I feel inspired at my second blogging anniversary, so I pass it along

/ February 26, 2015

WordPress reminded me this morning that I’ve been toiling over a hot blog for two years now.

Bloggiversary

Well, some posts heat up our WordPress world here more than others, obviously. That’s the nature of this give, where I sit here on my recliner in the Little Bitty I share with my dear wife Karen in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood and spill thoughts about life as they take shape in the form of words and sentences and paragraphs and photographs and now YouTube videos.

Thanks for taking it all in, whenever you may have taken a look-see at the markbialczak.com spectacle.

Sometimes I get things right, apparently, because, just yesterday came a notification from the storyshucker, Stuart M. Perkins, nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.

If you’ve yet to read Mr. Perkins’ work, please click the link above and take in his inspired manner of sharing wit and wisdom. Stuart looks at life with an easy eye and then relates the wonderful things he sees in tales so comfortable you hardly realize the moral of the story until you’re shaking your head in agreement and wishing you’d been there and done just that.

For instance, in accepting his nomination from Rebecca Daley, Stuart writes, “Many of us who blog on WordPress joke that ‘awards’ in this world are more like a game of tag. That’s true! But no one tags randomly and I consider a nomination for an award of any kind to be a great compliment. We write to be read. We spit out our thoughts and imagine that everyone, or no one, is reading them. But how can we know whether anyone is reading them? Well, now I know that Rebecca Daley is reading them because she recognized me in one of the only methods available to us here on WordPress. For that I thank her and am happy to follow the ‘rules’ in appreciation!”

I don’t want to even try to say it better than that. So thank you so much, Stuart, for inspiring me with your stories and nominating my blog for this award. Onward …

Very Inspiring

Here are the rules for the award:

• Thank and link to the person who nominated you.

• List the rules and display the award.

• Share seven facts about yourself.

• Nominate 15 other blogs you enjoy, then comment on their posts to let them know that you have nominated them.

Here are seven facts about me, most definitely listed more in chronology rather than significance. And because I like to be helpful, which you’ll see in No. 7 (but if you jump ahead, please come back now, you hear?) they will all double as a glossary of sorts to help any newcomers navigate my blog.

1. My very first blog post did not have any pictures. I started this blog because I was laid off after 29-plus years working at the big daily here in Syracuse.

From Buffalo, post two.

From Buffalo, post two.

2. My second post included my first photograph, taken with my iPhone 4. It was from the George Strait farewell tour, outside of Buffalo, N.Y. My trusty iPhones and iPads have become my staple of photography here since. This picture is quite lousy. I have improved in increments, depending upon the lighting and circumstances.

Street Corner Symphony

3. I still love going to concerts and writing about the music. And my concert photography with my iPhone 6 has gotten way better. (See category Music.)

Syracuse Football

4. I also still love going to sports events with my dear wife Karen and writing about it. (See category Sports.)

Ellie B

5. I can’t help but write about our beloved rescue mutt, Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle. That dogs has so many dang adventures … (See tag Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle.)

My Family

6. I adore the way my dear wife Karen makes me a better person, and how my daughter Elisabeth and her terrific boyfriend George and Karen’s son Daryl have formed a fantastic family of adults. (See category Life.)

Free Advice

7. I am a really good listener, and I like to help solve problems. (See category Free Advice.)

Now, my 15 nominations for Very Inspiring Blogger. I am attempting to avoid repeating those I nominated in the past year or more than one in the past. Some of you may have declared yourselves as No Award zones. If that’s the case, I have no expectations that you’ll accept the award, but I’d like you to know that your blog work impresses me nevertheless.

