(October 2020. Another interlude: blog awards.)

Friends… I promise there will be an actual post up in the next couple of days. I know what the next two episodes will be about, for sure.

I’m having a pretty great weekend so far. Something really awesome happened at work on Friday involving some meaningful compliments from someone whose path crossed mine at my job in the past. And that reminds me, in case you’re new here, one topic I do not discuss on WordPress is what kind of work I do. I’ve been in this same career since I graduated from UJ, and later on I will have a lot of stories to tell about my process of considering future careers. So I’m basically just helping you avoid spoilers.

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Bekah (who hasn’t written anything in a while, what happened to you?) nominated me for the Brainstorms Award. Thank you!
https://brainsstorms.wordpress.com/2020/06/02/introducing-the-brainstorms-award/

The rules:

Thank the one who nominated you
Tag your post with #BrainStormsAward and follow BrainStorms if you are willing!
Display the BrainStorms Award logo.
Talk a bit about your blog, why you started it, what you write on and your goal for your blog.
Answer the five questions you have been asked
Nominate five other amazing bloggers
Ask them five new questions

Don’t Let The Days Go By is an episodic continuing story set in 1995 (so far) about a university student trying to make his way in life. I have been writing DLTDGB for almost two years now, since December 2018. It is based on my actual past, and I borrowed the title without permission from a line from a song popular at the time. If you have several hours to spare, you can start from the beginning and read the whole story.

I will be answering your questions in character from 1995.

1. What is your most precious memory?
   Two years ago, I was a senior in high school, and I had a really bad day. It wasn’t anything serious, just friend drama and a general feeling of not fitting in. But my friend Jessica saw me sitting outside upset and talked to me for a while. She invited me to go to McDonald’s with her and her sister and another girl. I wasn’t used to people actually being nice to me like that. (Jessica is the one who went to Guatemala after high school, I’ve mentioned her before.)
2. Where would your dream vacation place be?
   I’ve met a lot of girls on the Internet whom I would want to go out with if I didn’t live so far away. So my dream vacation would be to go visit one of them.
3. Do you like to sing or play an instrument?
   I played piano in elementary school for a few years, but I quit. I don’t like singing or playing music in front of people. My friend Danielle sings in the University Chorus and in the choir at our church, and she keeps telling me I should sing with them; she’s heard me sing at church and she says they always need guys. Last week she reminded me when church choir practice is… I don’t know, but I told her I’d think about it. [I did eventually start singing at church, which I wrote about after I answered Bekah’s questions… hmm, looks like that happened exactly 25 years ago today.]
4. If you had to live in a different country, which country would it be?
   I’ve never really thought about living somewhere else. I’m inclined to think I would want to be somewhere that people speak English, so I can communicate.
5. What is your favorite thing to do?
   That’s a hard one, because it changes depending on what mood I’m in. Lately it’s been riding my bike.

Prutha nominated me for the Mystery Blogger Award. Thank you!
This award was originally created by Okoto @ Okoto Enigma’s Blog.

Rules
Put the award logo/image on your blog [I lost it, I don’t feel like looking for it now]
List the rules.
Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well
Tell your readers 3 things about yourself
Answer the questions asked by your nominator
Nominate people
Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog
Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question
Share a link to your best post(s)

Answering in character from 1995.

3 things about myself:
I have gotten an A in every math class and every science class I have taken, going back at least as far as middle school.
I have never been in a different time zone.
I am the oldest of two brothers. I was in kindergarten when my brother was born.

Who is your current favourite artist or band?
Hard to say; I like a lot of music that doesn’t really go together. I got really into Pink Floyd last year when their Division Bell album came out; I’ve been listening to a lot of their heyday stuff too. I’ve listened to R.E.M. a lot the last few years too. And as for recently emerging artists, I got the Cracked Rear View CD by Hootie and the Blowfish last month for my birthday, and I’ve listened to it so many times.

How has blogging helped you grow as a person?
It’s 1995. What’s a blog? That word hasn’t been invented yet. (Answering as an adult: it has helped me look back on a meaningful time in my life and think about the lessons I’ve learned over the years.)

How many books have you read so far this year?
I read more than usual this year, and I haven’t been counting. Probably at least 10 for pleasure. And I’m a university student, so I read a lot of textbooks.

Tell us about the last movie you watched.
I don’t even remember the last movie I watched. I watched Quiz Show at the second-run theater on campus in the spring; that was probably the last time I saw a movie on a big screen. It was a true story about a game show in the 1950s that was fixed; the producers gave the contestant the questions and answers beforehand because he was a likeable figure who would draw a lot of viewers. [In the time since this award nomination a few months ago and the current present moment of the story, I also saw Batman Forever on campus.]

What languages are you fluent in?
Just English, although I know Spanish well enough to get by. There are a lot of Spanish speakers here in the western USA.

Bhagyashree nominated me for the Vincent Ehindero Blogger Award
THE RULES:
Thank the person that nominated you with a link to their blog
Make a post of the award (with photo)
Post the rules
Ask 5-10 questions of your choice
Nominate 10-30 other bloggers (or more) and notify them.
Follow Vincent Ehindero @ vincentehindero.wordpress.com (to qualify for free blog promotion and shoutout) and more blogging opportunities

MY QUESTIONS:
I’m going to answer as an adult, because most of the great answers I can think of happened after 1995.

