Define Stylish

Well, folks, in the spirit of the Hollywood awards season, let us add a new statue to the pile.  This morning I received an email from Margaret Reyes Dempsey {Conjuring My Muse} saying that she had named me a recipient of The Stylish Blogger Award. 

Clearly, Margaret has never met me in person as she thinks about the term “stylish.”  Today, for instance, I am rocking a ponytail and jeans.  Again.  But I remain flattered since she is a fabulous writer. 

Since this is the first — and very likely, the last — blog award of my life, I will of course abide by the award rules, which are as follows:

• Present seven things about yourself
• Name about a half dozen bloggers you think deserve the award
• Contact those people
• Create a link back to the person who gave you the honor

So here are seven things about me:

1.  I still tie my shoes with two loops (aka Bunny Ears).  I can do it the adult way but only if forced to prove it.  And then I have to double-knot to make it hold.

2.  I become nervous if I hear more than one song in a row by the same artist on the radio — as in, I fear that artist has died and mass tributes are ensuing.  If this happens with U2 songs, I am especially panicked.  Unless it’s Two for Tuesday or time for Perfect Album Side — then my mind is put at ease. 

3.  I know all of the words to “American Pie” and feel that you should too.  If I could carry a tune, it would be my karaoke song.

4.  I wink involuntarily.  It’s not a tic but just something I do out of endearment without realizing it.  This has caused more than one instance of confusion in the workplace.  But no litigation — yet.

5.  I love casinos.  I’m not a high roller but could be very happy spending hours at a $5 roulette table.  Remember, always cover the zeroes.

6.  I have a Master’s Degree in Screenwriting.  See where that got me.  If you can’t tell, I’ll spell it out for you:  I sold out to The Man doing corporate PR so that I could repay my related student loans in perpetuity.  As a result, I have no time to write screenplays, or even go to the movies.  On a related note, my favorite film is Annie Hall.  And, in what some consider a criminal act, I saw Star Wars only once, in the theater, and never saw the rest of the series.  Also, I categorically don’t watch epics of any kind.  Or anything with Keanu Reeves.

7.  My driver’s license misrepresents me.  See, my mother felt that I had hazel eyes growing up (they changed a lot) and insisted I put that on my original driver’s license application.  They are actually green — much more so as I’ve gotten older — but I cannot get the New Jersey DMV to ever change it.  To this day, it gets under my skin.  You can change your name, your address, even which organs you’ll donate — but not your eye color.  My eyes are green, damn it.

On to the passing of the baton and naming of names for The Stylish Blogger Award in my (non-hazel) eyes.  Some of these folks are in another league and probably have received bona fide, cash-oriented prizes, and therefore will probably miss the email I sent about my prestigious designation of their work, because it’s in their Spam folder.  But I played by the rules — here they are.

Kim Holcomb.  People:  This is a whip-smart woman and her star continues to rise.  She knows more than a little something about everything and says it exceedingly well.  She is a broadcast journalist in Seattle, a political junkie, pop culture maven and overall go-to gal.  A must-read.

Ed Marsh.  Beer purveyor.  Technical writer.  Ham aficionado.  Racing loyalist.  Foodie.  Tweeter extraordinaire.  You’ll learn something, I promise.

Constitution Lane.  A lovely collection of recipes, tales, obsessions (in a good way), travels and reading lists.  She does all of the things I wish I had time for and recaps them so nicely that I don’t have to do them after all.

Mommy Needs a Vacation.  I’m a mom and so I read a lot of mom blogs.  There are bazillions of them.  But Rachel’s resonated with me right away — not just because, I, too, need a vacation and love wine as much as she does — but because she’s a straight shooter, very relatable and an overall hoot. 

Wendi Aarons.  So funny, I nearly pee.  Every time.  Absolutely top-notch writing with a sharp edge.  Before you die, you must read her open letter to Procter & Gamble that was published on the McSweeney’s site.  I will say no more and let you enjoy it for yourself.

There you have it.  Tucked nicely between the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Oscars, that about wraps up this edition of The Stylish Blogger Awards.  And we didn’t even get cut off by the music.

I have to head over to the after party now, which consists of a third glass of red on my family room couch while checking out my DVR archives for the week.  A more stylish blogger, you’d be hard-pressed to find.