Stylish Blogger Award

I wasn't sure what to think about these awards floating around our community lately. I mean, on the surface they're basically a feel-good pyramid chain letter. But having received one, and giving it some thought, I decided that it IS a "feel-good" award. It's a nice thing to recognize people for the work that they do, not to mention spreading some good feelings around and do some networking and advertising. It's also fun to share something about yourself to the community that they might not know.

The Rules are simple:

1. Thank and link back to the person giving you the award
2. Share seven things about yourself
3. Select 10-15 blogs who you think deserve this award
4. Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award. 

To begin, thanks to Sons of Taurus for nominating me. His blog is worth checking out and he makes it really easy for new people to catch up on his content by providing an organized collection of links at the top of his blog to various categories of content.

Next up, I guess I share seven things about myself:

1. I'm married to a wonderful and very supportive unicorn. [definition]
2. I've been involved in the hobby since I was a wee lad and have or have had the systems for: Space Marine, Epic 40 000, Warhammer Quest, Space Hulk (old and new) and each of the Warhammer 40k, playing Eldar through and through.
3. I went to school to be a computer programmer and turned down a job offer from a large and well known company to instead become an engineer in a field where I can't limit myself to a single specialty, reveling in the jack-of-all nature of my profession and the different tasks I'll face each day. (Which is where my varied and sometimes random knowledge comes from.)
4. I believe that anyone can enjoy the (any) hobby, no matter their skill level, by finding an aspect they enjoy and keeping at it.
5. For the last many years, I almost never get to actually play 40k, but enjoy the catharsis of modeling and painting.
6. I've only briefly explored selling my services and took a trade to paint up a batch of War Walkers to get a large lot of Chaos for TheWife's army.
7. I made the final cut in last years Golden Demon Baltimore for a Space Hulk Terminator and a Harlequin Wraithlord.

Finally, I hate making lists of notable sites. The reason is if I'm following them, I think they're worth checking out. On top of that, there are plenty of other blogs out there worth recognition that I don't follow only because there are only so many hours in the day, and I can't use them up reading about aspects of the hobby I don't involve myself with. (gaming: lists, strategy, etc) Every site out there has the potential for useful or inspiring information - even undiscovered authors blogging for themselves and letting readers slowly trickle in. (Just be sure to index your information)

However, there are some sites that come to mind, who are awesome in their own right, but have a few things that make them stand out:

1. TastyTaste over at Blood of Kittens for creating a network for bloggers to post from, allowing new authors a place to start from and get noticed.
2. Thor from Creative Twilight for putting all sorts of effort into creating a FREE 40k list builder called Command Center.
3. Ron at From the Warp for creating a network that's centralized information for a ton of people and acts as a bounce site for many more.
4. Drew at Garden Ninja Studios for being one of the main folks that inspired me to start blogging.
5. Everyone at Heroes of Armageddon for their time, effort and everything else they're doing to raise money for those in need.
6. All the fine people at House of Paincakes for creating another excellent network to bring bloggers and their content together and providing all sorts of information.
7. All the apes in the Massive Voodoo jungle for sharing their good vibrations and masterclass skills with the rest of us.
8. Porky from Porky's Expanse for sharing his Stylish award for those in need and constantly forcing us to think outside the box.
9. Caleb at White Metal Games for demonstrating the wild things you can create with your imagination.
10. And finally, Kirby et al at 3++ is the New Black, whom I may not follow, but think the job they do for strategy and lists through the community involvement they provide is a great addition to the blogosphere for competitive gamers.