Thursday Thirteen - 166 - 13 Blogger Spotlights

A few Thursday Thirteen's ago, my fellow Weekend Writer's Retreat blogger Alice Audrey (who writes the serialized story Suzie's House) showcased thirteen bloggers she likes to visit - which I thought was a marvey idea.

So I'm stealing - er, running with that bit of inspiration - and here are thirteen bloggers from my blogroll.

These are all bloggers which draw me back again and again. Some of them I've been blogging with for years. Some are brand new to me. All are delightful.





1 - Apprentice Writer

Maya Missani is a budding comedy writer marking milestones on the road to dropping the 'apprentice' portion of her name. Posting from the Toronto area, she writes book reviews which include comments on the cover art, posts in-depth author interviews and shares hilarious visual humor in the name of mental health.








2 - Around the Island

Robin blogs from just outside Tel Aviv in Israel, the originator of the Sunday photography meme, Summer Stock Sunday. She sells her fine art photography on Etsy, and shares incredible glimpses of life in a country that shimmers with the energies of today and its ancient yesterdays.





3 - Art Predator

Gwendolyn Alley is a published poet from California and an exhibiting artist. She's a returning participant of the Burning Man festival, and is an environmental and social activist.





4 - Elephant Small

Stan Ski has a poetry blog, which I found through Poetry Train Monday. He posted new work without fail for the month of April (National Poetry Writing Month challenge.) He began life in England but now has a family in Thailand, and shares some of his everyday moments along with his highly-accomplished poetry.





5 - Everything and Nothing

Akelamalu blogs from Lancashire, England, where depending on her mood, she may tell us everything, or she may tell us nothing. She travels widely and always takes us along, and is an expert at crafting short, twisty tales.










6 - In The Midst of This Season

Toni is a homeschooling mom of four who blogs from Indiana. Her liquids-spurting-through-nose-inducing humour portrays the anything-but-ordinary lives of herself and her family. She remains ever watchful for those daily blessings that help her to view her cup as half full.







7 - Ire...

Nikita Banerjee blogs from Mumbai in India, posting photography, short fiction and lately the path leading to her upcoming wedding. Keep in mind - Nocturnal Mire. You Mess With Her. You Perish In Her Ire.




8 - Janet's Journal

Janet Corcoran is a new addition to my writer's group here in Nova Scotia. A Real Life friend as well as a Blog Buddy! She posts serialized humorous romantic suspense for the Weekend Writer's Retreat, shares the highs and lows of the writing life and calls us People of Blogland.








9 - Ma Vie Folle

Sheila's Crazy Life chronicles family shenanigans with a wry sense of that’s okay because that’s what life is all about…and if you can’t laugh at yourself then you’re in trouble!






10 - Romance Bandits

The Romance Bandits are a collection of 20 romance writers who turn every blog post into a party once it hits the comments section.





11 - Sans Pantaloons

Andy blogs from Aulde Scotia where he works on new sources of income and hopes someday to grow up and become a useful adult. A self-described curmudgeon, his irreverent humour appears as remarkable photoshopped jokes. I've followed his development as a graphic artist with admiration, especially his obsession with the rose imagery of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.









12 - The Gathering Nest

Debby blogs from Ontario, where she creates incredible collage art, both 3-D and digital versions. She posts photos of all the vintage material she gathers to make her creations, as well as the pieces she swaps with other art bloggers.






13 - Trav's Thoughts

So here's the thing, Travis' blog header says. I have thoughts and I'm sharing them. Travis' previous header reminded everyone that Diversity need not be divisive. The originator of the 5 on Friday music meme, he also writes passionately from the Pacific Northwest about dance shows, shares outstanding poetry, composes moving tributes to those who pass to the Other Side, and fills us in on military history with a sense of immediacy and always with humanity.

Colleen says I'll be sure to check out a few. Thanks!

Kim Richardson says Thanks for sharing these, Julia! They sound really interesting!

Jehara says I can see why you read all these blogs regularly. They all sound lovely. I am off to check them out now.

Welcome! Welcome, to Julia's Astounding and Astonishing Awards Extravaganza

Ho! Ho! Ho! Tis the season for awards, it seems. Gather round, come in! Come in! Come out of the snow, the heat or whatever ails you. Here in Halifax it's chilly, Christmasey and hustley-bustley. Let the staff take your coats. Gather up your sparkly clutch bags. Let's walk into the auditorium for the awards ceremony.




The lights dim. The curtains open. Heather strides onstage.





She's handing out the Christmas Spirit Award.









"I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time;
a kind, forgiving, charitable time;
the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year,
when men and women seem by one consent
to open their shut-up hearts freely,
and to think of people below them
as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave,
and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."

