The is a new award by the eponymous Mr. Panda, and I’m honored I was among the bloggers nominated! It stands for Play A New Day Award, and I’ll quote directly from his site for the meaning, since I couldn’t say it better:

“I want to encourage others to play for another day. No matter what is going on, whether in the world, your country, your home, or even in your mind, I want you to play for a new day. We’re all in this together, and we can make it together.”

Mr. Panda is one of the sweetest bloggers I’ve ever met, and he just has this air of positivity and passion that can be felt across the interwebs.  I always grin like a loon whenever I read his articles, which are lush, informative, well-written, and in depth.  This stands even for games I’ve never played and never thought I’d have an interest in.  His reviews make me more interested and willing to give something hitherto not on my radar a try.  I’m super happy that there’s another blogger who gets to the heart of things and isn’t afraid to talk about it, but there’s no surprise that a “panda” would get to the heart ♥

The award only has three rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you.
2. Nominate any number of people for the award.
3. Encourage them in any way, whether through thanking or complimenting them.

So without further ado, here are my nominations.

1. LightningEllen – This wonderful lady’s passion for Final Fantasy XIII’s Lightning is equal to my passion for FFVII’s Sephiroth.  I also desperately want to take that personality test to know what my four letters are.  I’ve done it before, but didn’t agree with my result, though I was kind of half assing it that time :p  I love when I find people who are passionate about things regardless what that thing is.  Whenever I see it, I think about them, and that always makes me smile.  Because of her, I’m going to bump FFXIII up on my list (probably playing it after I finish WOFF, since I’m now playing multiple games in the series hehe), but not only that, she’s given out some awesome writing encouragement not only on the stories I post here, but some original work I was on the fence about putting out there (again).  Even though I’m still on a bit of a hiatus, I know I’m going to keep going, and I want to just encourage her to do the same with any of her projects *wink*
2. By Hook or By Book – I can’t even tell you how many books I’ve added to my TBR list due to Kim’s wonderful reviews.  Of course this means I have more books to read in my limited time, but I’m really not that upset about that lol.  You never know what the next book will do to you, how it will touch your soul, inspire, and move you.  Anyone who is peddling books is peddling knowledge, insight, and joy along with inspiration.  Not that I’m surprised in the least since she’s a former librarian.  Well, though she may no longer be doing the job officially, there’s much to be said about encouraging readership regardless of the medium.
3. Cupcakes and Machetes – There are quite a few people who worry about being too eclectic on their blogs and having a particular focus.  I, too, felt the worry that comes with bouncing between topics, and while I can see the appeal of having and reading blogs that have particular topics, I also love the excitement of not knowing if I”ll get a book review, a recipe, or MURDER!!!  Yasssss, thank God for the internet for bringing awesome people into my ken.  Seriously, keep posting recipes (in between reviews, your dog, and murder), because Christmas time is coming, and I want to get really fat.
4. Ignited Moth – I am super happy to find another NaNoWriMo buddy even if she thinks she didn’t succeed in it (and even if I didn’t do it this year).  Poppycock.  If you wrote you succeeded, even if it was just a few words.  I have never “won” a NaNoWriMo in the two (?) years I did it.  There’s just no way I can write 50k words in a month with the schedule I currently have, and I know there are people with more ridiculous schedules than me.  So don’t think you failed when you definitely succeeded.  Writing isn’t about failure or success (something I have to tell myself because rejection sure as hell feels like failure); it’s all about whether you keep going.
5. The Mages of the Well-Red Mage – This was the blogger.  This was the blog that led me down the rabbit hole of awesome.  Actually, wait, there was another blogger whom I’ll talk about below who led me to the Mages and then my blog life exploded like so many balloons full of confetti.  With the Mages, I found a blog of gamers as passionate as I was about their favorite series including Final Fantasy, and I didn’t find the derision and negativity that seems to plague so many other blogs and other corners of the internet.  Nor did I find that particular brand of elitism that implies this is a “members only” club.  If you’re a gamer of any type, you’re a member!  Even games that are seen as contentious and/or not as well received are teased a bit, but no one is mocked for liking what they like.  One of the most welcoming, eclectic, well-run/organized, and ever expanding blogs on WP, all I can say to the Mages is keep doing what you’re doing.  I, for one, shall continue to follow.
6. The Ink Garden – So I don’t want to play favorites because I consider all of your my friends, but Megan of The Ink Garden was my first close blogging friend, and she’s pretty much how I met everyone and joined this fantastic community.  Another avid reader and reviewer, we can also commiserate of life and the lack of time.  One day we’ll have the time to balance out our leisure with adult stuff, but until then, we’re doing our best and shouldn’t beat ourselves up for things we can’t control.
