Tuesday 16 December 2008

What is "A Hoy"?

A Hoy is about positive thinking

I'd like to think that receiving A Hoy will be different to most blog awards, because of the stipulation that one makes an onward award to at least two blogs that one has never seen before (see "Rules for Making an Award," below).

Why is that important?

It's a psychological thing. People go through life doing impressive stuff, and it will be "normal" to them, so they don't think of it as impressive. And yet they may receive little or no recognition, or validation, for their efforts. I'm talking about abstract things like wit, humour, whimsy, the ability to tell a good story, that kind of thing - the sort of things that make others' lives better. Suddenly having somebody turn up, out of the blue, and say "your blog's cool: have an award," has significant positive impact (I know this, because when I receive awards, I make a point of searching for blogs I've never seen, which are "off the beaten track" of stuff that I usually look at, and the response is worth the extra effort). This is, I would argue, also beneficial to the giver, because it requires them to think of things that they like - and you'd be surprised how few people think in those terms.

Now, Sir Chris Hoy, MBE, PhD, is a phenomenon - it's not necessary to look beyond his biography to understand just how good he is. Arguably both the greatest track cyclist of his generation, possibly ever, and the greatest British olympian - nobody from Great Britain has won three golds in a single Games for a hundred years, and there were only a couple of dozen countries competing, back then. Moreover he has won four golds, now, each in a different discipline.

Chris Hoy is also a thoroughly decent human being. Following his attempt at the world kilo mark at altitude, he went back to La Paz, earlier this year, with a donation by his sponsors of top class bikes and equipment, which he'd noticed the local riders didn't have access to. There was no obligation on him to do that, and you would have to be one of those local riders to understand what it meant to receive that gesture.

In some sense, then, when one receives A Hoy, one is associated with Chris and with Chris's achievements - and that's powerful - on some level, one is being recognized as excellent, and one will have been recognized by somebody who has no motivation to tell you that, other than it being true, if only in their opinion.

That, in a nutshell, is it: A Hoy is a recognition of excellence, named after somebody whose excellence can't be questioned. It's about the confidence to believe the best of yourself; the determination to succeed; and acknowledging when you've achieved the goals that you've set. So, when you give and receive A Hoy, there's a gold medal and a national anthem playing for you, too.


Acknowledgements

First and foremost, a massive "thank you" must go to Chris Hoy and his management team, for lending their kind permission for this award to be named after Chris.

Thanks also to Tracy for just being so damn talented. If you are lucky enough to have A Hoy on your sidebar, and have commented, if only to yourself, on the stunning artwork, then think of her, because she created it, along with the rest of the original art on this page.

Thanks go also to the Founders, whom I imagine have long suspected that I am as mad as a box of frogs, and yet went with me on this one, anyway!

Thanks to you, for receiving this award, and then giving it to others equally deserving. And finally, thanks to all the other blog awards, out there, which proved to me that it can be done!


Rules for Making an Award

1. Pick five blogs that you consider deserve this award based upon any criteria - for example, the quality of the commentary, wit, humour, artwork, overall design, value to you of the information being provided, and so on.

2. The awarding blogger should choose at least two blogs not on his or her own blogroll, the purpose being to encourage variety of reading matter, and to have the person making the award think about what they like to see and read.

3. Your five choices must be published in a dedicated post on your own blog. This post must contain the name of the author (which may be their logon name), and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone. This post should contain brief details of what attracted you to the blog. Details may also be posted in the comments section of "What is a Hoy?"

4. In the same dedicated post, each winner has to show the award and acknowledge the blog that has given him or her the award.

5. Both those awarding and receiving A Hoy must show the link to A Hoy blog, so that everyone will know the origin of this award.

6. When publishing details of the blogs to which you have made your awards, these rules must be published for recipients to follow.

15 comments:

Radagast said...

Work in Progress:

Schedule of Works!


By:
1 November - Founders each to have shortlisted their five blogs.
30 November - "Chaser" to any Founders who haven't confirmed that they've shortlisted their five blogs!
30 November - Tracy to have completed artwork.
15 December - All artwork, including lettering, to be in place.
19-25 December - Founders to despatch awards their five blogs, and post details of same in the comment section of "What is A Hoy?"

Radagast said...

Bloody hell! On schedule!

Anyway, I'm delighted to announce my contribution to the first raft of A Hoys to be awarded. I kinda want to make a big deal about this; first, because they're the first awards to be made by A Hoy, and, second, because I think the Founders have all spent a great deal of time doing the research and making their choices, and deserve to have that effort acknowledged.

So, without further ado, [rustling and tearing of envelope] my A Hoys will be going to (sorry, no "live" links - I couldn't work out how to do it, in comments!):

1. http://isaiah43-kt.blogspot.com/ - Advice to Live By, penned by keightie
2. http://qwsdcv5150.blogspot.com/ - Aftermath, by Raine
3. http://all-i-do-is-dream.blogspot.com/ - All I Do is Dream, by A
4http://jazzinpieces.blogspot.com/ -In Pieces, by Jazz
5. http://raisinchronicles.blogspot.com/ - The Raisin Chronicles, by Jeanne; and
6. http://reinventingalice.blogspot.com/ - Reinventing Alice, by alice

Congratulations to you all!

