah: I'm so embarrassed that I feel like burying my head in a pile of sand. When I visited Shameless's blog, I thought that the shameless lion is probably light years away from me. Thanks for making my wish come true in a much smaller time. ;-)

May I remain a student all my life and never grow up. Somebody in a lighter vein said: You spend the first few years trying to make your child stand and speak and the rest trying to make them sit down and listen.

Thanks for loving my blog so much. I love yours only a hundred times more. ;-)

@Shameless: In Computer Science, we get really scared when confronted with the binary exponential explosion in our solutions, but I'm loving this quinary explosion in the blogosphere.

And I think I agree with you. We need to let everything be, for the peace of our own mind. The print has its place but so does the blogosphere. Why take away from both by comparing them like commodities.

Sarah Hina said...

Abhinav, take your head out of the sand, my friend. ;)

I think you are not only a student, but a natural born teacher. I feel like I am always learning something from your comments. And I love your enthusiasm!

:)

Anonymous said...

Sarah, when I grow up, I'm gonna be as nice as you.

Sarah Hina said...

Wayne, when I grow up, I'm gonna be--

Oh, forget it.

Let's just not grow up.

;)