- Charles Dickens

"Here are the rules for the Christmas Spirit Award," Heather says:

"You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.
The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.
Link back to the person who gave you the award.
List 5 things that you love about Christmas. If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space!
Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 50. It's up to you! But keep the Christmas cheer going!
Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment. Also, link back to the person who gave you the award."

Oh, thank you, Heather! ((hug)) I'm very honored to receive this. I'll list my five things at the end of the ceremony, when I pass the awards along.

Right now I'd like to share a little piece of what lives in my heart all year round when anyone says the word 'Christmas':




Let's welcome Thomma Lyn now, who's presenting the Brillante Weblog Premio 2008 Award.








"Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted."

- John Lennon

((Hug)) Thomma Lyn! Thank you so much. Your Tennessee Text Wrestling is a place for soothing reflection, as you invite all your readers to hike up the mountain with you, to look around and marvel at the glory of nature. And the poetry from the masters you share with us is a balm for my creative soul. So I'm very humbled by your award *blushing*

In honor of the spirit of this Brillante Premio Award, enjoy this art piece by Bob Miller, exploring the colors and waves of light through prisms and mirrors. Take a moment to enjoy the brilliance that lives inside each one of us.
















Great Attitude and/or Gratitude

"To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring."
- George Santayana

Thomma Lyn invites Wylie Kinson and Ann from Fractured Fiction to join her at the podium.

"Blogs which show Great Attitude and/or Gratitude," Thomma Lyn says. "Wylie, you're a perfect example. Your pop culture pulse crackles with attitude - it's where Julia gets a lot of her late-breaking entertainment news. And your gratitude for the important things in life, like your own family hikes through the woods, or philosophical talks on a long car trip - these shine out in your blog like heavy curtains thrust aside to let in the sun."

"Thomma Lyn," Wylie says, giving her a playful nudge. "You know Ann's contagious enthusiasm for books dwarfs my passion for all things cutting edge and fabulous. Ann shares splashy book covers and makes everyone add to the TBR Mountain Range. And she posts hilarious captioned pictures from Icanhascheezburger that make Julia spew her morning coffee through her nose. What better attitude is there than that?"

"Stop it," Ann says, shoving Wylie into Thomma Lyn. "Julia - get up here already and wheel this lemonade cart outta here!"

((hugging Thomma Lyn, Wylie and Ann)) Thank you so much! Come on - let's go get a glass of this stuff and watch Mikhail Baryshnikov show Attitude and Gratitude at getting the chance to perform in A Chorus Line:














"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."

- Confucius

Joanna D'Angelo from missmakeamovie takes the stage. "I'm here to present the I Heart Your Blog Award. I invited Julia to join our group blog this year and we've enjoyed many heartfelt comments-conversations over all things filmic, political and especially about the heart it takes to be an artist. Come on up, Julia." She passes me the award - here's another ((hug)) for Joanna.

I've enjoyed blogging with the missmakeamovie women so much, Joanna. Everyone knows how passionate I am about ballet, and my passion for film runs neck and neck with dance. My need for non-mainstream film/TV and books is fed daily at our blog. I got my first peek at the Flight of the Conchords from a missmakeamovie post. I'm extremely honored to accept this award from you, who manages to continue your own filmmaking career while tirelessly promoting Romance on Facebook and scheduling our blog posting schedules. Thank you so much.

Let's watch


this clip















from I Heart Huckabees featuring Jason Schwartzman and Mark Wahlberg. It's another peek into the heart of me.

Kailana takes the stage next. She's handing out the You Make My Day Award.








"If you don't have a smile, I'll give you one of mine."

- Author Unknown

Kailana is a busy, busy fellow Maritimer with an enormous appetite for books. Not only does she read, she spurs herself through themed reading challenges that boggle my mind at the scope of them. She started her own after her dog Sandy passed away, so I signed up for my first reading challenge - her Four-legged Friends Challenge. Because I had to find books that featured an animal as a main character, I got a refreshing detour from my usual reads. And I discovered an author I now love - Mercedes Lackey.

"Yeah, yeah - enough, already," Kailana says, ducking into the wings to drag me back onstage. "Take the darn award, would ya?"

((hug)) for you, Kailana. Thank you for this - I've mentioned to everyone how much your Blog Advent Tour meant to me last year when my heart was aching with the loss of my gram and soon after, my father-in-law. You made my day every time I clicked another link in the tour, to another post about Christmas. So I'm very touched that you're passing this along to me.

Here's a bit of fun that makes my day:








"Wimps lift weights, cheerleaders lift people."

- Author Unknown

*applause* as Toni and Karina walk up to the podium.

"My little ole blog serves up life's daily journeys," says Toni.