Now, in accordance with A Hoy's Rules (which you'll note is capitalized!), I'm supposed to explain what it is that I like about each blog. But when I came to think about it, I found that my choice boiled down to the same factors, in each case. First, that their titles grabbed my attention (and I chastise myself for being so superficial!). Second, that each has a very real talent for expressing an idea, in writing.

The subject matter varies somewhat, from one blog to another, and some are more whimsical than others (ie, they go fuguing off at some tangent, before pulling the story back, a little bit akin to listening to Billy Connolly do a stage show), which I like, but each seems to have the ability to follow the thread of an idea through from inception to conclusion, in a very readable way. Sorry, that's a bit vague, but it's the best I can do to convey what I'm trying to say!

Fid said...

Here are my winners, in no particular order:

Illegitimis Nil Carborundum - http://www.observationdeck.org/weblogs/
It was the template used by this blogger that caught my eye. It's a beautiful layout and pleasant on the eye. The writing is top notch too.

AC/DC News - http://www.acdcnews.com/
I'm a big fan of AC/DC and anyone who writes about them with such passion deserves an award. Some of the photo's on this blog are quite stunning, even if the author didn't take them himself. It's a great blog for any hardcore fan of AC/DC.

University Diaries - http://www.margaretsoltan.com/
I stumbled upon Margaret's blog whilst researching Charles Nemeroff. She shoots straight from the hip with her writing and chooses various topics to get her teeth into.

The Paranormal Casebook - http://alienufoparanormalcasebook.blogspot.com/
Updated on a daily basis and it certainly gives you food for thought. I don't necessarily agree with everything written on this blog but it sure does open your mind.

Grand_Anglais - http://grandanglais.blogspot.com/
Fellow Brummie who has a passion for photography. His photos are excellent and have brought back many memories for me.

Last but definitely not least is the Truthman's excellent blog:

GSK Licence To [K]ill - http://truthman30.wordpress.com/
I have become good friends with the author of this blog over the years we have known one another, albeit from the perspective of cyberspace. His blog is a wealth of information and, for me, one of the best Seroxat blogs out there. It shames GSK, at least it should shame them. Truthman has documented the rise of Seroxat from its birth. His research should be highly commended.

Fid

soulful sepulcher said...

Soulful Sepulcher's A Hoy Recipients.

Letters from the Sanitarium.

Tilting at Windmills.

The Beauty Offensive.

Faith for God.

Mental Motes.

Monica Cassani said...

beautiful graphics! really lovely!

nice idea...thanks for the invite to participate...

you guys have done a great job.

Tracy said...

It's that time of year to announce the "A Hoy" award winners. It was tough too. But here are the ones I've picked. Welcome to the winners and congratulations:

http://ajolipa.blogspot.com (Soul Garden)

http://soulsloshing.blogspot.com

http://lnung.blogspot.com (A Place of Happiness & Sadness)

http://vagabondedSlurpee.blogspot.com
(The Vagabonded Raconteur)

www.untreatableonline.com

http://bipolarblast.wordpress.com (Beyond Meds)

Ana said...

My winners:

1. Reading Adventures by Marg
http://readingadventures.blogspot.com/
2. A Daily Dose of Architecture by John Hill
http://archidose.blogspot.com/
3. Pmokeefe by Patrick O'Keeffe
http://pmokeefe.blogspot.com/
4. Artversussport by Yrsa R. Fannberg
http://artversussport.blogspot.com/
5. People and Nature Journal by Steve Chase
http://childrenandnature.blogspot.com/
6. New York on Time by Jorge Pontual
http://nyontime.blogspot.com/

Jeanne Estridge said...

My choices for passing this on are:

1) K (Interstitial Life (http://interstitial-life.blogspot.com/)) – because she’s hysterically funny. Pick a post, any post, and I guarantee you’ll laugh.
2) Connie (Far Side of Fifty (http://farsideoffifty.blogspot.com/)) – because she posts such gorgeous photos and she tells stories of the America I remember growing up in, and regret that my grandkids will never know.
3) Buffalo Dick (Opinions and Rectums, We All Got One (http://buffalodickdy.blogspot.com/)) -– because he’s funny, and he cooks beautiful food and sometimes the blogosphere gets a little girly and he breaks that up. With an ice axe.
4) Rachel (Rachel’s Ramblings (http://rachelcotterill.blogspot.com/)) -- because her posts always show me something I've never seen before, or thougt about before, or somehow make me think.
5) Chef E (The Behind the Wheel Chef, (http://cookappeal.blogspot.com/)et. al.) – because there’s a lot of variety in her 6 blogs. If you can’t find something to your taste in one, you will find it in another.

Herrad said...

What a gret award and what a great person Chris Hoy is.

Keep warm and happy.

Love,
Herrad

Unknown said...

This is my first visit and sign up as your follower after reading your post. I wanted to let you know that I get to know such a great award and such a great person, Chris Hoy through your post.

Thank you.

God bless,

Anonymous said...

Received a comment on my blog from "Maggie" who is one of your honorees. I stopped here to try to respond to her very complimentary message - hoping that she might be listed here. There was no email address on her comment. Not sure when she received her award, but if anyone knows just who I'm referring to -- give her my sincere thanks. Meanwhile, I'll keep checking into her blog for clues... .

Betty Soskin

BALLET NEWS said...

Hello, just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your wonderful post, thank you - I'm really loving your blog too !

Mike Golch said...

I just got a new award and I given it to this blog and that goes for all of the contributors.

Simon black said...

who knew, interesting read!

Someone said...

i like positive thinking