Monday, January 4, 2010

The Silver Lining Award

It seems the longer I do this blogging thing the more awards I receive. Which is a good thing, of course, even though it seems like my sidebar is soon going to be filled with awards various people have given me over the course of this blog's life.

That being said, I'd like to thank Stephanie of Hatshepsut: The Writing of a Novel for gifting me with The Silver Lining Award.

Apparently, the "rules" of being given the award are that we have to share things that make us happy/help us to relax and potentially pass the congratulations on to our fellow bloggers.

Well, I can do the first part, but the problem with the second part is many of the people I'd give this to already have the award. I think I'm going to continue saying if you don't already have the award then consider yourself honored. It's kind of a cop-out, but it's also the only truly fair way to pass this along.

Things that make me happy/help me to de-stress:

1. Video games. There's something quite freeing about playing a good old-fashioned RPG like Dragon Age: Origins or one of the Final Fantasy titles. I've become a devotee of the Xbox 360 ever since my wife bought one for herself a few years back.
2. Reading. Sadly I don't get to do this all that much. Between working 65 hours a week, household chores, and various other demands on my time I tend to not have a lot of quality reading periods thrown in there. I still loves me a good book when I get the chance though.
3. Meditation. Again, something that I don't do too often anymore, but it's very helpful to just concentrate on your breathing and nothing else.
4. Movies. Much like reading, it's relaxing to lose oneself in a good story.

And that's pretty much it for the window into what helps me to de-stress and see the "silver lining" in life.

NOTE: The Ten-Word Novel Contest winner(s) will be announced this Thursday, January 7, 2010. Thanks to everyone for their entries!

12 comments:

Stephanie Thornton said...

I haven't meditated in forever which is sad. I used it a lot when I was pregnant- I even read about hypnobirthing which is where you put yourself into a trance, wake up, and you had the baby!

Yeah, that didn't happen.

And while I used to play a lot of video games, I don't anymore. There's just no time!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Congrats on the award, Matt. A 65-hour work week is brutal! Ouch.

I look forward to Thursday. :-)

L. T. Host said...

WB and I both got DS's for Christmas. I got him one, and then my sister got me one so we could play together!

I'm not much of a gamer, but so far I'm hooked! Just got the new Super Mario Bros a couple days ago and it's a great re-vamp of the classic. Makes me think of you every time Bowser runs away with the princess :)

.... which I've only seen the first world version, about 18 times, because I suck at video games.

Joshua McCune said...

I'm into Assassin's Creed II right now. Pretty slick visuals and some excellent assassinations ;)

Susan R. Mills said...

Congratulations on the award. Those things make me happy too. Although, video games don't really make me relax. They get my blood pumping and get all competitive.

Davin Malasarn said...

Ah, so you're a meditator. That's cool! I used to do it regularly but got out of the habit. I really got a lot out of it when I was doing it, though. Congratulations on the award!

Natalie said...

Congratulations Matt! I love a good book or movie to relax too.

Anita Saxena said...

Congratulations matt!
Bane- I got my boyfriend Assasin's Creed II for Xmas. It looked pretty.

Deb said...

Congrats and nice relaxation list. The last game that hooked me was Elder Scrolls III - fun!

Joshua McCune said...

Anita, it's very pretty, and it's got some of the coolest killing I've seen.

Deb, Morrowind? if that hooked you, ESIV (Oblivion) will double hook you.

Julie said...

I've been terrible about not putting up my awards. It took me a long time to figure out how and by that time i felt bad about putting up some and not all. So 2010 I'm going to put them all up, good for you in keeping up!

Dawn Simon said...

Congrats on the award!

Hanging with my family, reading, and movies would top my list. And eating out. :)