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I missed Sunday!

Actually, I tried in the morning but my net wasn't too happy (dial-up) then I got caught up in things (cleaned my bedroom, yeah!)

So now to clean house on the blog :)

Amel from Amel's Realm gave me the Blogging Star Award, and on the day of one of my hardest to write posts!
I bestow it to:

Rachelle of Pasture Musings for many many reasons, but people really should check out her adventures in Alpaca land! It's a rollercoaster of a read, with a lot of sweet fuzzies in the mix.

Carol Cooper for just awesomeness, I love her blog and support

and Chewy, definately an inspiration as I continue my blogging.

Amel has also bestowed on my a wonderful award, the I <3>

David
Jessica
Cherished
Bob
Helena

And one more from Amel! She's is just such an amazingly nice and giving blogger, never gives me a chance to give her these awards :p
This award was created by Bella Enchanted who says,

"This award will be awarded to those that are just nice people , good blog friends and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others that are there to lend support or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world!"

and definately goes to everyone who reads my blog and keeps me going on a day to day basis!

And finally, one last Meme, this time from the Angel of Delusion. This is Seven Priceless Experiences and a chance to talk about where you live. Here are seven things I love about New York:

1. The People. There is a reason the newest slogan is something like 'Ask A Local.' New Yorkers, real New Yorkers, are great. Whenever lost I have been able to ask someone for help. They pick you up when you fall. In fact, if you are treated rudely in New York it's generally a tourist, or someone who only works in NYC and lives elsewhere. It seems like they come here expecting to be treated bad and thus do it first.

2. The Subways. Okay, sometimes I get a bit claustrophobic down there, like during rush hour when it stops and the light goes out, but for the most part it's fast and affordable. For only 76$ I have my transportation paid for the month and can go anywhere in the city or boroughs. Plus, you meet a lot of people down there. I've had so many interesting conversations with random people, it's great.

3. The Food. Except for Stroopwafels and Hopjes, which unfortunately I love but fortunately aren't the healthiest snack anyway, I have been able to find everything I wanted here. From Durian and Lychee to marzipan, blood orange gelato and beyond we've got it. There are so many cultures represented that there is bound to be a section somewhere focusing on their cuisine. Lately I've been on a Tandoori Kick and able to choose from a few different places around work alone. And right now I'm drinking blueberry juice as I type.

4. The Parks. One day I have to post up some pictures, I even have one taken off the roof. We have so many parks, Central, Riverside, Washington Square, Fort Tryon, Inwood Hill - to name a few. And they are all gorgeous and a great place to walk through and unwind while seeing interesting outside performers and listening to live performances.

5. The Animals. I love animals, and it seems like every other person has a dog. One of my favorite memories in New York is watching this big bulky guy walking down the street in front of me. He has the swagger, the giant puffy coat that makes him look even big, and from the back just looks all Hip-Hop tough. When I pass him I see he is walking his dog - a maltese. You just can't really match the dog to the person here. While most are small dogs, due to the nature of city life, they are still omnipresent. Chi's are popular, and I've had more then one person tell me they trained their dog to use a litter box (works with female dogs only).

6. The Art. I love the Cloister's, the medevil arts museum. But the Met, the Moma, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of the Chinese American Experience - all wonderful. Any museum you could want is somewhere either on the main island or a borough. I've even been to the Comic Arts Museum, the Bible Museum, Museum of the Moving Image - the list goes on. Wonderful way to spend your day.

7. The Plays. I remember thinking these were expensive once, all the big budget Broadway plays. And they are, the big budget ones. BUT if you are flexible you can see a lot of stuff for free. I'm an audience filler, so have seen a number of wonderful shows I wouldn't have even thought of seeing before, and for free! I loved the Great American Trailer Park Musical, and just saw Bi-Partisan Bashing which had my friend and I in stitches. Through the Fringe Festival I was able to see a brilliant show by an Austrailian Troupe, Stuck Pigs Squealing, that led to an interest in Ern Malley.

Anyone who wishes to share 7 things about there home is encouraged to do so! Thank so much to Amel and Angela for these tags.

Keeping up with the Memes

Many thanks to Michelle of Crow's Feet for nominating me as a Rocking Girl Rocker! See the pretty badge? Thank you so much! And I do so love pink. There are just too many to nominate any one. Hopefully I'll update my blogroll one day (which might take as long as this took, yikes!) but each and everyone one of you guys totally rocks!

Now, I know I also got a couple Blogging Tips tags. But, honestly, I feel so new to this the only tip I really have it to 'blog honestly' so don't feel I have much to offer in forms of tips at this point.

Amel also tagged me with the Courageous Blogger Award, the rules as follows:

1) If you have received an award simply choose either the dark or light background image and save it to your files, then post it proudly on your blog!

2) Pass the award on to five other people, you can choose any of the awards from the series, you do not have to pass out the exact award you received. Choose whichever of the awards that you'd like to give out. You can give out one of each or five of the same one, whatever you prefer.

