Liebster Award Compromise

So I was recently nominated for a Liebster award, which has me feeling a bit conflicted.

On one hand, these sort of awards remind me waaaaay too much of those Facebook/MySpace notes that cycled around to everyone, and I’m still kind of embarrassed that I took part in those. I also don’t really want to do the “here’s a bunch of things about me” because a) my life is just not that interesting, and b) that’s eating up ideas that I might be able to do a post about. My creativity is limited, people.

But of course, I don’t want to be a jerk by acknowledging it happened and then not passing it on. I also like that it’s a good way to discover new blogs.

So here’s my compromise: a short anecdote and some blogs I like, regardless of size. Ready?

First up, story time!

While I’m definitely a geek and also play video games, I would never call myself a gamer. I’m so bad at games. So, so bad. My MMO of choice is Guild Wars 2 and I can tell that it’s a good game because when I play on my own it makes me feel like I’m actually not that awful. But every once in awhile a new event or something comes that requires you have a party of five and I naively think that it’ll be fun.

The last one I tried was particularly bad. I already don’t have the attention span for an hours long dungeon, but this had a finale that was way more strategy than I really like. There were two big bad guys on a platform; one did fire area of effect (basically fire balls), and one did massive melee damage. The group had to hit one for 1/4 of his health, move to the other one for 1/4, etc, and at each 1/4 mark there would be a burst effect that would hit most of us (often throwing many of us off the platform to our deaths).

This is all frustrating enough, but several on my team would tell everyone to “dodge better” or “don’t get hit”. Well thank you very much, if I’d only understood that I shouldn’t get hit by the random, fast fireballs I would’ve survived the five times we’ve all died during this finale.

When our team finally gave up and exited the game, The Geek (who’d also been on my team) sighed and said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m pretty sure you were the second worst on that team.”

I looked surprised and said, “wait, second worst?”

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These are blogs that are at the top of my “to read” list:

Budget Bytes – everything I’ve tried from Beth has been delicious and cheap. Especially if you’re trying to cook from home more, I can’t recommend her blog enough.

Wil Wheaton dot net – Admittedly I’m already a fan, but his writing always makes me either crack up laughing or get thoughtful. And come on, he posted this picture of Nathan Fillion sweeping Wil Wheaton’s wife off her feet.

The caption was: My internal dialog at this moment is: “I wish Nathan Fillion would sweep ME off my feet.”

The Frugal Girl – Kristen is so optimistic, moderate, and kind that even if she didn’t have amazing bread recipes and thoughts on frugal life, I’d still read her.

Magic and Marvels – I love the voice of this blog, it’s conversational and funny and I find myself wishing I knew this person in real life.

Kitchen Overlord – even if, like me, you never actually cook any of this food, reading the hilarious recipes (and seeing how creative they get to make some of their dishes) is totally worth subscribing for.

She’s a Maineiac – it’s always good for a laugh, and even a little insight into what it’s like to be older than 22 and have kids and still have a great sense of humor.

Simple Healthy Homemade – took a little hiatus, but I’m glad to see she’s back and writing about cooking again!

What are your favorite blogs to read? I’m always looking to find another to add to my list, so let’s hear about your favorites in the comments!