So, in what I can only assume is an attempt to grievously insult me, Mr. The Stoppable Force has awarded me the “Honest Scrap” award. Scrap meaning ‘junk’ or ‘rubbish’, of course. Mind you, Stop claims that

“This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant.”

…well, okay then. If you’re sure you’re not trying to insult me…

In any case, there are strings attached – aren’t there always?

1. When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to the said person so everyone knows she/he is real.
2. Choose a minimum of seven (7) blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have seven friends. Show the seven random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with Honest Weblog. Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.
3. List at least ten (10) honest things about yourself. Then pass it on!

Unlike Larisa, I rarely talk about me-the-player (as opposed to me-the-paladin), so let’s do that.

1. I used to write roleplaying game books. I co-wrote about a dozen books, for Shadowrun and Demon: the Fallen (by FASA/FanPro and White Wolf respectively). I produced some work I’m really proud of, but eventually burnt out – and, unfortunately, flaked out on some obligations in the process, which I still regret.

2. Ten and a half years ago, I was hit by a car – while a pedestrian – and nearly died. The episode has left me with quite a few lingering health problems, but all in all I count myself lucky – as the cliché goes, every day is a blessing.

3. I have terrible spatial perceptions. I’m not bad at reading maps, because I’ve trained myself to do it, but I’m still doing the mental equivalent of turning the map around to match the direction we’re going. It makes for real comedy in complicated instances (after raiding in Molten Core for a year I could still get lost, and let’s not even talk about Karazhan). I’ve lived in the same part of town for 13 years and I still have no real mental picture of where one suburb is in relation to another.

4. I’m an only child, and very happy to be so. I have a great relationship with my parents, and I’ve never really missed having brothers or sisters. Plus I get way more presents at Christmas this way!

5. I’m a gadgetaholic. I had a PDA back before they were useful! I’m a technology junky in general; I’ve frequently had a six-computer network, which seems a bit excessive for a one-person household. My study has a row of power sockets under the window, above the desk – fourteen double sockets. My electrician thought I was insane. (Only two of them are currently unused.)

6. I am, in many ways, the stereotypical geek. I love sci-fi and fantasy, as genres; I’ve been a gamer (RPGs, I mean) for half my life; I read voraciously; I have almost all of the Star Trek serieses on DVD; I know the history of the Star Wars universe; I read comics. I even wear glasses!

7. My undergraduate degree was a B.Sc, in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. My original ambition was academia; it wasn’t long after I’d finished the degree that I realised I’d be a terrible academic – I’m way too much of a dilettante, not focused on specifics. I don’t regret doing the degree, though; it was great training in analytical thinking.

8. I hate gender stereotyping, and media suggestions that men and women are supposed to lie to or misunderstand each other (i.e. most sitcoms and comedy movies). My closest friends are all guys, and I resent the implication that our friendships are unnatural or doomed to failure.

9. I don’t evangelise or bug people about it, but I use a Mac for my day-to-day computing needs, and I love it. I started using a Mac about six years ago, when I bought a 12″ PowerBook laptop, and then found myself using it for everything instead of my big shiny desktop PC. I figured that was a sign, and my next desktop upgrade was to an iMac. I’m now using a Mac Pro tower, and I love it. (I’ve also got two Mac Minis as media centre computers, an iMac as my backup machine, and a four-year-old PowerBook in desperate need of a reformat and reinstall.)

10. I love design, and aesthetics. My mother calls me her Colour Nazi (brought on by one too many cases of “no, that blouse does not go with that skirt”). In another life, I would have been happy as an interior designer.

So! that’s me. Now, to tag a few participants!

• Ila, from Binary Colors, because she is not just awesome but fuckawesome.
• Anna, from Too Many Annas, because you can never actually have too many Annas.
• Mister Shag, of Need More Rage. He’s welcome to delegate one of his team to collect the award, of course. I know he’s a busy man.
• Josh, of Eye For An Eye, my favouritest retadin blog.
• Rhidach of Righteous Defense, a recent and much-enjoyed addition to my RSS reader.
• Mania, of Mania’s Arcania, who is also responsible for two awesome sites I use and love – Petopia and Warcraft Mounts.
• Rohan, of Blessing of Kings – he’s probably much too sober and serious to participate, but I can hope!