"And mine dishes up the skinny on a Boston city gal's dramas and dreams," says Karina.

"My fabulous life is filled to the rim with trips to Christmas tree farms fraught with edge-of-your-seat plot twists," says Toni, gesturing me to join them once more at the podium.

"And mine is overflowing with tales of romance, office intrigue, spiritual awakening and sexy boots," says Karina, handing me a martini glass beckoning with a Blue Monday.

"Just how fabulous are you, Julia?" they ask me in unison.

Kissing them on the cheek, I raise my martini glass in salute to them both, and then to you.

Darlings - if I were any more fabulous I'd be under glass at Tiffany's. Thank you Toni, Karina...and to all of you for making my blog so very much fun! And because I'm so fabulous, I'm going to indulge in a sweet little treat. Care to join me...?



*fanning self*

*sipping my martini*

Now - to pass on the awards. I'll begin by returning to Heather's request for 5 things I love about Christmas:

1 - The National Ballet of Canada's production of The Nutcracker

2 - homes lit up with Christmas lights

3 - Christmas trees

4 - Auntie Noel's lobster bisque which she makes with love for all of us each Christmas Eve

5 - Blackadder's Christmas Carol

Now, because this is a multi-awards presentation, I won't keep to the suggested amounts for passing them along. Most of them request 5 or 7 recipients. The Attitude/Gratitude Award asks for 10. For this event, however, I'll keep all awards to 2 nominations each.

This year's Christmas Spirit Award goes to:

Kailana and
Marg

The Brillante Weblog Premio 2008 (nearly 2009!) Award goes to:

Sans Pantaloons
Shelley Munro

The Great Attitude and/or Gratitude Award goes to:

Mimi Lenox
Sandy Carlson

The I Heart Your Blog Award goes to:

Claudia
Gautami Tripathy

The You Make My Day Award goes to:

Amy Ruttan
Bobbi

And the I'm Fabulous Award goes to:

Jennifer McKenzie
Patty Szymkowicz

Spirit of Christmas Award

Ho! Ho! Ho! (clump clump of my boots, knocking the snow off them.) My Christmas Freak persona is never one to act the demure gentlewoman. I guess it was obvious to Toni at In The Midst of This Season that I basically divide the calendar year into Just After Christmas, Waiting For Christmas and CHRISTMAS.

Toni awarded me the Spirit of Christmas award. According to Santa's Community Blog, where this originated, "this award is for those who talk about and show the spirit of Christmas in their blogs.

What is the Spirit of Christmas you ask?

Quite simply it is those that have a generous and giving nature. Those who care about others. Those who have a kind word to say or a broad shoulder to lean on in the times that others need that. Those who display the 'Spirit of Christmas'."

I'm going to pass this award along to five other bloggers who have been just as freakish about Christmas as me. Is it a strange coincidence that they display kindness, generosity and a loving nature every day as they post on their blogs and leave wonderful comments in the blogosphere?

I really should have brought everyone's attention to Kailana's Advent Blog event before this, but luckily you can follow the links and immerse yourself in fantastic posts about Christmas all over the world. This has really been one of the highlights of my season this year. Big hug to you, Kailana!

Karina posted this lovely example of her overflowing Christmas Spirit. She expressed everything I feel about the holidays, too. Sure, it can be a bit 'stressmas'-y sometimes, but it's like everything else. It's up to you to step off the merrygoround if you're getting too dizzy from all the to-do's. Christmas should be merry, and if it's not, stop. Take a deep breath. Chill. The only thing anyone should be doing at this time of year is reconnecting with the spirit of peace and goodwill toward our fellow travellers through life.

Akelamalu posted her childhood Christmas memories on November 19th. Already in Christmas mode like a true Christmas Freak. Just have a look at her sidebar decorations if you don't believe me. She also held two Christmas Carol Quizzes which I missed because of everything going on with my gram. But being the stop-and-smell-the-roses person, I fret not over it. I just enjoyed seeing the answers and realized I would have been stumped!

Sandee posted 13 wonderfully wise quotes about Christmas for her Thursday Thirteen this week. She approaches life all year round with a wry sense of humor which shows in every blog post. Christmas gave her fantastic material to work with! She pokes fun at life taken too seriously, which gives anyone who visits her blog a chance to relax and have a laugh. Thank you for that, Sandee.

Finally, this post was a guest blog post over at Shelly Munro's month-long guest extravaganza, but it is vintage Christine d'Abo. And it followed my sequence of Christmas preparations exactly! Which made me howl with laughter and recognition.

Merry Christmas to all the Spirit of Christmas nominees with a special hug from me to you.

Merry Christmas to everyone - may you always feel the wonder of childhood every time you gaze at a lit and decorated Christmas tree. Peace to all.