Temerity Jane

Did I ever tell you guys I ACTUALLY WON A MEDAL?

A while ago, like a while ago enough that not only do I not remember exactly when, but I don’t even remember exactly what I said BUT BELIEVE ME I SAID IT, I was complaining about the fact that none of you ever gave me a medal, and that you should totally feel free to do so AT ANY TIME.

Well? Right after that? I GOT A MEDAL.

And then I got ANOTHER ONE.

And then someone drew me a picture.

And then someone DREW ME ANOTHER ONE.

AND? You (both the collective you and the person who took the picture) probably thought I forgot about it, but I ALSO got a new “Hi TJ!” picture.

Let me rewind back to the start, I got all wound up when I started thinking about all of the awesome stuff I’ve gotten so far this year that I got ahead of me.

First, after I complained about not ever getting a medal (ok, ok, it was here, in the Delurking Day post), a commenter named Mary went OUT OF HER WAY to give me a medal, and on top of that, she awarded it to me on what is one of the most hilarious things I have ever written (in my mind, at least, and if I have learned anything over these last almost-three years, it’s that very often, what is funny in my mind is not only not funny to you, but also, not even remotely understandable). So, I’m basically considering this one a double award – partly for that hilarious post and partly for overall awesomeness. I’m going to put it in my sidebar with a header that says “Awarded by Mary for both specific hilarity and overall funniness.” Mary, if that’s not what you meant by it, speak up now, but I warn you, I’m probably going to pretend I have sudden onset sporadic deafness and do what I want anyway.

Right after that, I got ANOTHER medal, from Postrank.com. It’s kind of confusing, and even though the PostRank people were nice enough to try to explain it to me, I still don’t really totally understand it but HOORAY FOR ME ANYWAY! So here is a link to PostRank’s Top Blogs of 2009, and do you know who was one of them? ME. I WAS ONE OF THEM. Specifically, I can now say that for 2009, I was the most ENGAGING TWENTY-SOMETHING on the WHOLE INTERNET. You can read about engagement as it applies to blogs here, but the important thing is? MEDAL. FOR ME.

Moving on, I know I already showed you this one once, but it’s on my mind at the moment because I transferred it to the memory card of my camera so that I could print it out so I could HANG IT IN MY HOUSE, but the stupid Kodak thing refused to recognize it because it was in .png format so I couldn’t do it that day so I printed ANOTHER picture instead, which I promptly ruined by leaving it on top of the toaster oven while making a reasonably priced and way more delicious generic alternative pop tart. Anyway. Allie at Hyperbole and a Half made this for me:

Doesn’t it really capture his Wonder?

So then, one time, Awlbiste and I were singing on Twitter. It’s totally possible, believe me. If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I like to sing to and about my dog, and have dragged Awlbiste and several others into the practice. One of the more popular songs was based on Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer and included lines about brushing hair, scares, toilet paper squares and bears. The talented Tami Moore had a shining moment of genius inspiration from the carryings on of Awlbiste and I and vanished into her lair, only to reemerge sometime later with the perfect visualization of one of the lines of me & Awlbiste’s first solid gold Twitter hit (I invented that).

Not only does he look like a comfy chair, she captured the essential Brinkley-ness of his BUH-BUH-BUH BRINKLEY FACE BUH-BUH BRINKLEY FACE.

Lastly, I have not, in fact, totally forgotten about the “Hi TJ!” section of this website. Do you know who has forgotten, Internet? Do you KNOW who has forgotten? You have. All of you. All of you, that is, EXCEPT for Allison at The Irregular Goddess.

I don’t think I ever even told the Internet that I want to be Dorothy Zbornak when I grow up. This picture has layers.

Anyway, Internet, I have sat on all of these things for a long time – a shamefully long time in some cases – but here they are now. And you should know that it’s not just awesome people like Mary, Tami, Allie and Allison who are allowed to take some initiative and share their brilliance.

You should totally feel free to give me a medal as well.

Or contribute to the “Hi TJ!” page.

Or draw a picture of my dog.

Or a picture of Dorothy Zbornak.