3) You can change the size and color of awards to suit your blog, that's up to you, it's your blog, just leave the titles the same.

4) Please link back to this post so that people can read these rules and so that the meanings of the awards will not be lost.

5) If you feel that you or a friend are deserving of an award and no one has given one to you yet then email me at sayhitochristy(at)hotmail.com and tell me about your website.

For my five:

David of authorblog is probably the reason why the Thoughtful Blogger Award was created. I can think of noone more helpful and encouraging to new bloggers out there. I'm happy to be under his wing - and with all the other bloggers under there, he must have some wingspan!

Cherished is an amazingly courageous blogger, looking stigma right in the eye and refusing to blink. As is Jason as he deals with his mental illness. It may be a relatively new blog (started last month I beleive) but no less worth a read. Let's hope he stays with it!

Which brings me to Jessica whose stories of her family are just so friggin funny and definately 'uplifting' as the inspirational blogger award calls for.

And, who can be more inspirational than a Spy Bear such as Bob? He tackles many adventures nose on and I'd love to be like him when I grow up. Or perhaps I can convince him I'm Lisa Simpson and get a bear hug one day. You know Bob, I am only a few degrees from Lisa? A former boss who gave me my bike, well, her father is in the Simpson's orchestra. . . .

These things aren't easy, are they?

Memes

The more I read, the more of these I notice. We have the Thinking Blogger Award – a nice way to honor blogs that expose you to new ideas, to expose your readers to four other places you enjoy, and a way for others to have more links added on the giant web. I’ve also seen the “8 things about you” one flying around, the ‘Interview’ where you can ask five questions of someone else, and now I just got the Rocking Girl award.

All of these are great for their purposes – they expose people to new facets of the blogger they’re reading, they publicize other bloggers, they are of interest to the reader, and many reasons I’m probably forgetting.

So of course, now I want to start one. Confession is good for the soul, so let’s call this Three Apologies. I figure, since the whole thing I’m trying to get over is that everything I do is wrong, it fits. The rules are simple – make three apologies that are long overdue, something that’s been gnawing at you for a long time. Send it to the universe. You can be as specific or vague as you like, but clear your soul.

All the other memes require tagging people, kind of forcing them to post such things. I’m not that kind of person. But if you like the idea when you make a post just put a little note that the meme, this ‘Three Apologies’ Meme, started here. Unless of course, it didn't. Who knows, it's probably out there somewhere too. But this version is from me.

Image, such as it is, copyright vchase2007
Apology One: Donna – I’m so sorry about what happened at Camp. I know the rest of the crew descended like feral beasts on your dreams. I think we were just all so dead, maybe it was normal teenage cruelty against someone who thinks they can rise above life, I don’t know. But we had no right to run your panties up the flag pole. Or worse, the whole raiding of the cabin? I was involved with everyone on the kitchen staff. We all decided to raid our own cabin just so we could ruin your ‘superstar’ outfit. We tossed it into Lake Seneca. It was the captain’s son, I forget his name now, that peed in your perfume bottles. What hurt me the worst was that I was the one you turned too for a shoulder to cry on. You felt I was the nicest of the bunch, I was just the most confused I think. I wanted to be able to help people, but at the same time wanted to see if hurting others gave the rush it seemed to give everyone else. It didn’t. This has stuck with me for a long time. I’m truly sorry for my part in those actions.

Apology Two: G – In high school I never knew whether to hate or like you. You were intelligent and from a good family, but such an easy target for teenage angst. You had an attitude and feelings of entitlement that bothered a lot of our class. I tried to be nice to you, and compared to the others in school I suppose I was. I think in the end, in our senior year, I did like you but by then felt like I was shut out of your social group even though intellectually I was in every one of your classes. There was a point, maybe freshman year when we used to get along. Remember? We traded books – I ended up with your one dragon book all summer because I was too sick to attend the last three weeks of school. Well I had a crush on you that summer. My mother found out. She told me we were related. She said that she had found her cousin and he was related to your father. I tried to get that out of my mindset, but once it was planted that seed grew. Now I saw your faults in relation to my family and was saddened by what I felt was the inevitable. I wish I had just told you how I thought I could feel instead of letting my mother find out. Who knows how school could have turned out for us two geeks if we had joined forces instead of fought off and on?

Three is a hard one. Those are the main things that kind of hang over my head today, actions I wish I could have taken back or, at the very least, apologized to in person. I don’t know- guilt really sucks.

Apology Three: I remember this, and it’s from oh so long ago. We were just little kids, five years old running around Orange Street in the good ol’ AZ. I don’t even remember your name, but I remember Trin – my best friend at the time. I don’t know what overcame us, we were all latch key kids. But your keys? We threw them down the sewer drain and ran like holy hell. I have no idea why, but sometimes I still see Trin and I running away with your keys and then throwing them down the grate. Just flashes as I fall to sleep.

memewarning from http://www.thehumblest.net/ through google pictures.