And also, Not This. Because who doesn’t want to be recognized for their accomplishment? If someone wants to (finally!) give us an award, are we really going to turn it down? If we finally crack the invisible barrier and become one of the “cool” kids, what do we do with that? Through rotten egg salad at our peers who are slapping us on the back, running screaming from book signings because people actually show up, get mad because people like us, they really like us?

Yeah, sure there are cliques and those cliques engage in a lot of lame-assed back slapping and circle jerks for no good reason at times, but I think people who need that are kinda sad – they clearly need external validation, because they don’t naturally feel good about themselves. So maybe we just let them have it – because they need it more than we do. Sure, we’d *like* it, too, but we don’t *need* it to survive like someone else might. I’ve always found, when I got right down to it, any bad feeling I have over being passed over for recognition has been wounded pride, but never a feeling of worthlessness. I know my value, I know what I’m good at, and I know what I’ve accomplished. No little “Best in Show” piece of paper will ever change that.