7. I Played the Game – I’m the last person to deny how stubborn I can be, and I generally stick with a definition of myself for the long haul.  I was an old school gamer, and while I didn’t scorn newer releases, I can’t deny I shunned them to live in my old school world.  Well I Played the Game plays all of the games, and I started to see that some current offerings were indeed worth my time.  Considering he’s a maths teacher (and I want to get that right, because the terminology is different on this side of the pond), I know time is precious, so if he’s devoting time to play a particular game, it’s got to have some merit.
8. Load/Error – When I was growing up the rivalry between Nintendo and Sega was vicious, rampant, and ongoing.  I was firmly in the Nintendo camp.  I scoffed at all things Sega (though I secretly liked Sonic and really wanted to play Bonk shhhh), but now as an adult, it’s like there’s this whole “new” old gaming experience out there that I get to live through for the first time.  Load/Error specializes in pretty much all the systems I never got to play, and I say yes to that.  The one thing to remember is you can always learn more about anything you believe you’re an expert on.  I hope his gaming room grows exponentially in the new year, because that means I can look forward to move articles/reviews on “new” games.
9. Evil Wizard, Esq. – I was fast losing hope of finding someone more evil than me (I am a supervillain in training after all), but then the Evil Wizard emerged from the abyss and declared his evil far surpassed my own to which I, in my pride, laughed uproariously and attempted a mighty smite/smack down. But I was thwarted by a power equal to mine.  Incomprehensible!  Dazed I stepped back, realizing some sort of compromise must be reached.  So I say for encouragement, stay evil and remain my worthy adversary.  Your Frozen Food Friday posts are the alliterative equivalent to my Final Fantasy Friday ones, and ice cream is really the only reason I haven’t summoned a meteor to obliterate this miserable planet (I was sorely tempted a few Tuesdays ago…), since it’s the only place in the galaxy to obtain such a delectable treat.
10. Hungrygoriya – Aptly named “the video game lady,” I have never come across anyone so excellent at hunting down and obtaining a deal on old school games (and I now also know whom to entreat for advice).  I wouldn’t even know where to begin, what to look for, or have the know how not to be duped.  I know Canadian winters are like winter to the third power here (and we’ve been getting blizzards that easily dump four feet of snow), but you should rest assured that you’ll only build up your bargaining/game hunting mana/MP during the colder months, and when the snows melt, there will be all sorts of awesome deals waiting with sellers that are no match for your acumen.
11. I ♥ Old Games – I think you may have been nominated for this already, because I recall reading another blogger extolling your virtues, but I just want to add my two cents.  I love how when you review games you give the entirety of the game series it comes from along with inspirations and other information.  The quality, detail, and time you put into each and every review shows, and the way your blog is set up is absolutely stellar with the overlay of the game/topic in question.  I really had no idea so many video game systems existed before the ColecoVision I started on.  I’d heard of the Commodore 64 of course, but never realized even more were out there.  Knowledge is (Nintendo) power, and I hope you’ll continue sharing yours!
12. Cheap Boss Attack – Probably the blogger who has gotten me to add the most games to my ever growing backlog with no apologies warranted or asked for :p  Your “It’s the Freaking Weekend” weekly post always generates fantastic conversation, and I have to give you credit for getting me to buy World of Final Fantasy, getting onto the PSN network, and spending my money on all the games.  Also our Twitter conversations about cats and other randomness is why the internet exists.  I really hope you’re able to do more podcasts in the future as that made three hours of work go by much quicker.  I now have that Eldritch Horror board game on my Amazon wishlist so the influence goes even beyond the world of video gaming.  It really is kind of an epidemic that gamers tend to go off on bitchfests if we’re allowed to talk for too long, but that never occurred.  There’s nothing wrong with a little complaining, but the negativity that often permeates the gaming world is overwhelming.  I’m a big proponent of elevate what you love instead of bashing what you hate, and you live that life.  It’s also awesome to find another turn based RPG fan, because now I have more of them on my to-play list.  Granted…they take longer to finish, but it’s like how I “complain” about having too many books on my TBR list.  I’m really not complaining.  I hope next year is a better one for you.  2016 has not only been universally awful, but it’s struck a lot of people on deeply personal levels as well.
13. Just Keep Brains – I think you may be my first active blog follower!  You read my Northern Lights almost as soon as I put it up, and I can’t tell you how much that meant to me for encouragement.  Your blog is always a bright spot that’s showcases makeup, fashion, and the adorable sounding batfit that has real results.  I love that the internet allows us to have friends all the way across the world surpassing distance and timezone.  I hope things go marvelously in your new flat with your new job and the stresses of this past year leave you alone in 2017!

Well I fulfilled my wish to have this post on Thanksgiving because I’m thankful for all of you!  I’m sure I’ve missed people I’d like to award, and since this is an exercise in positivity, if you want to encourage a fellow blogger, I say do it 🙂

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