Please check these Fab 15 out. All inspire me in a unique way.

http://squareonenotes.com

I call Sandra my lil sis, and she says we are part of the East-West Bialdez family. Her photography and skillfull prose are eye-opening, beautiful and fun.

http://mindfuldigressions.com

Doobster and I both are graduates of the University of Maryland, he some years before I. He pulls no punches with his plentiful opinions, always delivered in a grammatically appropriate and yet entertaining manner. Go Terps Go.

https://foodcommunicationservices.wordpress.com

Liz is a food blogger of the first order, serving up fine drink and dinner recipes, but so much more that that. You get servings of common sense life between courses, and her comment section is one of the best, too.

https://familyanswersfast.wordpress.com

Angie Mc delivers a blog that promises to bring hope, order and sense to life’s chaos. Who doesn’t want that these days? And Angie McFly — my name for this special woman who also is a runner — has started a second blog, in which she reblogs posts that strike her fancy. And that’s cool, too.

http://silverthreading.com

Colleen’s sense of positive living is contagious. And her Swamp Fairy series is a delight.

https://silverinthebarn.wordpress.com

Barbara reports about the cool and beautiful things in life down Richmond, Va., way, in an engaging and elegant style that’s still conversational and chatty.

http://snoozingonthesofa.com

Scott writes about life with his three young sons in a humorous and loving style that captures the glory and irony of it all. God bless his wife, too.

http://applepieandnapalm.com

Apple Pie (I shorten the name for convenience sake and because I like the sound of it better) comments about music and more out of the Nashville scene.

http://poeticparfait.com

Christy is a poet of note, yet she expands the vision here to comment about life and times and authors and more. She also writes a sister blog about inspiring women that’s a great read.

http://justsomethingiwasthinkingabout.com

Sadie is full of interesting ideas, and the novel she’s writing on her side blog has me in its grips, too.

http://mamamickterry.com

Michelle keeps a cool head and makes a damn great playlist while raising her teens, trying to run on a really bum knee and holding down a career that has her driving and flying through a half-dozen states. I bow to her every post.

https://heatherbcosta.wordpress.com

Heather B. writes with her own special wit from the other side of the big pond, and I don’t even mind the extra letters she sticks into certain words.

https://mohawkvalleygirl.wordpress.com

MVG writes about adventures much closer to my home turf. And I appreciate that she gives me a pass for not knowing anything about her beloved Herkimer, event though it’s less than an hour from Syracuse and a straight shot across the New York State Thruway.

https://outlierbabe.wordpress.com

The Babe is interesting, writing about her teaching career presiding over special ed kids, art, dating on the second nine of life, whatever she wants to write about.

https://ermigal.wordpress.com/favorite-blogs/

Ermine is a humorist who also calls Syracuse home. Her latest string is about failing out of clown school. Enough said.

Please have fun clicking all of these fine folks’ blogs. You’re going to find comments from me there, and I expect you’ll be moved to leave some choice words of your own.

Have a good day.

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79 thoughts on “I feel inspired at my second blogging anniversary, so I pass it along”

  1. Mark – 1st congrats on this award – you certainly deserve it!! You are always an inspiration to me, and your support has been so appreciated ❤ Though I am usually behind, I always look forward to catching up with you 🙂

    Thank you so much for including me in your list of nominees. It is an honor! Like you I started blogging after I got laid off, and had no expectations, other than an outlet for me. The fact that others find what I write to be interesting, too, is icing and a cherry on top of the cake! The online friends I have made, though I have never met, are important in my life. I am grateful we all share time together 🙂
    [And, yes I am definitely late to the party, again . . . 😉 ]

    Hope the sun is shining there!!

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  2. Congratulations my friend and while I’m late to the party, ready to party I am 😀

    Thank you for including me in your inspiring list and I look forward to visiting more of your friends. Old school; a friend of Mark’s is a friend of mine.

    I gratefully accept your nomination and fulfilled the requirements (pretty much almost to the T) here -> https://familyanswersfast.wordpress.com/2015/03/07/inspiring-friends-plus-a-tip-on-how-to-delegate-blog-award/ .

    Have a terrific weekend!

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  3. Pingback: Inspiring friends plus a tip on how to delegate. #blog #award | Family Love Does More

  8. Pingback: It may not sound that way, but I am grateful | Mindful Digressions

  9. Thank you soooooooooo much for including me in this list. I’ve been reading and following as many as I can today. There are some fantastic writers here. I’m gonna learn a lot, I can tell. It forced me to do some overdue housekeeping on my blog today. Thanks for always giving me encouragement and a gentle push at the right moments.

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  10. Congrats and lots of fantastic writers on your list deserve congratulations, too! Smiles and I love this post describing the progress you have made and continue to grow and learn about blogging and sharing it with us, too.

