A Random and Fantabulous Award

I was given this here award by Dave (or d@\/e) and it is the maddest looking thing ever.
It's called the Arte y Pico Award and Dave kindly picked this blog out:

The Voyage that has the tag line Life, family, autism and home education. Sharon deserves an award for this blog which I'm sure helps and influences more people than she'll ever know. It's a valuable research tool for those who study and deal with people that are autistic. A real blog about a real family living in Northern Ireland.

Life is a journey, and love is its boat,
On troubled waters, it keeps us afloat,
When we started this voyage, there was just me and you,
Now gathered round us we have our own crew.

I'm grateful for the lovely words. It would be amazing to think this might help or influence people.

Ah, but how does he know we're real! We could be the construct of someone with too much time on their hands, or even, big-pharma (given my pro-vaccine stance!)

OK, no-one's that strange.

So now I pass the award on and here are the rules:

1. Pick five blogs that you consider deserve the award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of the Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

So here are my picks:

Ed from Ed's autism page writes with passion and understanding. He speaks for himself, but in doing so, helps keep in mind those who have been marginalised and denied a chance to express themselves. Sometimes I have to read his posts a few times to understand his meaning, and sometimes I have to ask him if I got it right. He is unfailingly polite and helpful. He really cares about others, is keen to learn and share what he knows.


The team at Holford Watch keep a close eye on purveyors of woo and nutribollocks. They analyse the many proclamations, media articles and email newsletters produced by and about a mister Patrick Holford in particular, and point out the errors and nonsense contained therein. It's important work; who knows how many people are swayed by the sciencey Holford and his quack ideas on important health issues. Obviously, like any quack worth their feathers, Holford isn't too keen on vaccines.

Bev writes the sublime Asperger Square 8. I'd like to see her cartoons internationally syndicated! She can say so much that is true and important about human dignity, understanding, acceptance teamed with educational and living assistance, in a few illustrations.

Manuel who writes Well Done Fillet, is best waiter in Belfast, if not the world...probably. His stories of the crabbit, the complainers, the crooks and the cooks, are well written and very funny. He has also written a useful guide to diners, with tips of how to dress, order, eat and err, tip. One post in particular was useful to me a wee gurl from the hole of nowhere.

Gimpy writes the well titled Gimpy's Blog, which he says is about "inane witterings and badscience."
He lays into the pathetic "reasoning" behind homeopathy, and was first to write about troubles in the Dore company. Dore are an organisation who preyed on the fears of parents with learning disabled children, to sell their totally unproven therapy. The company collapsed recently, leaving parents who have forked out loads for treatment without refunds and staff without wages. It further demonstrates the lack of ethics in that particular company.

So there you have it. Obviously there are at least 10 more blogs I could nominate, but these all came to mind first. Feel free all of you to participate, or ignore completely as you desire. But I hope you get a wee frisson of pleasure knowing that someone out there appreciates you!