Ink & Penstemon

Thanks and no thanks. Not that I don’t have some awards to put up. For about two days, there were some awards featured on this link, but after some thought, I decided I’m just not going to post awards on the blog for the following reasons:

1. Putting up awards on your blog make it seem like a contest. This may be a competition for some bloggers, but that’s not why I’m blogging. If you want to understand my motivation, visit the About tab.
2. Blogs that are genuinely good speak for themselves. They don’t need a badge to advertise that. If I did get some nice press blurbs, I might put those up as those say something substantive. As the title suggests, I’m not against going all P.T. Barnum at times for the sake of advertising.
3. Many awards out there for blogs seem meaningless or arbitrary. Of course their are exceptions; these awards usually involve voting. But I’m disenchanted by the awards I see out there. Many of them seem to be created by other bloggers as an effort to attract readers to their own blogs. And, what purpose does an award serve if it’s given to almost everybody? It’s like grade inflation—not everyone can be exceptional.
4. What can I say, I’m not really a “major award” kind of person. Other people would call this being a grump. «shrug» Oh well.

So, if you are going to give this blog an award, don’t be offended if I don’t put it up. I genuinely appreciate those who think this blog is great enough to honor with an award. And, I always try to personally thank those who give me awards in the most gracious way I can, by directing some readers back to you somehow.

And as with all things, my attitude may change over time as I become less uptight and grumpy in my old age. Thanks for reading, nonetheless.