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  13. What a fun list this will be to go through! You are busy reading blogs, Mark 🙂 Am honored for the nomination and will graciously accept. Though don’t expect me to follow the rules exactly because I am a fellow Sag and a rebel, remember? And also, I hope you are ok with my asking NPH to emcee my Awards Ceremony 😉 Seriously, though, I thank you for the nomination. Am honored if I inspire you, though to do what I am not exactly sure. Drink more? haha. Congratulations, too, on Year 2 of Blogging. Writing is a good gig and I am always pulling for you. You put a lot of good out there, Mark, with your stories and sharing.

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    • These folks are good bloggers, too, Liz, and I hope you enjoy exploring the list. Maybe the commonality of human touch and humor and grace will help answer your what question. Thanks for your kind words.

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  14. Congrats little brother. Two uninterrupted years of blogging is quite an accomplishment. I’m still holding my breath for an entire uninterrupted year on WordPress, especially since I started blogging in 2013. Of course, I’m the queen of the crashing computers, so I doubt anyone will ever take that title from me. You certainly deserve that award, too.

    My nom de plume just posted a 3rd time tonight. Just an FYI.

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      • I think you mean my torture bro. At least I’m getting a girl now, and she’s not as rough as the guy who really hurt me last week. I’m not sure he knows how strong his hands are when they are clamping in on those muscles. It’s been difficult keeping up with my reading, but I do keep trying.

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      • Yeah, I think you’re right bro. At least they are sending a woman now instead of the guy with the steel trap hands. I had to threaten him with dismemberment of certain body parts.

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  15. Happy blogaversary, Mark! Looks like WP actually got yours right too, which is no small accomplishment! Just last night, I was discussing with another blogger how WordPress recognizes both of our blogging anniversaries on the wrong day. Next December, I’m going to buy the helper monkeys a calendar and circle all of the important dates for them…

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    • Thanks, Bill. What a two years it’s been, with that long streak of consecutive days started Oct. 27, 2013 still intact despite my monkey report for 2014, as I know and claim thanks to you. It is an odd and interesting thing, the monkey shop. Your paper help to their computer reminders would be of aid, I’m sure.

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  16. Duh! I forgot to say Congratulations to YOU! After being so impressed–and you post DAILY!! And I’ve been skimming through, and you do it without a boring one among them. Just quiet charm. Dang, man.

    Congratulations, Mark. Great job. 🙂

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  17. You are a nice man. Thank you so much, Mark. I am flattered and honored both.

    I exhausted AND busy-busy, but will come back on the weekend to take a peek at the other sites you honored. (But not another Follow can I add–oh my gosh! How do you-all DO all the reading you do?! I’m ready to drop after 4 hours of chore 1 and 3 of chore 2 and 2 of chore 3…etc. I didn’t even get to ANY of the huge backlog. Seriously: How do you-all DO all the blogging and blog-reading?)

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    • You’re welcome, Babe. You are a fine blogger, and I love reading your stories. That’s how I do it: An affection for the tales of the people I’ve nominated and others motivates me, for one. Also, I consider WordPress one of my many freelance responsibilities and opportunities for personal and professional growth combined, and thus devote probably too many hours to it. And yet it falls behind many other things on my list and I get way behind on my blog reading, too. Hey, you’ve given me an idea for a post.

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  25. Woo hoo! First, congratulations on being nominated for this award. Second, I do appreciate you nominating my little old blog for this. I have declared my blog to be an award-free blog, but I do appreciate this and I will acknowledge the honor on my own blog. Thank you kind sir.

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  26. Engaging and elegant? I had to go back and double-check to make sure you were really talking about ME! This is the nicest thing to happen to me in the blogosphere in a long time, Mark, because I think so highly of you. You were one of the first bloggers to give me a “follow” when I first tip-toed into blogging and it meant so much to me. You are a genuinely good person which is why we all enjoy reading your blog so much, and I am beyond flattered you would include me in your list of inspirations. Wow, so many blogs I’m not familiar with at all, but I sure do second the vote for the immensely talented Outlier. Just love her too! Thanks for putting a big smile on my face, Mark, AGAIN!!

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  28. Awww Mark thanks for thinking of me. I do have an award page and will add your gracious award there. Congratulations on your two year anniversary! You are a pure joy! 💖

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