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July 19, 2013

Award of a Different Kind . . . The Versatile Blogger Award

versatile blogger nominations Actually, it was back on February 24, 2013 that Dr. Juanita Lewis presented this award to NIKOtheOrb. I have been on a bit of a hiatus throughout that time (but have been, of late, contributing to EXPLORINGtheLATERAL, if you’d like to see some of what we’ve been up to).

My apologies for taking some months to thank The Metaphysician (a great blog, by the way, and if I could, I’d add her to the list of 15 blogs the rules require I appoint). In reading through your blog, the list of other appointed blogs to whom you bestowed this (well-deserved for them all, if you ask me) award, and the many comments and compliments you received, I am humbled to be among such great company.

And now for the rules: 1. Post a logo of the award received. [check]; 2. link back to the person who presented the award. [check — see above paragraphs and just for good measure, here you go]; 3. appoint 15 other bloggers for the award. [this will not be difficult as that includes just about everyone I follow at WP. For the list, see below]; and 4. tell 7 things about yourself [without running the risk (and lazy thing to do) of repeating myself with the 5 things I listed when the wonderful Kozo presented this blog with a Very Inspiring Blogger Award, I will do my best to give 7 new things about myself, as best as I can. No promises, though. :-D]

15 Well-Deserved Blogs and Bloggers to whom this Award is appointed and no words could accurately capture the greatness of their blogs:

1. Everyday Gurus—Everyday, Everywhere We Are Guided Towards Happiness
2. The Liberated Way—Liberty, Wisdom, Creativity (love the look of the new site!)
3. Carla R. Herrera—(some of the best creative writing on WP)
4. Holistic Words—Inspirational Words for the Holistic Mind
5. physics4me—“Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler”, Albert Einstein
6. Riding effortlessly on a large green turtle—Tall Tales of Travel, Spirit, Love, and Poetry
7. RD Revilo—Conscious Thought: Driven by Intelligent Awareness
8. bodhisattvaintraining—inner workings of an untamed mind
9. Walking No Line-–Wandering here and there, wondering at this and that, trying to find my Way.
10. Utopia or Dystopia—where past meets future
11. TreeYo Permaculture—Sustainability Education and Ecological Design
12. rarasaur—. . .frightfully wonderous things happen here.
13. EXPLORINGtheLATERAL—We live in the forest and all of our possessions fit in our backpacks [shameless plug]
14. Mind Hacks—Neuroscience and psychology tricks to find out what’s going on inside your brain.
15. h-madness—This blog follows the history of psychiatry

7 Things About Me:

1. I live with SchizoAffective Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
2. I spend nearly everyday in the woods, walking barefoot, breathing in the trees and the soil. It’s how I keep my sanity.
3. I don’t know the names of many of the animals and insects I see in the woods, but I know much of their behavior and habits.
4. I produce and edit a nature show on YouTube (and EXPLORINGtheLATERAL) exploring our adventures in the forests, particularly hard to witness activity with birds, insects, chipmunks, snakes, turtles, and the like. We’re  right down on the ground with the animals.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             5. My favorite number is the Fibonacci Sequence.
6. I love to watch old science fiction films like Metropolis and THX 1138.
7. I am fortunate enough to spend every moment of everyday with my boyfriend, just hanging out.

November 20, 2012

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Major gratitude and graciousness is owed to EverydayGurus for considering me and this blog inspiring enough to receive an award. It’s my first, so forgive me a certain amount of giddiness.

EverydayGurus is an excellent blog, and, frankly, if you don’t believe me, it is but a matter of clicking the link and seeing (reading?) for yourself. How many times have you been out and about and met a stranger or an acquaintance or someone to whom you haven’t spoken in a while and in only a brief conversation you find yourself thinking wholly anew about that which you once thought? How many times have you seen a sign or your eye caught a glimpse of a random piece of urban/street art (also known as ‘graffiti’) and were suddenly filled with emotion at what you had just read? That is inspiration, that is the beauty within human nature and the human condition. The beauty and inspiration of what Kozo (EverydayGurus) does is he captures all of that on his blog. His blog apotlights regular people, your average Jane and Joe, the people you otherwise may not hear about or know of, and the incredible things they do and can teach and show the rest of us. They (We) are all everyday Gurus, Kozo says, and we all have something to inspire another with, the original social network! Thank you again, Kozo. 🙂

Full Disclosure:
Okay, there are some conditions (no worries, really good ones!)–

1. Display the award logo on your blog. [Check]
2. Link back to the person who nominated you. [Check]
3. State 5 things about yourself. [See below]
4. Pass the award onto 6 other bloggers and link to one of their specific posts so that they get notified by pingback. [see below]

Five Things About Me:

  • 1. Everyday I spend time oustide walking around in the woods. I have favorite rocks (actually giant boulders, really, or, egotistical pebbles, if you will) where I sit and often come up with the ideas that eventually end up as posts on this blog.

