Health
Hope
And joy
This new year
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Accolades
Some people mark the passing of time through the turning of seasons but for others it's all down to the annual Laughing Horse Blogging Awards. This year there was to have been a massive party at Bantry House in Ireland with invited guests being flown in from all over the world. The champagne would have flowed and lady bloggers in chiffon gowns would have tittered behind their lacy handkerchiefs. Luxury accommodation had been booked for all with spectacular views over Bantry Bay and the promise of a full Irish breakfast in the morning - despite the inevitable hangovers.
Bantry House - What might have been
There are people out there in the so-called "real world" who regularly visit favoured blogs but do not manage blogs of their own. They are in effect supporters of the blogging community and their esteemed presence is much cherished but rarely acknowledged. This year The Laughing Horse Awards Committee has decided to recognise six of these unsung heroes: Ellen D from Naperville, Illinois - Melinda from Brooklin, Ontario, Canada - John Haggerty from Glasgow, Scotland - ex-teacher Margaret from The Pacific North West, USA - Christina from Blackburn, Lancashire and last but not least Carol (Coppa's Girl) from Spain.
All of the above are permitted to print off a 2022 "Special Award" widget. It should then be cut out and carefully mounted on card before a safety pin is secured to the back with tape. The new badge may then be worn on their lapels - a true badge of honour and something to boast about with friends and family.
Another special award goes to Andrew de Melbourne. Of course he was the Overall Blogger of the Year for 2021 but in late September 2022, something terrible happened. His esteemed "High Riser" blog was suddenly pulled by Google Blogger. Andrew had been managing this blog since I believe 2004 and its disappearance came as a huge surprise. There was no debate or forewarning - it was just blasted away like a Ukrainian electricity sub-station. Something to do with "terms and conditions".
Andrew had to pick himself up and dust himself off before picking up the blogging reins again. He launched a "new" blog - "From The High Rise" which to all intents and purposes looks just like "High Riser". And now he is happily back in his stride. The Laughing Horse Awards Committee felt that his resilience in the face of adversity deserved a "Special Award".
And now we reach the moment you have all been waiting for - the announcement of The Laughing Horse Blogger of the Year for 2023. There were six nominations in all but sticking with tradition, I have been instructed not to name the five also-rans - one from Canada, two from the USA, one from Australia and the other from England. Understandably, The Awards Committee never wish to prejudice next year's selection.
Drum Roll.
"And The Overall Winner and Blogger of the Year for 2022 is none other than Bob Slatten from Camden, South Carolina for "I Should Be Laughing"!"
Loud cheers. Thumping of tables. Someone shouts, "Go Bob!"
Bob beams with delight as he proudly displays his award
The Committee said that Bob's blog is well-maintained and well-designed. There are regular features such as his mouthwatering architectural posts and his collections of current political cartoons. Bob has a healthy Democratic view of both political and celebrity life in the USA. He tells it like it is - often providing readers with quotations that unmask hypocrites and idiots alike. He can't even bring himself to use the name "Donald Trump", instead re-branding him as "Thing 45". Sometimes he writes about his pet cats or his spouse - Carlos who occasionally makes funny mistakes - but mostly Bob's blog is outward looking, seeking justice, fairness and common sense in this often crazy world.
Bob is now entitled to display this special widget in his sidebar or use it in a blogpost announcement:-
To visit "I Should be Laughing", go here. Congratulations Bob!
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New Year Review
No matter how old we are we all are works in progress.
I’ve been changing the pages in my filofax and I’m very aware of how yin yang this last year has been
Covid restrictions being lifted should have meant everything in the garden was rosy but travel chaos, flight cancellations and rail bollocks has put paid to my trips to Rome and Barcelona and London whilst the recession, fuel crisis and financial crash has sobered us all up from our post-covid frivolities
And so, let me get 2022 into some perspective
Let’s look at the positives
I’m on the tentative journey towards a new career.
My family met up for a delightful and oh so necessary reunion in Sitges where we sat together into the small wee hours talking and talking and talking about family shit.
Sadly my nephew divorced and we bonded more over something sad in common.
My love affair with London and with theatre blossomed again, not only, with my touchstone meets with Nu continuing but with catch ups with friends Alex and Jon and Janet of course, and visits to my “ second “ home of the Z hotel, tucked carefully behind Covent Garden.
To Kill and Mocking Bird, Cabaret, The Corn Is Green, Six, The Royal Ballet and the dearest of them all Come From Away it’s been a fabulous year for theatre in London and at home.
London eventually meant meeting nephew Leo too whose absence has broken my heart a little more than I ever realised it would .
Zoom meets have dissolved into real meets , Jane in Manchester, Ruth in the wonderfully bizarre and welcoming Findhorn , The Northern Belle with Nu and in Sheffield very soon
Dim witted but sweet Roger arrived chasing autumn leaves like a loon and with the thanks of a cheerful and tone deaf builder my new bathroom arrived with a wall mounted heated towel rail to go weak at the knees for . ( I had 232 comments on that blog when I finally unveiled the splendour)
Blogging has provided a mini life line as it has always done and in 2022 I’ve had over 2.5 million hits alone….go figure that one….contrary to some, I must be doing something right.
On a personal wish, I will ask for an armistice on troll comments .they do nothing but poison the air and we all have had a hard few years and don’t need the bother…eh?
Helping with the TCA Trelawnyd Community Association has given me some more direction and purpose and sense of community again and my part time status at work has given me more space for college and home.
It’s still a work in progress, especially with some health problems lurking in the shadows. Shadows that can’t always be shaken with positivism and humour and which are always sadly there when you live alone.
In the new fanatical crisis we have all found ourselves in, I , like everyone else needs to reevaluate things but I’m lucky I have a family that loves me, friends that do the same and live in a village that cares for me.
Thank you to them and to Trendy Carol and Ewan,…..without them I could never have kept my dogs.
Their support will never be forgotten.
The news that my ex husband is getting married again slapped me across the face much harder than I expected it too but bra straps have to be hoisted and I have to get on with things.
It was one of the last hurdles to face , come to think…
I find life lonely at times and I will not apologise for saying so.
“We feel what we feel “so says Carl Rogers
But like all of us it’s one foot in front of another and don’t beat ourselves up when we get things a little Wrong.
Thank you dear readers , who keep coming again for snippets of everyday life of a sentimental gay bloke living in a Welsh Village. Your kindness, occasional sycophancy , good humour , and friendship means a great deal, especially when the shadows gather in an often unkind world
I’m rushing now, I’m covering a late shift at work and it’s already 1 pm
I’m working tomorrow too but have just been invited to the luscious Velvent voiced Linda ( and Nick’s) for drinks later tonight, so that will be a first in decades
Going out New Year’s Eve…….
Bloody hell
Look at me ?
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