I’m so chuffed to have been nominated by HeavenZanny’s Skincare and Makeup Tips and Tricks for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award.
The Dragon’s Loyalty Award Rules:
- Display the award certificate on your website
- Announce your win with a post and link to whoever presented your award
- Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers
- Drop them a comment to tip them off after you’ve linked them in the post
- Post 7 interesting things about yourself
OK here are 7 things about me that not too many people know:
- I am actually a Reverend
As in, many years ago I wrote off to an address in the back of the National Enquirer to a mail order ministry and got ordained by post. I don’t think I have any real powers but you can call me Rev if you like. I sometimes get asked to do marriage ceremonies by people who don’t really want to be married. - Actually, make that a Pope
I know a lot of people who are into Robert Anton Wilson and if you hang out with those guys you sort of become a Pope by default. I also have a little button badge that says Pope! and I don’t think even the real Pope has one of those. - Places I have lived in:
Belfast; Manchester; Liverpool; Cardiff; Norwich; Nottingham; London; Brighton. I’m sticking with the latter for now. - I was once in the cinema in Belfast and a bomb went off outside, and I didn’t leave until the movie finished
Because THAT’S how much I love films. Though in retrospect this wasn’t my smartest ever move. I can tell the rest of this story in another blog post if you like. - I am held hostage by a demon cat called Dennis
Please come and rescue me. Send cookies. Not website ones.
- I’ve started learning Adult Ballet
Ach, don’t laugh. I’m doing it for posture. So far, my greatest achievement has been not mentioning my Adult Ballet on social media. No selfies at the barre for me. - Bands I have seen live include:
The Smiths (3 times); Nick Cave; Echo and the Bunnymen; New Order; Sisters of Mercy; REM; Super Furry Animals; Kid Creole and the Coconuts (who had better hair than you might remember)
Nominations:
It’s very hard to think of nominations for something like this because it’s a bit like picking your favourite child, if you had eleventy billion children. Plus there are lots of blogs that I maybe don’t follow all the time, but I like to read from time to time.
So just to keep it neat I have decided to pick 15 Old School Bloggers – ie they’ve all been blogging for 5 years or more, so by default that means you’ll get something different from their blogs than you might do from more recently born sites. Not that older is necessarily better; it’s just beautiful in a different way.
Also I don’t think they will mind if I call them dragons.
Not Supermum – Like me, Jean has been blogging since 2007 and is blessed with a dose of the teenagers. I feel your pain, Jean.
BabyBaby – Born in 2009, this blog written by Sandy is one of the first I can remember reading. Sandy has gone off blogging a bit now (and who can blame her?) but what she doesn’t know is that I coming round with a big stick to prod her until she gets cracking on the keyboard again.
Domestic Goddesque – Another one dating back to 2007. What was going on then? Was it an especially bad winter or something? Anyway, Kelly has a nicer house and better shoes than any of us but try not to blame her for it, she could probably fight dirty if she had to.
The Bungalow Rides Again – 3 Bedroom Bungalow used to be one of my favourite blogs, and now Kat is back back BACK to roar again.
Me, The Man and the Kids – I remember way back in 2009 when this was Me, The Man and the Baby. Now there are a bunch more kids and stuff and Emma is just rocking on and being cool at the heart of it.
Mummy from the Heart AKA Michelle, blogging since 2008. I have met Michelle a few times but have yet to nab a hug from her, though rest assured it’s ON MY LIST *Michelle quakes in fear*
Mum in the Madhouse – Now, Jen I have hugged a few times but I could always go a few more. And what’s this, an award winner in our midst! Winner of Best Craft Blog in the recent MAD Awards, Jen does lots of admirably crafty stuff with her kids so the rest of us don’t have to bother.
Thinly Spread – I always think of Chris as being much more elegant than me, on account of all that lovely floaty hair she has, and also the fact that being more elegant than me is not a high bar to vault. This is a lovely mix of lifestyle posts and veggie recipes and floaty hair. I think you’ll like it.
PetitMew – Speaking of bloggers with admirable hair, come over here and worship the pinkness, then worship some more the formidable gaming skills.
Sticky Fingers – I remember when it was all .blogspot around these parts. The photography on this blog is fantastic, plus they have The World’s Handsomest Dog who probably never keeps them hostage in the basement. I might get Dennis the Cat to start reading this one.
Typecast – Nickie has been blogging since 2009 and I like how she literally does refuse to be typecast; always has something new to say and it is inevitably not what you thought it might be.
Mum’s Gone To – Trish is another 2009-vintage blogger with a life I would quite like to have. She goes to all sorts of awesome and interesting places and blogs about them. She’s just back from Lyme Regis, which is one of my most fave places. I once shared a speedboat with Trish which was thrilling for both of us in many respects.
Making it Up – Jax’s blog dates back to 2003! Most nu-school bloggers weren’t even born then. Always interesting, always honest – just how I like a blog to be.
Expat Mum – A view from the USA, stretching back to 2008. These days, Toni’s nest is emptier, but she is writing for no less than the Wall Street Journal which has to be better than doing the laundry.
Vegemite Vix – For many years I thought this blog was called Vegemite Mix, and that its roots were in some sort of dried mix that you could make Vegemite out of.
During the life of this blog Vicki has bounced from New Zealand to the UK and back again. You see the lengths long-term bloggers will go to to have something to blog about? Now that’s dedication to the cause.
Also it turns out that Vegemite Mix is not a thing, although I wouldn’t put it past somebody to start a Kickstarter fund to develop it.
It’s taken me a long time to get this post together, and tomorrow I will probably remember somebody I should’ve included, and will fret about it.
But I hope you like this Old School Class and will maybe explore some of these blogs to see what life was like way back in the olden days of 5 years ago. Some of us didn’t even have smartphones then, but like the tenacious types we are, somehow we survived.
Now I wonder what the next 5 years of blogging will bring?