slashcut | davyd's blog

. . . an Award Too?

All right, so it’s been a few days since I checked my email. I know, sacrilege, but everybody who knows me, knows that regarding emails (same for v/m and social media), the message gets to me, but it can take a while. Anyway, it was sometime around the middle of last week and I’m still feeling good about the success of the Cocoa Beach book fair. BTW, you can read all about it in my post, After the Book Fair, 3-28-15. It’s a fun read even if you didn’t attend—but I’m getting off the subject.

So there I am checking the email: and what do I see? The Modern Theologian, https://themoderntheologian.wordpress.com , has nominated me for a Liebster Award, but before I had a chance to read anything else, the power goes out at my house. I don’t have a battery backup so that was all I knew. I was nominated for an award. Why was I nominated? What on earth did I do to earn it? Is it an April fool’s joke? If not, what is a Liebster Award anyway? I had no clue and so I sat, waiting for the power to come back on.

We have a lot of power outages where I live. They aren’t very long, maybe a minute or two, but sometimes they can last for hours. I waited and waited, then waited some more and then . . . it was time to go mow the lawn. Unfortunately, I don’t need electric to do that.

The next day the power was back along with my curiosity. I binged The Liebster Award and to my surprise, I discovered that it’s a real thing and apparently, it’s something everyone who has a blog knows about, except of course, me. I read on and learned that the only thing you need in order to be nominated is a blog with fewer than 200 followers (+ or – a few 1000, the rules are fuzzy here). Well, no problem, I got that in spades. Then I read more and the truth was unveiled. The rules seem to be open to interpretation as time goes on but—I will do my best:

Thank the person who nominates you.
Answer the ten questions asked.
Ask ten new questions for your nominees to answer.
Acknowledge the Liebster Award, and link to your nominator’s blog.
Pick ten new nominees and inform them that they have been nominated.

Yes, the rules sound an awful lot like a modern twist on the old chain letter idea, but there is another aspect that can’t be ignored: the opportunity to network. I really don’t understand why doing something like this draws a crowd, but it does—case in point. I guess that’s what constantly baffles me about social media marketing. For example, I can post a picture on facebook of my cat in the process of editing my latest novel (she uses claws and teeth, not a red pen), and that will get a thousand hits if not more, but a free excerpt from the very same novel gets zero. If I combine the two (picture & excerpt), that’s what I’ll get, two hits. Regardless, none of it ever generates book sales.

As such, I draw a distinction between my blog and the rest of social media (facebook, twitter, linkedin, etc.). Maybe that’s a big part of my misunderstanding but to me, there’s is a difference. I like to blog, and the rest of it . . . well, I like to blog. That said—a blog, just like any other form of social media, needs exposure to be successful. This part I do understand and chain letter issues aside, the Liebster Award is an opportunity for exposure. So thank you for the nomination TMT. And thanks to all of you who take the time to read my blog, and especially, this post.

My Liebster Award Q and A

As a supremely honored and grateful recipient of the coveted Liebster Award for Fine Journalistic Blogging . . . oh—uh, excuse me. That was an impromptu divergence into what I call, The Writing World, but I’m back now.

Yes, it is still something of an honor to be thought of and recognized by your peers, but with honor comes responsibility, and mine begins with answers to Theologian’s 10 questions.

What do you do to unwind from the problems of the day?

If I haven’t already done so, I throw on a pair of jeans, t-shirt, boots, and depending on the weather, a long-sleeve shirt or jacket. On the way out the door, I grab my helmet and keys. Then, after a reasonable warm up, I’m thundering down the road on my V-twin. I installed Slashcut Cobra Headers, re-jetted and hand tuned the carbs, and then added a few more finishing touches including a K&N filter (hence the thunder). I gave up pedal power for horsepower when I was fifteen and found serenity on two wheels ever since. The bigger the problem the longer the ride.

You’re given a time machine that can make only one trip, when would you go, and why?

If you go back in human history just five hundred years, intelligent life on this planet was pretty naïve. Who knows, maybe intelligent life on this planet is still very naïve. I would love to find out how it all ultimately works out. To the future and beyond.

Has Earth been visited by aliens?

You obviously haven’t met my ex-wife.

What was your favorite thing to do as a kid?

Mast . . . Daydream. I got into a lot of trouble, daydreaming.

You can solve one of the world’s problems…which one?

Ignorance.

6 What is your favorite book, that one that you could read over and over and never be bored?

The easy answer is the Bible, but I’m a writer and if I’m truly honest, I’d have to say the dictionary, not because I’ve read it cover to cover, but because I read from it and learn, almost every day.

Stuck on a desert island, what one food would you want?

Most desert islands have coconut palms for milk; all I need are Krispy Kreme mini-powder donuts.

Do you have an unrequited love?

Yes. You didn’t ask whom, or better yet, what, and I thank you.

What was your favorite subject in K-12?

Auto shop.

Whom would you want to have lunch with?

I had a dog when I was a kid and he was always there for me. I’d love to share a bologna sandwich and a Slim Jim with him again . . . just to say thanks.

Now for my ten questions, and no, I won’t require elaboration. That’s entirely up to you.

Salt or sugar?
What is the color of pain? Black is the absence of color and can’t be used.
If accomplishment is a derivative of success, what makes you feel most accomplished?
Power or fame?
How many times can you read the same book or see the same movie?
Nine times out of ten, the book is better than the movie. Why?
If it were possible to choose, what animal (other than Homo sapiens) would you be?
What is the one thing that you don’t really have to do, but really, really want to do?
What would you do if you were given a onetime moral and legal pardon?
Are your answers to number 8 and 9 the same?