Obama wins the Nobel, I win the Fabulous award. Coincidence?

I have been awarded a very prestigious blogging award by my friend Alex over at You Think its EASY Being This Awesome?, the Simply Fabulous Award.  While I at first was humbled, shocked, honored, and thankful, I then realized that I have to follow through on certain responsibilities upon receiving this award.  Not cool.  So now I may be forced to declare war on Norway, I mean Alex.  Anyways, the aforementioned responsibilities include listing my 5 favorite obsessions and passing it along to 5 other bloggers that I enjoy and would like to bestow this honor upon.  

John's 5 obsessions:

1.  Travel.  I have always loved traveling, and was lucky to be raised in a family that traveled a lot when I was a kid.  There isn't a better thing to spend on money on, in my humble opinion, than seeing as much of the world as you can.  I am extra lucky to have found a way to make money while traveling: tricking unsuspecting locals into listening to mid-western folk music.

2.  Alt.-country/southern rock.  I am absolutely obsessed with bands like the Drive-By Truckers, Jason Isbell, Steve Earle, Gillian Welch, Uncle Tupelo, etc.  Something about that roots driven rock'n'roll resonates with my soul and makes me want to drink bourbon  and drive fast (not at the same time).  I like my rock'n'roll with a side of southern ass-whuppin', and I like my folk and country with some real grit.

3.  Snow.  Most people hate it, I wait all spring, summer and fall for it.  I love snowboarding and cross-country skiing.  Bring it.

4.  Beer.  I love the taste of it.  If beer had no alcohol and tasted just as great, I would still drink it.  Its too bad all non-alcoholic brands taste like soapy water.

5.  Wisconsin.  I love traveling, and I love leaving Wisconsin, but I always love coming home.  I love mountains and I love oceans, but I love fall Wisconsin colors, corn fields at dusk, northwoods campfires, progressive politics, and the driftless hills of southwestern WI more.  

Now to pass the award on to some other unsuspecting victims...

1. Dane101: Madison, Wisconsin's all-covering blog, keeping Madisonians up to date with whats going on locally, from music to food to politics to Adam Schabow posing naked with his new guitar.

2. Pharyngula: My favorite nerdy blog on all things evolution, freethinking, and secular.  PZ Meyers rocks, and I met him once on State St.!

3. this is how i will get famous: My old upstairs neigbor, Reem.  She is pretty goddamn hilarious.  Read her blog.  Live better.

4. Steve, Don't Eat It!: Steve eats nasty things for your enjoyment.  Its disgusting, awesome, and enlightening.  Pretty sure its long defunct, but the old posts are pure magic.

5. So Close and Yet Safari: And I pass the buck back to Alex with her other blog, a wonderful account of her Africa trip that I have pimped on here before.  Thanks, Alex!