Dragon And On In Hope And Friendship.

Okay, what the heck, I've received another award.  And, what the howl, the award has a bunch of wolves on it.  Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar looked at the photo and started howling.  

"Semper Fidelis" comes from Latin and means, "always faithful" or, "always loyal".  The motto is used by the United States Marine Corps and also the Mexican Navy.  Incidentally, the motto is on the Coat of Arms of the city of Exeter, Devon, England, which can be observed in the right photo.

Now then, back to the award.  Al Diaz, over at, Father Dragon Writes, very thoughtfully bestowed the "Semper Fidelis award" upon me.  In the spirit of the meaning of the award, I do try to maintain an always faithful, always loyal demeanour.  I know I've been blessed getting to know Al and I know you may well have been blessed visiting such an open, honest, thoughtful and clever blog.  Al, I'm most appreciative of receiving the award.  Thank you, my friend.

Oh no, here are the rules :

1 :  Add the Semper Fidelis Award logo somewhere on your blog.  
2:  Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.  
3 :  Nominate five bloggers whose loyalty, friendship you value and you consider being part of your "pack of wolves".   
4 :  Post something special for each one of your nominees and dedicate it to them.  Such as a quote, saying, poem, picture.  Anything you think would pertain to that person.
5 :  Let the nominees know that you've nominated them.  

Okay, those were the rules.  I hate rules.  Now I have to pick five people and hope I don't upset anybody I might have overlooked.   Such a dilemma and please forgive me.  Pretty please.  Here goes......

Ah yes, the ever smiling, Tammy Theriault.  I've had the great privilege of much good natured interaction with Tammy, via an interview and quirky comments.  And beyond the joking around, lies a sincere, kind lady who is the epitome of awesomeness.  If you have never visited Tammy's site, why not?  You can find the happy, smiley Tammy, here, Tammy Theriault

Tammy, I dedicate the award to you and much success with your recently finished book, "Living RunAway".

Here is my dear friend, Kim Thomas.   Kim is a remarkable lady and has a passion to see vulnerable creatures treated in a humane, caring way.  On her site, which is more like her beloved dog, CindyLu's site, you can experience the concern and caring demonstrated by Kim.  Her site can be found here, CindyLu's Muse.   Kim, I treasure your friendship and I'm wishing that your life continues to move on in a more positive way.  I dedicate this award to you.

My kind friend, Sue, over at her site in Canberra, has meant a huge amount to me with her supportive interaction.  When I stayed online all of Christmas Day to be there for others who might have been lonely, or just wanted a chat, Sue checked in on me to see how I was.  I haven't forgotten how much that meant to me.  Above is a photo of her two playful cats, "Jazz and Jewel".  You can discover her marvellous site with superb photos, here, Elephant's Child   Sue, my kind friend, I dedicate this award to you.

One of the most supportive and nicest ladies I have the pleasure of interacting with is Delores.  Delores graces me with a comment on a regular basis  She leaves some of the nicest comments I receive.  Delores even had a virtual blog party for me to celebrate my fifth blogging anniversary, what she noted in an after post was this, Speak Up.  To discover Delores' blog as it is now, please go here, thefeatherednest.  Delores, I value your friendship and I dedicate this award to you.  

How could I possibly forget Tina Downey?  Tina and I have had plenty of good natured banter.  While I satirised the alphabet challenge so near and dear to her heart, she took it all in her stride.  Tina shares with me the powerful gift of empathy as we both try to reduce the unfair stigma that still surrounds mental health issues.  Much respect and admiration to you, dear friend.  Tina can be discovered here,  Life is Good.  Tina, I dedicate this award to you.

That's five folks, right?  Yes, I really hate this dilemma.  Who to pick and not hurt anyone's feelings.  And yes, they are all ladies.  What can I say.  Only this, those who have been included in my list must not feel obliged to acknowledge the award.  It's entirely up to you, ladies.  Thank you all for your friendship and it's party time at my place!

