All In The Family

Wiley nominated me for the Family Blogging Award!

“We are family… Get up everybody and sing…”  Come on!  Join in.  You know the words!

Rules:
1. Display the award logo on your blog
2. Link back to the person who nominated you
3. Nominate 10 others you see as having an impact on your WordPress experience and family
4. Let your 10 Family members know you have awarded them
5. That is it. Just please pick 10 people who have taken you as  a friend, and spread the love

I love this award… but, I don’t know how to pick just 10 of my fellow bloggers.  Every single person I follow has influenced me in some way, has had on impact on my WordPress experience, has made me laugh, or cry, or overwhelmed me with righteous anger, or made me think, or… well, pretty much the whole gambit of emotions when you get right down to it.  So of the plethora of bloggers out there, that are part of my blogosphere family, how do I pick just 10?

Then again, since I follow over 500 blogs (I looked it up!!  No wonder I’m feeling so way far behind right now in reading all of the wonderful things you post.) I can’t very well nominate all of you.  Well… I guess I could, but, I don’t have time to do all those pingbacks.  If you are going to be part of my family you should know right off the bat that I’m lazy like that.  😛

So… more than 10, less than 500…

I nominate these wonderful people who have been the most influential in my life recently:

1. Jon – the official kingdom mage (in the wise man sense of the word)
2. Jen – the official kingdom poet (here a rhyme, there a rhyme, everywhere a rhyme, rhyme)
3. MerBear – the official kingdom jester trainer (I may have a kingdom, but I too had to be trained)
4. Steph – the ruler of the official matticus sister kingdom (Steph, as you all know, is amazing)
5. Tony – the official kingdom scribe (he has a way with words)
6. (Aunt) Princess Rosebud – the official kingdom aunt (as we have covered once or twice before)
7. The Imaginator – the official kingdom creative (in a Mad Men sort of way)
8. The Scribbler – the official kingdom question asker (she has some good ones)
9. Mr. Atheist – the official kingdom master of ceremonies (it’s all in how he says things)
10. Matrone Bell – the official kingdom mystic (purveyor of cryptic messages to make us ponder the past, present, and future)
11. Rara – the official kingdom dinosaur (every kingdom needs one)
12. Jenn – the official kingdom artist (her work has a prominent spot on the kingdom home page)
13. The Foodie Farmer – the official kingdom dietician (and possibly real estate advisor)
14. Revis Edgewater – the official matticus brother kingdom (he writes fiction that cover a variety of story lines after my own heart)
15. Gordon Flanders – the official kingdom herald (he writes what he thinks, and that’s something we like around here)
16. JC – the official kingdom color coordinator (she came up with the official kingdom colors after all)

Thank you all for being part of the kingdom family!!

If I had the talent I’d have created badges to go along with each of your titles.  Alas, I do not.  But… if one of you does have the talent, and the time, and the desire to volunteer to do just that, you’d have my eternal gratitude.

Okay, you called my bluff.  All of you already have my eternal gratitude.  Hey, you are family.  That’s just the way it is.

While the jester was away…

… the awards piled up!!

Thank you for all the awards!  Thank you for continuing to stop by the matticus kingdom while I’m busy taking care of the prince and the wife.  Thank you for showing all my guest bloggers love!  (And anyone that wants to guest blog can still do so, just send me an email at djmatticus@yahoo.com).

…..

The Seeker nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award:

The Rules:

1. Display the award logo.

2. Link back to the person who nominated you.

3. State 7 things about yourself.

a. I very recently became a first time father
b. I very recently welcomed a prince into the kingdom
c. I very recently changed my very first diaper ever
d. I’ve changed a whole bunch since then and it’s only been two weeks
e. Some nights I get more sleep than I used to (broken up, of course, but more over all)
f. Other nights I get far less sleep than I used to
g. I don’t think I’ve entirely lost my mind yet… but, that is only a matter of time

4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.

a. Not Quite Alice
b. The Cheeky Diva
c. Princess Rosebud
d. Jen
e. The Foodie Farmer

 

………

Not Quite Alice nominated me for the Epically Awesome Award of Epic Awesomeness:

The Rules:

1. Tell 10 epic and/or awesome facts about yourself.  That’s it.

a. – g. See Above
h. Yes, I know I’m cheating
i. I’m okay with that, even though I’m an Eagle Scout
j. I believe that some rules in life are meant to be bent, and others broken

2. Pass it on to 10 bloggers you think are awesome and/or epic–or both.

a. Matrone Bell
b. The Scribbler
c. Mr. Atheist
d. Revis Edgewater
e. A Way With Words
f. Kim

 

………

Kim (at Tranquil Dreams) nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award:

The Rules:

11 questions?  A picture? 200 followers?

