I was honored to be tagged by one of the gamers and game bloggers I’ve been lucky enough to meet while part of Casualties of War…Oakstout. Sometimes reading his blog is like seeing my own thoughts in black and white. Well, in his case, black and orange. Take a read of his site when you get a chance. With great quotes like “…you probably couldn’t even wipe your own ass without losing half your health and mana…”, how could you go wrong?
The Award and Rules:
This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant.
Apparently the rules are as follows:
1. When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to the said person so everyone knows she/he is real.
2. Choose a minimum of seven (7) blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have seven friends. Show the seven random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with Honest Weblog. Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.
3. List at least ten (10) honest things about yourself. Then pass it on!
The Seven Suckers…
This is going to be difficult. Fortunately, a lot of the game bloggers I follow have already been nominated. So, there is something to be said for being one of the last kids picked to play dodge ball. However, if you are on my blogroll to the right, I try to click on each of you daily. So there IS someone reading your blog almost every day. And I think you’re worth this award even if you aren’t listed here:
In Java Literally – This isn’t just for bonus points at home, but this is my wife’s blog. While she has no formal training and will proudly tell you so, I think she is a great writer. She keeps her posts short, simple, sweet or sour. Regardless of the topic, she keeps it interesting (and honest). She’s mostly responsible for trying to form a coalition of local bloggers and develop a local Twitter network. She actually is the one to first stress the importance of blogging and social networking to me at a time I was blowing them off.
Eternal Nightmare Studio – One of my best friends, Kevin, is a horror genre artist, writer and aficionado. He keeps his blog updated with his latest art, writing, and writes critiques here and there about the stuff he’s reading, watching and listening to. His studio site is Eternal Nightmare. I’ve always admired Kev for staying real to his art and writing. He truly lives his craft and has stuck with it through thick and thin. He has been spending a lot of his time on a graphic novel. Keep up with it on his blog.
Grinding to Valhalla – Game blogger, Randolph Carter, got a brilliant idea one day. Ask a bunch of gamer types to jump in on a project where they answer interview-type questions about themselves. Then post the answers on a blog and keep an archive on those gamer types for posterity. It’s created an interesting community and has led to some insightful revelations on some of the people I play MMOs with. If you’re from the gaming world, specifically MMOs, RC will sign you up to his project.
Kill Ten Rats – Full disclosure. I’m playing Lord of the Rings Online with the creator of this blog and a few of the contributors. These guys like to write with tongue-in-cheek humor and they spare no one – players and developers alike. When they review or talk about games, they talk about what they expect and what they’ve been handed. The good, the bad, the ugly…and funny as hell most of the time if you pick up on the blatant, bleeding sarcasm. And they should really have a podcast, because I swear it runs over and over in my head.
Nerfbat – If I remember correctly, back in the early days of Everquest 2 the devs were in the midst of making ALL quests count toward the total number of quests you could have in your journal at one time. Sick of the pissers and whiners on the boards, I PMed (private messaged) community relations rep Ryan “Blackguard” Shwayder and asked why they simply didn’t increase the quest total in the journal. First, to my shock, he responded…shattering my notion that all developers were dic…um…unresponsive. Second, I’ve been following Ryan’s blog, read and participate in his forums (with a great sub-community of people, btw), have played in a few games with him, and highly anticipate the first MMO title from the company he now works for as a developer, 38 Studios.
10 Honest Things About Myself
1. My first job was working at a fast food restaurant my sophomore year in high school so I could afford a car. I had that job for four years.
2. I was a hardcore skater in my late teens, using said vehicle to hunt skate spots.
3. I used to skate all night after work, making it home in time to catch the bus for school (only seniors could drive to school).
4. I’ve been gaming in one form or another for 32 years…computer gaming for nearly 26.
5. I wrote a paper titled “Virtual Worlds: Wave of the Future(1993)” for a final paper my freshman year in college. It received an A+ in both my Computer Science course and my English class.
6. With that, I decided to quit my computer science trek and go into Communications and Media Arts with a focus in writing because I really wanted to be a writer.
7. That change led me to become a radio new writer and anchor, radio news magazine show host, and currently the public relations person in the mayor’s office of my city.
8. But I still love to program, hobby game design, and play MMOs.
9. I love beer, especially micro brews. Some say ‘too much’, some say ‘not enough’. I have to believe that means ‘just right’.
10. I’m most proud of my relationship with my wife and what we have been able to do together. (Okay…yeah…awwwwwww.)
Et fin.