Entertainer Blogger Award

I am so grateful to LilSamuelJones of Next Level Reviews, I Played the Game and Shelby Steiner of Falcon Reviews for nominating me for the Entertainer Blogger Award.  All three of these blogs are an absolute pleasure to read, so if you haven’t connected with these people, it’s definitely a worthwhile venture.

I’m glad that sharing my experiences is entertaining to you folks out there.  It really does mean a lot to me, so thank you all.  I was never nominated as “Most Entertaining” in high school, but maybe this is an indication that I should have been.  Just kidding.  Not really.

The Rules of The Entertainer Blogger Award:

• Write a post including the award picture.
• Nominate 12 other bloggers who are funny, inspiring, and most importantly ENTERTAINING!
• Add these rules to the post.
• Thank the person who nominated you and leave a link to their blog!

Also, answer the questions down below.

There were two sets of questions from the three nominations, so I’ve consolidated both lists into one.

Why did you start to blog in the first place ?

I’ve talked about this a little before in other posts, but I will say just briefly that this blog for me is a form of connectivity to other people with similar interests. I semi-recently moved away from friends and family, and apart from my boyfriend, there aren’t many people around my age in this city that share a love of video games.  Most people nod and smile at me when I talk about it.  The kicker for me was the best video game find we’ve made to date (for anyone interested, it was the topic of my first blog post that I ever made here.)  That whole experience had me bursting at the seams with excitement, but the people in my life that I shared it with were anything but excited.  Mostly people were concerned with the fact that I had spent over $100 on old games.  It honestly made me feel really alone in my joy.  That’s what prompted me to start writing this stuff down, even if just for myself at first.  I never knew so many people would find my quest to find and play old games so interesting (or entertaining for that matter!).  I’m happy to share these details of my life and see others hit with the same nostalgia and fuzzy feelings I experience when I find these things in the flesh.  I’m happy to spend my time collecting and exploring all that I missed and share the experience here with all of you.

Do you consider yourself a writer, and what inspires you to write? 

I don’t think I’d consider myself a writer.  I used to do lots of creative writing in my youth and lots of technical writing for school, but I’m generally a pretty clumsy writer when it comes to colloquial exchanges.  I try to keep this blog casual.  I wouldn’t say it’s my best work from a technical or professional standpoint, but rather a candid representation of how I communicate in real life.

My inspiration to write comes from being a chatty person that loves telling a good story.  The idea of being able to share parts of my life with people who care and are interested in what I’m doing and what I have to say about it is the fuel to my writing fire.

What is your favourite book and why does it speak to you?

Oh gosh… I hate to admit it, but I haven’t gotten around to reading many books as of late.  I blame university and graduate school for that.  It was really hard to justify reading things outside of my field for those seven years of my life.  When that all came to a close though, I tried catching up on popular fiction like The Hunger Games trilogy.  It was meh.  I used to adore reading horror and suspense novels, and for a very long time I would’ve said my favourite book was Misery by Stephen King.  I haven’t read it as an adult though, so I won’t say that one.  I do have a soft spot for some of the classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  Anything I had to study in high school or university and gained a deeper understanding of I seem to enjoy more than casual reading.  Books normally speak to me when they’re relatable, and a lot of the classics tell a story of someone rising up against all odds or coming of age.  I’ve done a lot of personal growth the last few years, so those books definitely strike a chord with me.

What genre of film entertains you the most?

I should put this out there: I am not a big modern movie fan.  I have yet to find more than a handful of movies that resonate with me and really draw me in.  Am I allowed to say that movies made before 1990 are my favourite “genre”?  I guess not, but what I’m finding is that I really don’t enjoy many modern day movies in the slightest.  I hate how forced a lot of today’s movies feel.  It’s really hard to describe, but there’s something that leaves me feeling disconnected.  As a result, I’ve  been watching lots of pre-90s action/adventure/science fiction movies and am loving them.  I’m falling hard for movies like Alien, The Terminator, Star Wars, etc. I also love cartoons, and many animated films tend to hang out at the top of my list.

What is your favourite song and why does it speak to you?

Well, it’s hard to put my finger on a particular song.  I really love The Offspring, and one of their songs that is one of my favourites is Gone Away.  It has always captured the grief I’ve felt through many losses and changes in my life.

What is your favourite photograph and why does it speak to you?

I’m not really much of a visual art fan, but I do love photos of trees and birds.  A good tree photograph or painting is what I’d love to hang on every inch of wall space in my house.  Particularly oaks or maples.

What do you dislike the most?

Feeling alone in life is just the worst.  Don’t get me wrong – my relationship with my boyfriend is great.  I also have very supportive friends and family, but they’re just not in the same physical area as me.  I moved to a new city in my late 20s, and I’ve had a really hard time connecting with new people on a personal level.  Most friends I have here I know only because we work together, and many of them are at least 5-10 years older than me with very little in common with me or my boyfriend (this stretches far beyond their lack of interest in video games… their interests are all things I find boring and stuffy.)  I find it so tiring to have to feign interest in other people that I barely know.  There are some okay moments, but I really miss my hometown and having close friends and family nearby.

What is your favourite food item from the mall?

Definitely Italian food.  There is a great chain called Mrs. Vanelli’s that is dotted all over Canada that I always go to when I’m travelling.  The calzone and salad combo is my absolute favourite.  If you ever go and you don’t see any in their display, ask!  They take 7 minutes, but are they ever worth it!

What are your favourite pastimes?

Apart from my obvious love of retro game hunting and playing games, I’m honestly a pretty boring person and don’t have many pastimes.  In the summer months, I try to get out biking or hiking.  I like streaming gameplay on Twitch as well.  The winters where I live are long and miserable, but I’m trying to get into cross-country skiing.  I just hate being outside in winter.

Why did you choose your particular WordPress username?

I just talked about this recently in my post about finishing up my Zelda collection, but Hungry Goriya comes from the 7th labyrinth of The Legend of Zelda for NES.  The Hungry Goriya is an obstacle that you can only get past when you give him a meat stick.  When you walk into the room, he says “grumble, grumble”.  I always thought that his grumbling was indicative of his mood, but it turns out that it’s his stomach grumbling away!  When I used to play through the game, I had no idea what to do at that part.  I tried random things until a meat stick that you could buy at a shop caused him to blink and disappear.  That’s why my avatar is a meat stick…

Here are some nominations for the award.  I will half-heartedly apologize if anyone has previously been nominated.  I’d like to recognize the good work you folks do, but obviously don’t feel obligated to complete the task.

1. AHintofEverything at GamingGirlAndLife
2. Matt at NintendoBound
3. lightningnightnova at Conquering the Gaming Backlog
4. Gaming Picks
5. Mr. Teatime of Critical Teatime
6. Mr. Panda at Mr Pandas Video Game Reviews
7. Retr0pia
8. Van Rockingham of Games Revisited
9. Red Metal of Extra Life Independent Game Reviews
10. veryverygaming
11. Kuribo of NintendoFigures.com
12. benez256 of IHeartOldGames

Once again, thank you to my three nominators: LilSamuelJones of Next Level Reviews, I Played the Game and Shelby Steiner of Falcon Reviews.

I’ve really been enjoying learning a lot about new blogs and the people that write them in these posts.  Thank you to everyone reading, as always!

-GG