And the award goes to... ME!

Yesterday was a "beautiful day in the neighborhood", everyone! The uber-stylish Townhouselady, over at A Townhouselady's Life, was kind enough to bestow upon me my very first blog award! It's none other than the illustrious Honest Scrap Award! From what I've seen around the 'sphere, it's a pretty highly regarded one, too. My understanding is that the award is supposed to be given to a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver's opinion, brilliant and/or inspiring. In other words, it's a HUGE compliment! I always enjoy getting feedback via reader's comments, but it really means a lot when someone like Townhouselady goes out of her way like this to both support and help promote my dumb li'l dog 'n' pony show that I like to call, Pop Circus!

So I'm sending out a super-duper-deluxe "Thank you!" to Townhouselady, who happens to be preggers, and already knows she's having a little girl. Congrats, you haute momma-to-be!

Of course, as with most great things, there is a bit of a catch to this. I must adhere to a few simple rules if I am to graciously accept this award.


So here are the rules:

• Say "Thank you!", and provide a link to the presenter of the award.
  


• Share 10 Honest Things about yourself.
  


• Present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged/inspired you.
  


• Inform those 7 people of these guidelines when presenting them with the Honest Scrap Award.

Now, on with the sharing...



10 Honest Things
(about Anthony)

1. For the most part, I do not have any obsessive-compulsive disorders. At least, none that have been diagnosed. But when taking my clothes out of the washer or dryer, I can't help double-checking, even triple-checking for something I might've missed. You'll lose a sock or your Fruit o' the Looms, if you're not careful...
   
   
2. My brain just doesn't register sports, or religion.
   
   
3. I have a very inquisitive mind, so I tend to ask a lot of questions. I'm fairly sure that this is one personality trait that my friends, family and husband all endure only out of love.
   
   
4. I am a good, loyal friend.
   
   
5. I have quite a high tolerance for pain. A lifetime of chronic headaches/migraines has conditioned me to this degree of resilience, but a real "good one" can still derail me!
   
   
6. I've literally stared down the barrels of 3 separate, drawn police guns which were all aimed directly at me in unison, and ready to shoot. They thought that they had caught some murder suspect because my appearance somehow matched the description of a person seen fleeing a nearby crime scene. But fortunately, I didn't make any sudden moves, and they didn't pull their triggers. What they did do, though, was pull me off of a city bus (which I was riding to work that day), hand-cuffed me, and stood me on the busy street corner so that a witness could "identify" me from across an entire intersection, diagonally! The whole thing was a joke, but I wasn't laughing. Obviously, they let me go because I wasn't the murderer! The real kicker, however, was that all of it made me really late for work, but they refused to give me a ride. Instead, I had to wait another half-hour for the next city bus to come along again! I lost a lot of respect for law enforcement that day.
   
   
7. Peanut butter used to be my favorite Food Group. Then my doctor said I really had to start watching my weight. Sooo not one jar of it has entered our home since December, 2008. :(
   
   
8. I secretly (not now), selfishly hope that both Tommy and I will die together. After growing super old, of course! I hate the thought of either one of us being left behind to live without the other.
   
   
9. I personally feel that if you are a gay, mature adult, you have NO acceptable excuse in today's society for not coming out and being true to yourself. Choosing to live a lie in order to appease family expectations and/or to avoid conflict is just the chicken shit way out! If you're not honest about who you really are, how can you demand the trust and respect of others? Live a lie, die a lie.
   
   
10. Tommy told me that sometimes I giggle in my sleep.

Now, my selections for the next worthy magnificent 7 are:

• Lisa (aka Tikimama), over at Atomic Tea Party - She brews up some great Mid-Century flavor, and she's also the one who turned me on to this whole blogging game! Oh, I should probably disclose that we've been good friends for almost 20 years. That wouldn't disqualify her, would it? ;)
  
  
  
• Six, over at Sixpence and a Blue Moon - She's really neat! A true original. There was just something about her, and her blog, that I instantly liked.
  
  
  
• Lenore, over at LENORENEVERMORE - Talk about original, unique, one-of-a-kind, etc. I don't even know if Webster has the right word to correctly define this sassy, fashionable lady!
  
  
  
• Drollgirl, over at DROLLGIRL - Now, this girl can "rock out with her c*ck out" because she loves heavy metal. But she can also talk about art, or her love for animals. She actually features a fairly wide variety of things, such as different new artists/photographers, celebrities, cute animals, etc. And if you've got a dirty sense of humor, her blog is right up your alley! (Ahem.)
  
  
  
• Heidi Ann, Tina Dawn, & Lorlore, over at Gold Country Girls - This charming blog is collectively hosted by three lovely sisters who grew up together in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains, an area also known as Gold Country. If you like nostalgia, gardening, vintage fashion, recipes, thrifting, antiques, etc. you will certainly find some gold in them thar hills!
  
  
  
• Kirk Demarais, over at Secret Fun Blog - He's one cool cat, and pretty much into everything that I dig, too! That's mainly because this blog is an extension of his colorful, eye-popping "Retro Culture" website, Secret Fun Spot. His blog posts are usually about toys he collects, classic pranks & gags, magic and just about anything to do with vintage ephemera. Groovy!
  
  
  
• Life With Dogs, over at Life With Dogs - It ain't hard to figure this one out! The writing is smart and funny, sometimes even quite informative. Plus, they do this hilarious running series of cartoon-like gags where they paste in real photos of their dogs in all manner of situations, with conversation balloons overhead. Very witty! So if you're a dog lover, do yourself a favor and pounce on over for a visit.

Well, I hope that my meager little shout-outs will help to bring these excellent bloggers some of the extra attention they deserve... And bloggers, consider yourselves awarded!