Farewell Nice Job Badges, You Will Be Missed

Highlights:

• We’re discontinuing Nice Job Badges, even through they are popular.
• It’s very challenging to pick just a handful of amazing blog posts in a week!
• We’ll be highlighting amazing posts on Twitter and Daily Inklings.

Happy Friday, everyone! Or, perhaps, a melancholy Friday instead. We’ve made the decision here at Normal Happenings to discontinue one of our more popular features, Nice Job Badges.

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It wasn’t without consideration. Nice Job Badges are truly the highlight of my week, but sometimes you realize creative situations change. Normal Happenings is truly growing, and sometimes we must grow with it. In this post, we’re going to briefly delve through why we’ve decided to leave the beautiful badges behind.

A Very Good Problem

A funny thing happens when you grow as a blogger. You start to meet a great many talented bloggers, and you follow the ones who are really something special. The trouble is, by now my WordPress Reader is filled with post after post of wonderful content. While it’s a great pleasure to assemble a list of five, it’s becoming stressful. No matter what I pick in a given week, I’m always going to be leaving someone out, and that’s no good. As Normal Happenings grows, I’m scared I’m going to begin disappointing people who have composed a wonderful post that I’ve just missed out on.

I hope that’s understandable… you all mean the world to me! But it’s a lot of pressure, considering just how short life is. Time is limited, and I feel mine would be better spent composing features for you to enjoy. Ultimate, I hope this leads to us making more quality content, filled with optimism to improve readers’ lives!

Twitter

In exchange for waiting to reveal my secret Nice Job badges on Fridays, I’m going to do something even cooler. Every time I read a wonderful post, I’m going to write a short blurb — one might call it a “tweet” — on Twitter! I’ll tag the blogger, if available, and say something about how I enjoyed the piece, thereby spreading joy across the great internet! So, go give the Normal Happenings Twitter a follow!

Daily Inkling Responses

Many of you have begun working hard on composed responses to our Daily Inklings, and they are incredible. So, starting soon I will be featuring replies to Inklings on the Inklings themselves! I guess that makes sense, right? So keep an eye out for them after the invitations.

Oh, I’m going to miss giving these out so much! Of course, I make no guarantee Nice Job Badges will not be resurrected in some form, especially if I get to missing them too badly! So, if this was your favorite part of the week, fear not. We’re not abandoning finding and highlighting the amazing work of bloggers. We’re just maturing the process along with Normal Happenings, that’s all!

Collected Works

If you don’t mind, I’d like to take a walk down memory lane. I’ve taken the time to compile every blog post that earned a Nice Job Badge over the months and put them in one place. I hope you’ll take a moment to discover new bloggers and amazing works of prose and poetry through this list. Each of these links are worth your consideration, and I’m so glad to have pieced together a collection I can return to when I’m feeling nostalgic.

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Wooden Castles | Super Jan
Somewhere in the dark | Jane Dougherty Writes
Daily Inkling Challenge- “The Day After” | The Brink of Gaming
Super Specific Liebster Award | The Gaming Diaries
Musings on the train home | Jane Dougherty Writes

My Personal Life in 2018: It Was The Worst Of Times | Matt Doyle Media
Home Button’s 2018 Random Awards | Home Button
First Games | AmbiGaming
Stay a minute longer | The Rendezvous Club
Create Your Own Conspiracy Theory | McWritestuff

My 2018: year in review | Geeky Hippie
2019 Resolutions | Nerd Side of Life
Video games: stuck on repeat | Later Levels
Mom’s Beef and Broccoli | Sheikah Plate
TWRMradio2019 – “A Year of Music” | The Well-Red Mage

Field Trip: Disneyland Resort | A Geek Girl’s Guide
The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask 3D ⚡Review | Livid Lightning
Answering Big Questions #011: Is Game Quality Improving? | AmbiGaming
One Year On… | The London Geek
Leaf Finder General | Smidgens

I ❤ NYC | Bizarre Brunette
Currently… + Coming Home Haul | A Geek Girl’s Guide
This Da Lat Hotel is the Craziest House on Earth | Asiana Circus
24 Hours in Brighton: Exploring | A Cornish Geek
i would dance in a field of daisies | syncwithdeep

My One-Hundred Eleven Favorite Games! | The Well-Red Mage
Let it be you! | Vibe a Little
The Science Behind Pixar Exhibition: My Experience & Review | Candis Barbosa
The Cavern of Me | Starkite Poetry
Let’s Get Physical! | Power Bomb Attack

It’s Time to Talk | Later Levels
Because everybody needs an awkward first post… | French By Association
Adventuring for Adventure’s Sake: A Reason to Game | AmbiGaming
FAQs: What is Sneezing and is it Dangerous? | Mr. Wapojif
Saturday Suggestion – A Link Between Worlds | A Geeky Gal

Friend Breakups | A City Girl Story
Wings of Will | The Rendezvous Club
July 10: Pictures I Took Today | Zombie Flamingoes
Pictures from Price, Utah to Colorado | megisacat
The Entire Cast of Hyrule: See the Sights! Hear the Sounds!

The Lifelong Challenges of Adoptees | Super Jan
On Loss, and Dealing With It | OverThinker Y
Nintendo DS Essentials: 42 All-Time Classics (Clubhouse Games) | MoeGamer
A split second | Unoriginal (love) noteS
Film Review – Hearts Beat Loud (2018) | MovieBabble

The Thing About PTSD | A Geeky Gal
Hello, World… Again! | Livid Lightning
Prince Edward Island: A Place I Always Return To | HideNGoShauna
Content is King. Or is it? | The Art of Blogging
The Shoes | Stories I’ve Never Told…

THE ILLUSION OF TIME | Astrogirl
FAQs: Bread – What Is The Stuff & What Does It Do? | Mr. Wapojif
Mad Hatter’s Tea Party | Geeky Tourist
wonder | Warmth and Light, Bessie.
Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition Review | ABXY Reviews via The Well-Red Mage

Best to Worst: Every Legend of Zelda Ranked | Home Button
Narrative, Plot and Story | It’s More than Just Gaming
Super Specific Award Response | Later Levels
A Year Ago… | Sheikah Plate
Breaking Out of the Box (of Politeness) | A Geeky Gal

Where It All Began | Later Levels
Little Fears, Big Future | Little Fears
What I Didn’t Know I Knew | lifelessons
Dream Journal 5/19/18: Beast | Super Jan
Boston… Take Me Back | Bizarre Brunette

Dark Journal Days | A Creative PTSD Gal
5FF: Favorite Fictional Moms | A Geeky Gal
Ten of the Most Instagrammable Places in Cornwall | A Cornish Geek
Top 5 Songs That Remind Me Of Games | Shoot the Rookie
Review: Blossom Tales | Home Button

The Dragon Trilogy | Samantha the Reader
The Super Specific Sunshine Award | hungrygoriya
Trailers: Are We Being Sold Lies | CrazyDiscoStu
Game Collecting on a Budget | The LDG Mag
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch) Review | Tired Old Hack

Games and Grieving | Later Levels
Super Specific Sunshine Award | Unoriginal (love) noteS
Choices Matter Games and Real Life Decisions | The LDG Mag
Recommendation: 5 Stellar Space Operas! | The Geek at Heart
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (1995) | Mr. Wapojif via The Well-Red Mage

Night in the Woods Review | A Geek Girl’s Gude
It’s Tuesday. | LIZ CHARNES
AGeekyGal’s Fan Convention Guide: Frugal Food on the Run | A Geeky Gal
Nutcake Take 2 | Sheikah Plate
Be Anything But Predictable | Sarishboo

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