Ha! Ha! And Ha!   When our delightful Mexican friend, Al Diaz, posted something special about me, yes me, Al not only said some very kind things about me, yes me, but there was also a matching photo to evidently represent all of Al's nominees.  Much to my surprise, the above photo supposedly relates to me.

Am I now going to go on a rant?  Of course not.  This means I wont go on a rant about blogfests, or bloghops, or blog parties, or reflection posts about reflection posts about the amazing alphabet challenge. This also means that I will most definitely not rant about the fact that whenever a bloghop or whatever is on, virtually my entire blog list is on that bloghop theme.  How much of the same stuff repeated, over and over and over again, can my frazzled brain take..  The good thing about those themed posts is I can copy and paste my comment to each person involved in the blogfest, or bloghop, or blog party, or book tour, or whatever..."Argggggggghhhhh!  I feel better now!"

Finally, yes finally, thanks again, Al Diaz at, Father Dragon Writes, for your kind gesture.  Like you've been here for me, I shall continue to be there for you.  Despite some of the silly stuff I write, I want you to know that my true ideal is to share the gift of empathy and understanding.  That's powerful.

Before this posting starts to ahem, dragon, it will suddenly end!  

'The Blog'.

You may have seen that classic film, 'The Blog'.  Here is a brief synopsis of the beginning of that marvel of 'Sci-Fi' films.  A teenage couple, Steve and Jane, are out watching the stars.  They see a meteorite falling from the skies and it lands nearby.  Before they reach the meteorite an old man finds it.   The old guy pokes it with a stick.  The meteorite cracks open and a small, gooey, reddish, slithering slime, attaches itself to the old dude's hand and crawls up his arm.  The man runs out into the road, in a state of hysterics.  Steve sees him and takes him to the local doctor.
They get to the clinic when the doctor is just about to leave.  The doctor gives the old man an anesthetic and sends Steve back to the site of the crash to collect further information.  The doctor decides to amputate the man's arm, which is being completely consumed by the slithering slime, that becomes known as, 'The Blog'.  Unfortunately, The Blog consumes the old man, eats the doctor and his nurse, while ever increasing in size.
The Blog, grows bigger and bigger, consuming a mechanic, a janitor and a bar full of late-night drinkers.  Not satisfied with doing this, The Blog decides to ooze through the local cinema and eat the projectionist.  Folks begin screaming and rush out of the cinema.  Next stop for The Blog would be to trap a bunch of folks in the diner.  What would happen next?
Now, a brief interlude before we continue with this fascinating story.  Here are the catchy lyrics to the opening theme tune to 'The Blog', written by, 'Burt Blogarach', 'Beware of 'The Blog', it creeps and leaps and glides and slides.  Across the floor.  Right through the door.  And all around the wall.  A splotch, a blotch.  Be careful of 'The Blog'.'
Okay, I wont tell you what happened next.  Just in case, on the very remote chance, that you have not seen this intriguing tale.  Let me just say that it has a very cool ending.  Or was it 'The End'?
For, even though they thought The Blog had perished, little Blogs, had slipped out from The Blog.  These little Blogs, spread far and wide.  Some of the little Blogs became insecure.  Others became arrogant.  Some of them wanted attention, needed love. Some little Blogs declared that they were better little Blogs than other little Blogs, and all other little Blogs, should shower them with praise   Some little Blogs wrote poetry.  Others wrote of love and passion.  Some of them swore just to fucking shock.  Diversity has many fine attributes.  Self-obsessed and thinking that one little Blog is somehow superior to another, does not.
Some little Blogs became concerned.  Concerned that some little Blogs would become like 'The Blog'.  All consuming, with no regards for the validity and thoughts of the other little Blogs.   Indeed, many little Blogs decided that they would grasp what they considered the true ideal of little Blogs.  All different, all equal, in a great little Blog community.
Be careful what you poke a stick at.  You just never know what might happen......