There weren’t really clear directions on what to do with this one.  I’ve accepted this particular award before following some rules and disregarding others… and this time around I think I’ll just pass it along to some well deserving bloggers and let them decide for themselves want they want to do to go along with the nomination.  You can see what I did before here if you are looking for some more clearly defined instructions.

Nominations:

a. Julie’s Chick Lit
b. TheImaginator
c. UndercoverL
d. DesertRat
e. The Seeker

 

……….

UndercoverL bestowed upon me the Most Influential Blogger Award:

The Rules:

1) Accept the award.  (Gratitude is always welcome.)

2) List 5 things that have influenced you in some way.

a. JD‘s posts always make me think.  Plus he let’s me call him JD (in homage to Scrubs) and in my head I hear him conveying his messages in the voice of James Earl Jones.
b. Rarasaur is, well, the most influential dinosaur I know.  She’s creative, she’s upbeat, she even start hosting her own “prompts for the promptless series” to provide additional inspiration to those of us needing a little push towards the creative.
c. Gordon of Anyone’s Ghost tells like it is, or like he sees it, and isn’t afraid to let it out all and see where the words take him.  Sometimes they are raw, but they are always the truth, and they are always powerful.
d. Steph makes me laugh and cry and think and ponder and squirt milk out of my nose.  She’s amazing like that.
e. TwinDaddy lets his multiple personalities (and brothers) run wild on his blog.  Reading his blog helped me unleash the jester here in the kingdom.

3) Nominate other bloggers (no specific number) that have influenced you.

 – I’m nominating the 5 listed above.

4) Bling your Blog!

epic again

Revis Edgewater nominated me for the:

This one is just so much easier to show, rather than say… It’s a total tongue twisting teaser that tangles thoughts thoroughly, though that theoretically isn’t its intent.  Hmm, can an award have an intent?  The giver, yes, but the award itself?  Something to ponder later, perhaps.

Let’s bask in the epic awesomeness of this award shall we?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh…..

Yes, that’s quite nice.  I do so enjoy being considered epically awesome.

Hmm, you are right, there generally are rules associated with these types of things.  How good of you to notice.  And this is no exception, except (oh, there is an exception) this time there’s only one!  (One rule, and one exception.  Coincidence?)

• Tell 10 epic and/or awesome facts about yourself

1)   I like alliteration.
2)   I like the word “shenanigans.”
3)   I like sun -rises and -sets equally.
4)   I like body surfing.
5)   I like mocha’s.
6)   I like the smell of rain.
7)   I like river fishing.
8)   I like climbing trees.
9)   I like cheetahs.
10) I like when I’ve completed a list.

And my nominations for the Epically Awesome Award of Epic Awesomeness are:

1)   fortyoneteen
2)   blog of the imaginator
3)   anyone’s ghost
4)   knocked over by a feather
5)   the foodie farmer
6)   the mercenary researcher
7)   carrie rubin
8)   so i went undercover
9)   sketches and scribbles
10) the serenity space

All of these bloggers are truly awesomesuace in their own way.  The Kingdom strongly encourages you to go forth and see what they have to offer in the way of entertainment, challenges, delights, and mysteries.  And make sure you show Revis some love too… he knows people… it’s best to stay on his good side…  That’s really all I can say.

Conditions in The Matticus Kingdom today: long periods of SUNSHINE

Julie Chicklitasaurus over at Julie’s Chick Lit nominated me for a Sunshine Award:

“The Sunshine Award is an award given by bloggers to other bloggers. The recipients of the Sunshine Award are: Bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere. The way the award works is this: Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them. Answer questions about yourself. Select 10 of your favorite bloggers, link their blogs to your post and let them know they have been awarded the Sunshine Award!”