    2. For about 7 months I lived outside, by choice. Like outside, outside, as in out of doors, in the wild, sleeping on the ground beneath the stars and open sky, animals invading my provisions (talk about pesky neighbors!), walking miles everywhere, carrying everything I owned in a pack strapped to my back. It was one of the best journeys I’ve ever embarked upon in my life. I’ll never forget what I saw and the amazing people with whom I encountered and spoke.

    3. I love reading comics. Everything from Jhonen Vasquez to Robert Crumb to Alan Moore. I’m always looking for 60s and 70s comics (especially of Robert Crumb) and comics by Harvey Pekar.

    4. I have read many, many books. My curiosity takes me to neurology to quantum mechanics to psychology to philosophy to technology to jurassic park. Three of the most brilliant minds that I have stumbled upon are Alan Watts, Richard Feynman and Nikola Tesla.

    5. I often have many projects I’m working on simultaneously. Currently, I am juggling three videos, a soundscape, more binaural beats, a gregorian chant/dubstep mix, two photomanipulations, another collaboration (that I just finished actually–to be posted soon!), and some others.

Six Bloggers who have been very inspiring for me:

  • 1. PhysicsForMe — If you are a follower of astronomy, physics, cosmology, and other areas of science, you will love this blog. This fellow takes some of the most up to date and upcoming discoveries occuring currently in the world today, and blogs about them, complete with links and diagrams. I follow this blog to keep me abreast on all my favorites in science. This blog can be highly technical, so it is not for the faint of heart, but it is definitely well worth the read, even if you’re only slightly interested in what happens in the universe.
  • 2. Just Dharma Quotes — I love quotes, and this blog has some of the best. All the quotes are along the lines of philosophy and buddhism, and there are some right inspiring ones among them, often times more than one. I can’t really go through this blog on my reader without liking just about every quote. This blog probably has many of your favorites, check it out.
  • 3. Carla R. Herrera — WordPress has some of the best writers I have ever read, and for some reason they are not #1 booksellers. Carla R. Herrera is definitely of the ilk that deserves to have an entire shelf dedicated to her work at the local bookstore. She is a prolific science fiction writer with a knack for descriptive artistry with her words (her words will take you on journeys you didn’t think were possible) and a penchant for the unusual idea that wraps you up and makes you want to visit some of these faroff places and intricate innovations that spill forth from her imagination. She is a rare one, indeed. Her work inspires me to improve in my writing and to let loose with my imagination. In addition to her Tesla Machine series, you definitely need to read the book she’s working on right now as part of National Novel Writing Month (November). I’ll say no more…now scoot!
  • 4. Holistic Words — I don’t remember how I found this blog, but I am glad that I did. This blog is run by Andrea Elliot and this woman tackles the intricacies of quantum physics like she were explaining how to color. If you think quantum physics can’t be understood, then you haven’t read Holistic Words. She sees the subtle areas in our lives that are connected and can amplify those connections in a way that you can see clearly and you get that “Of Course” moment. This is what is most inspiring about her blog, when you read it, you realize that these thoughts you had already thought but just didn’t know it.
  • 5. The Liberated Way — I have been following Alex’s blog for a while now (both off and on WordPress) and each day his posts never cease to amaze me. Alex manages to open our eyes to the familiar so that we can perceive it in a new way, from a new perspective. His posts are often motivated by nature and the ways of nature and how those ways can be applied to humanity, because, after all, we are part of nature. He teaches as he inspires, also, and he does this in a way that you don’t know it, but somehow the lesson is integral and tantamount to your daily existence. He is definitely one of those gurus, Kozo talks about.
  • 6. The Sistah Vegan Project — Run by A. Breeze Harper, a graduate student at UC Davis, the Sistah Vegan Project looks at health-living and healthy-eating (a plant-based lifestyle) through the eyes of someone who lives this each day (as well as raises her children under this philosophy and lifestyle) and what she faces before an otherwise traditional, don’t rock the boat, kind of mainstream culture. Much of her blog is the work of theses she may be working and lectures that she gives, but don’t let this fool you into thinking that it is not worth visiting. Her stories and videos of her children loving and downright clamoring for Kale Drinks is enough to pull your heart strings, and one of her first forays into humor comics is some of the best. She inspires for anyone to keep doing what they’re doing even before those who would rather you stopped. One of my favorite posts by her is partially titled, “Spirulina Helps Me Poop.” Seriously . . . go see.

 

*Image credit: “Chakra” by Dario Cogliati

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