Is there a cheesy movie you secretly love to watch?
It’s not a secret, I don’t really make secrets of cheesy movies I love, but… Orange County. In 2002, when this movie was new, I passed up a chance to see it on the big screen with someone I knew. The ads I’d seen made it look like just another dumb teen stoner flick; I was 25 and felt like I had outgrown that kind of comedy. A few months later, when it was first released on DVD, my brother, who was 20 and loved all those dumb comedies, asked me to watch it with him when I was visiting my family back home. I instantly fell in love with the movie. The teen stoner culture is just the backdrop; it’s really a very relatable story about a confused kid who can’t wait to break free from his dysfunctional family and hometown, but learns some important things about life along the way.

What is the funniest thing you have seen a stranger do?
Stranger 1: (checks to make sure his phone keypad is locked)
Stranger 2: Dude, why do you always make sure to lock your phone? Do you butt-dial people a lot?
Stranger 1: Last week I butt-ordered something off Amazon.
Stranger 2: (laughs) What did you order?
Stranger 1: A One Direction CD.

What would you choose; an act of chivalry with your favorite hero or a chance to read the personal diary of your most loved villain?
Both would be intriguing, but I’m going to go with hero. Reading the thoughts of a villain would be too dark.

Which is the one thing (item) you never share with anyone?
Underwear.

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you come across an amazing blog?
I wonder if the author is as cool in real life as the blog is.

Which is your spirit comic character?
Superman, because people say I look like him.

How would you describe your blogging journey so far in three words?
Introspective, nostalgic, friendly.

Joshua nominated me for the Outstanding Blogger Award
Provide the link to the creator’s original post. Outstanding Blogger Award by Colton Beckwith.
Answer the questions provided.
Create 7 unique questions.
Nominate 10 bloggers. Ensure that they are aware of their nomination. Neither the award’s creator, nor the blogger that nominated you, can be nominated.
At the end of 2020, every blog that ping-backs the creator’s original post will be entered to win the 2020 Outstanding Blogger Award.

1: What was the exact date when you started your blog?
December 9, 2018. (The date in my story’s timeline was July 5, 1993.) I had another blog before that (I think you followed me over from that blog) which I started in the spring of 2014, although I don’t remember the exact date. (It was May 2, I looked it up.)

2: Do you remember how you became a Christian?
I do, but I can’t tell that story here, because that will be a future blog post. But these episodes tell stories that have led up to that moment so far:
https://dontletthedaysgoby.home.blog/2019/04/14/december-2-4-1994-jeromeville-christian-fellowship-and-the-newman-center/
https://dontletthedaysgoby.home.blog/2019/08/29/march-3-1995-throwing-the-box/
https://dontletthedaysgoby.home.blog/2019/09/07/march-4-1995-friendship-is-special/
https://dontletthedaysgoby.home.blog/2020/07/23/october-14-20-1995-come-follow-me

3: What kind of music do you like?
I listen to a lot of stuff. Classic rock, 80s and 90s pop-rock, some country, some Christian music although not as much as I did in the 90s and 2000s, and some stuff that I just can’t categorize. I don’t particularly like most rap, nor do I like pop from about 1998 onwards (and about five years ago, some country music started sounding too pop for me).

4: Have you ever evangelized or passed out tracts to anybody?
Not exactly like that. I’ve done service projects and things like that.

5: What place in the world would you like to go to someday?
The world is so big, and I’m the type of person who finds anywhere that I’ve never been inherently interesting. I took a day trip to Ashwood in 2019 just to drive around and see stuff (well, there was a little more behind the trip than that); everyone hates Ashwood, but I loved it just because it was someplace I had never seen beyond the freeway. So I guess pretty much anywhere new is somewhere I’d like to go someday.

6: How often do you watch videos on YouTube?
Not very. If I’m watching something on YouTube, it’s usually because I was looking for something specific. I don’t usually get stuck down a rabbit hole of clicking on suggested videos endlessly… except sometimes if said videos are music.

7: Do you listen to songs on Spotify?
No. I do things the old fashioned way and buy my music, although these days I buy most of it digitally rather than on physical media, especially since all the used music stores around me have shut down.

That’s all… like I said, I’ll have a new episode up in a day or two. And feel free to ask me anything in the comments. Or just say hi.

Edited: I forgot that I’m supposed to nominate people and ask them new questions. I don’t like to nominate people for these, because I don’t want people to be left out, so if you want to do any of these blog awards, pick one and do it. My questions for you are:

1. Do you eat breakfast every morning? If so, what, and if not, why not?
2. What is an opinion you hold strongly that most of the people around you disagree with?
3. Have you ever seen anyone famous out in public? Tell the story. (Interpret “famous” broadly – if you’ve never seen a movie or sports star out in public, tell about a time you saw a local TV news person, or a local elected official, or maybe when you were a kid you ran into a teacher from your school shopping at the grocery store, something like that.)
4. What is something positive that has happened to you because of COVID19?
5. What is your LEAST favorite color? Everyone wants to know your favorite, but no one ever asks this.
6. What do you miss the most about childhood?
7. When you were in school, did you have a teacher/instructor/professor who you really liked, but you did not like the subject they taught? Tell me about that teacher.

If you do one of the awards that only requires 5 questions, pick any 5 from this list.