Thank you very much for the nomination Julie.  We here in the kingdom really enjoy knowing that we are positively and creatively inspiring others throughout the blogosphere!  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

{QUESTIONS and ANSWERS}

What inspired you to start blogging?
I finally joined the blogging madness shortly after finding out I was going to be a father.  Initially the idea was to use the space as an archive for the journey towards becoming a parent and beyond, but…  well, the jester took over and now it is what it is.

How did you come up with the name to your blog?
The Matticus Kingdom – This is the name of a mix album I put together several years ago that spanned the various styles of my entire catalog of records: it started very low key with some progressive house, moved into some breakbeat, picked up the pace a bit with some trance (progressive, cyber, psy), and then finished off in a crescendo of furiously flying happy hardcore beats.  It encompassed who I was as a dj, and this blog encompasses who I am as a writer… it just makes sense.

What is your favorite blog you like to read?
What?!  What kind of question is that?  I’m not even sure I could narrow that down even if the question was more specific.  For example, even if the question was “What is your favorite blog from someone who lives in San Diego and has a son that went to the same college as you and has a husband who is a tugboat captain?” even as specific as that is, there are just too many wonderful choices to pick from.  Therefore, I’m declining to answer this question.

Tell about your dream job.
Writing novels.  Fantasy, mystery, westerns, comedies, yes, yes, yes, yes… getting paid to write the silliness that my mind comes up with.  That would be swell, thanks.  Why, can you hook that up for me?

Is your glass half empty or half full?
Half full.  However, it would be empty because I don’t leave glasses just lying around.  I’d either down what was left in it, or dump the contents down the drain and place the empty glass in the washer.  I don’t like leaving things around like that.

If you could go anywhere for a week’s vacation, where would you go?
Where I do go every summer: camping and/or backpacking in the Sierra.

What food can you absolutely not eat?
Mold.  I don’t have any food allergies, that I know of, yet.  However, I can absolutely not take mold based medicines.  Something about hallucinations and hives and just general unpleasantness.

Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?
Yes.  In copious amounts please.  *holding my hand out waiting patiently for the chocolatey goodness to be delivered*

How much time do you spend blogging?
Far too little and far too much.  I don’t get to read and comment as much on all the wonderful blogs out there as I’d like, but I also spend more time than I should scrolling through them, liking them, commenting, replying to comments, replying to replies, thinking of new posts, writing new posts, checking stats, etc…

Do you watch TV, and if so, what are some of your favorite shows?
Bones, Castle, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Simpsons…  those are the staples.  I thoroughly enjoyed Sopranos and Deadwood.  I also really enjoyed Dead Like Me.  I watch Dexter when I can but I’m a few seasons behind right now.  I will also watch Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and NCIS if they are on and there is nothing else competing with them.  CSI used to be in that rotation too, but I haven’t been catching it nearly as much as I used to.  Hmm, I think I might watch too much TV.

{NOMINATIONS}

Each of these bloggers has inspired me through their words, through their artwork, and through their creativity.  I think that fits the Sunshine Award bill perfectly:

Jonathan Hilton
Matrone Bell
The Imaginator
Steph Rogers
Jen Rosenberry
Jenn
Rutabaga
Revis Edgewater
Dave
Wiley Schmidt

the A, B, C’s of it all

I was nominated for the ABC Award by Zen A. of Zen Scribbles  – and the requirements for this particular award: all you have to do is, for each letter of the alphabet, write about something relevant to you.

Here’s my list.  You might just see a theme….

Airplane
Braveheart
Caddyshack
Day After Tomorrow
Eight Mile
For Love of the Game
Goonies
Hancock
I, Robot
Joe Versus the Volcano
Kingdom of Heaven
Lord of the Rings: Two Towers
Magnificent Seven
National Treasure
Open Range
Princess Bride
Quigley Down Under
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Short Circuit
Tombstone
Unbreakable
V For Vendetta
Watchmen
X-Men: The Last Stand
Young Guns
Zulu

You may think I’ve cheated, but I think the above list says quite a lot about me.  And it’s all you are getting today anyway, so neener, neener.

Here are my nomiations, they do have Awesome Blog Content, but mostly I just want to see what they write:
twindaddy
rara
desertrat
jenn
steph
jon
tony
shannon
theimaginator
matrone bell
girlycamping

Show me what you’ve got!