Noblesse Oblige ? Are you kidding?

Fellow-blogger, R.J. Adams of Sparrow Chat, has done me the honor of presenting me with a "Noblesse Oblige" award. It's very gratifying when a guy as talented as RJ considers me worthy of an award which someone has also presented to him! Paul Simon's lyrics spring to mind: "I would not be convicted by a jury of my peers...." -or at least by a jury of one of 'em! RJ and I would probably find it hard to consider ourselves very "noblesse" (i.e. possessors of nobility), socialistic left-wingers that we are. But that's splitting aristocratic hairs.

This genteel award doesn't come free. There's no such thing as a free lunch, or a free award! I am obliged, by the terms of the award, to comply with the following:

1. -Create a Post with a mention and link to the person who presented the Noblesse Oblige Award.

2. -The Award Conditions must be displayed at the Post.

3. -Write a short article about what the Blog has thus far achieved – preferably citing one or more older posts to support.

4. -The Blogger must present the Noblesse Oblige Award in concurrence with the Award conditions.

5. -Blogger must display the Award at any location at the Blog.

The first requirement has been complied with. Second requirement: to show Award conditions (presumably so that readers can see what the award is all about):


Noblesse Oblige award is for the following:

The Blogger who manifests exemplary attitude, respecting the nuances that pervade amongst different cultures and beliefs.

The Blog contents inspire; strive to encourage and offer solutions.

There is a clear purpose to the Blog; one that fosters a better understanding of Social, Political, Economic, Arts, Culture and Sciences and Beliefs.

The Blog is refreshing and creative.

The Blogger promotes friendship and positive thinking.

Well, on a good day, and with a following wind, I might manage to rise to a couple of those challenges - but all at once - a tall order! Let's just say I'm taking this as a carrot to urge me on to do better. Maybe once in a very blue moon I'll have a "Bingo!" moment and manage to check all of the boxes above.

For the award's third requirement, my thinking cap needs to be firmly in place:..."a short article about what the Blog has thus far achieved – preferably citing one or more older posts to support."

I opened this blog in the Fall of 2006. At the back of my mind was a vague notion of writing about astrology, but in a style which might appeal to people who know nothing much about the subject, as well as to some who do know the basics. It was an extension of my girlhood fantasy. I'd wanted to be a journalist, writing articles for magazines.

A bog-standard Blogger template sufficed as a start. Later I learned how to customize it to its current style. Slowly gathering confidence, I registered the blog on a few networking sites; soon some established astrology bloggers kindly lent me their support.

Fantasy turning to reality?

Then came statistics software. "This'll be useful(not)", I told myself, "how difficult is it to count to four?" After a while daily blog statistics began to climb, but painfully slowly. On a very good day the blog would rack up 40 hits. I'm guessing that Google gathered up Learning Curve on the Ecliptic around this time. A sudden spurt of hits hauled numbers above 100, occasionally to 200 some days. I don't, and didn't, pretend that every "hit" equals a reader, but if 5% or 10%of hits represent readers, I'm more than happy within my fantasy, and look upon it as an achievement of sorts.

It's hard to say exactly "what the blog has thus far achieved", other than in statistical terms which, when you get right down to it, is fairly meaningless. In terms of my own satisfaction, I'm satisfied. Some kind commenters have indicated that they've enjoyed what I've written. The blog has achieved that much.

A further surprising statistical spurt came from what has turned out to be my most visited post of all: "Are We Human or are We Dancer". It's a post about a song. There's a stray mention of astrology in it, but it's not really about astrology. That post alone continued to garner upwards of a hundred visits a day for many weeks, and still, even after more than 6 months, brings in over 30 a day and the occasional comment. The post comes up on Google second only to Wikipedia's entry about the song.

A lucky break indeed!

Blog statistics are now on a gently descending curve, as visits to the "Human" post decrease. Numbers remain well-boosted by other Google searches though, which is pleasing.

Two tasks remain: To display the award - it'll remain permanently in the sidebar.

And...finally, I have to award "Noblesse Oblige" to one or more bloggers of my choice.

This is the part I really shy away from. I dislike singling out one or two from a body of people who all do such terrific jobs, and are unpaid at that! With the "unpaid" bit in mind, I'm nominating only non-professionals. I do enjoy reading blogs written by professionals, of any ilk, but for this particular purpose I'm sticking with non-professionals. I like to think that blogs originated to give anybody and everybody their chance to write, and show off a bit; professional astrologers already had that chance.

Without more ado, I'm offering this award to two astrology bloggers whose blogs fit the award requirements. Whether the two bloggers decide to participate fully in the "Noblesse" scheme is entirely up to them. I'm implying no obligation whatsoever, and offer it with sincere admiration.

GEMINI and... Blog
Out the Comet's Ass Blog