The Superior Scribbler Award

Well I finally won something. And, to be honest, it’s about time. Not because I’m an undiscovered, tortured genius - although I cetainly might be, and eternally so - but because every blog you stumble over these days is literally strewn with Best-Of-Something-Or-Other Awards from header to footer. Except mine. Lately I've begun to wonder if bloggers aren’t making up and posting their own awards.

Blog Award Inflation, hereafter known as BAI (pronounced Bahhhhh; think Shaun the Sheep), is upon us. That’s right - it’s not enough that we are suffering an economic catastrophe of global proportions, that the planet’s delicate ecological balance is sliding down a slippery slope to hell and that everywhere you turn (except for Norway) there is war, poverty, corruption, crap music and/or slumbering bird influenza. No, on top of all this misery we have to suffer the hubris of BAI as well. Damn.

Let it therefore be known that this particular award, the Superior Scribbler Award, has nothing whatsoever to do with this vapid BAI phenomenon. This is the real thing, folks, the needle of quality lost in a haystack of mediocrity. One need look no farther than to its present awarder, John Simpson, of Running After My Hat, to mark its authenticity. In fact, one should look at John’s blog. It’s every budding writer’s blog O’ plenty. Indeed, it reads just as well even if you belong to that ever diminishing subspecies of Homo sapiens who don’t consider themselves to be writers. But I digress. With high honours come sober responsibilities. Here’re my latest:

• Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
• Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
• Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.
• Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit [the above Scholastic Scribe] post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
• Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

Yes, fame is a heavy burden to bear. Not only that, but it’s a lot like work, too; I have to pass the Superior Scribbler on to five of my most-deserving Bloggy Friends. I break out in a sweat just thinking about it. Being the archetypical lone wolf that I am, I‘m not sure I even possess five ‘Bloggy Friends’, let alone five deserving Bloggy Friends. Better yet, what exactly is a Bloggy Friend? I get this image of a fat, red Barbapappa. To make things even more difficult, several highly qualified candidates – such as John ­– have already been crowned as Superior Scribblers. Be this as it may, I do have three worthy candidates:

Tammie Lee of Spirithelpers: Tammie just might be one of the gentlest people in the world. Never a discouraging word to be heard or found on her blog. But that’s neither here nor there. What you will find at Spirithelpers are incredibly beautiful and inspiring photographs, often featuring her personal natural surroundings out West: animals, plants, mushrooms and mosses as well as breathtaking vistas of snow-clad mountains and dreamy cloud-filled sunsets. Earth, wind, fire and ice. But there’s more, because it would be somewhat odd to give a scribbler award to a photographer. When the mood moves Tammie, she illustrates these photos with her beautiful heartfelt poetry and prose. It can take your breath away and fill you with hope at the same time. Often when I'm visiting Spirithelpers I feel like I've become a child again. And for a big kid like me, that's about as good as it gets. People are forever dumping prizes and awards on Tammie; I feel almost guilty doing so myself. But she is definitely a deserving Bloggy Friend and Superior Scribbler, so there you have it.

Captain Smack of This Is Your Captain Speaking: Now I wouldn’t call Captain Smack a ‘Bloggy Friend’; not to his face, not behind his back, and not because he’s undeserving, but because he might pistol-whip me if I did. And anyway, I don’t really know him that well, although I can assure you that he is a gifted teller of stories. Anyhow, if you want to laugh until you weep (but do not write LOL in your comments, it’s strictly verboten) over subjects such as self-abuse involving minty toothpaste and Willy Nelson tattoos placed in areas of the female physiognomy where you might expect to find Willy himself, but not his tattoo, then The Capt. is your man. As an added attraction, he’s a musician with, last time I checked, one of his classic tunes featured on his blog; I Got High, a song he wrote about an experience he had with a ladder. An interesting aside; for reasons not immediately apparent, women bloggers seem to be inordinately attracted to the Captain and promise him all manner of interesting things. Especially Antipodeans seem to fall under his spell. It might be the hat, I don’t know. Curious.

Rowena at Warrior Girl: Obviously prolificacy in the world of art is no goal in itself. However, when combined with proficiency, you have a force to be reckoned with. Enter Warrior Girl. I have never met Ms. Murillo, but I don’t doubt for an instant that she lives up to her self-given name of Warrior Girl. Energy Girl wouldn’t be so far off the mark, either. Like everybody mentioned here, Rowena is multitalented, in her case both as a writer and as a painter. I’ve had the pleasure of joining her (as well as John) at Burning Lines, a collective never-ending-story, and following the development of her incredible series of ‘Flying Girl’ paintings. She also has some great running commentary on her blog about being a woman, mother, artist, writer and all-round human being, trying to get by in the twenty first century.

Deserving Bloggy Friends Four and Five: I think I’d like to leave these final slots empty in case I stumble over new deserving Bloggy Friends. I know they are out there. I’d like to add that there were several candidates who were quite deserving, yet I find myself sitting with the feeling that they might not fully appreciate this award and its attendant responsibilities.