The Liebster Award

So the other day I was checking out the stats for PhantasySteez, you know things like how many visitors I have and things like that, when I notice that I had a new comment on my post. It was weird because no one ever leaves comments, usually they hit me up via Twitter or Google+ but this was an actual comment. It was from my good friend Stephanie Smallsen who authors Meet the Smallsens and she had nominated me for the Liebster Award. Naturally, I didn't know what the hell the Liebster Award was so I googled it and I found out it's an award for bloggers who have less than 200 followers. It's nothing that's recognized by like the bloggers association (if there is a such thing) or anything like that. In fact, I'm not even sure if you actually win anything. However it's a good way to expose PhantasySteez and link up with other bloggers, so I decided to participate.

The Liebster Award is directed towards blogs with smaller followings, as a way to help get their name out there in the blog world. One can only be nominated by a previous Liebster Nominee, and in order to be considered, a nominee's blog must have less than 200 followers. I heard that this has changed to 1,000 followers, but for the sake of whatever I'm going to nominate those with less than 200-1,000 followers, if that makes any sense.

11 Facts about Marcus Nickerson

1) I've lived somewhat of a nomadic lifestyle. I'm from Los Angeles and have lived almost everywhere in Los Angeles, and I've also lived in New Orleans, Oklahoma City, and Birmingham, Alabama.

2) I love sandwiches, burgers and Mexican food.

3) I have a half sister who is 10 weeks older than me. I met her for the first time in 2003.

4) Earlier in life, I wanted to be a scientist or a scientist.

5) I don't watch much T.V. unless it's sports or SportsCenter. Actually, I've been trying to watch a little more of it just for social purposes.

6) Speaking of sports, I love sports. Even soccer.

7) I like conversation and hanging out, but I really like hanging out and talking to myself. I'm like 70% introvert and 30% extrovert.

8) I don't have any tattoos or piercings because I'm scared of needles. I hate going to the doctors to get shots.

9) I went to Dillard University from 2000-2002 and studied Biology. These were some of the greatest times of my life.

10) I used to be a DJ and even though I wasn't that successful career wise, I was good and sometimes I still get calls for gigs.

11) Last but not least, I love music... all kinds of music. Hip-hop, R&B, Rock, EDM, Reggae, Classical, some Gospel, all kinds.

Questions from the person who nominated me, Stephanie

Stephanie and I in Santa Monica/Pacific Palisades

1. What inspired you to start a blog? I was hanging out with one of my partners in crime and we we're getting wasted. I took out my phone to check my fantasy football team and I thought to myself, I could start a blog about this. Starting a blog was something I had always wanted to do but I didn't have any idea of what to write about. So the next day when I sobered up I went straight to work on the blog and thus PhantasySteez was born.

 2. If you could be a journalist - what magazine/newspaper would you write for and what would you write about? I'm supposed to be finishing school majoring in journalism or English, but that's a different story for a different day. I digress, I would write for ESPN and I would probably be like a fantasy sports analyst or a contributor to ESPN the Magazine or the website.

 3. Would you rather do a post that was all words and no pictures, or all pictures and no words? It really doesn't matter to me. I know some people have blogs with no pictures because I guess it gets tracked easier by the web crawlers. My blog does have pictures, but I think I have one or two posts without pictures.

 4. If you could take a weekend, a week long and month long vacation - what 3 destinations would you visit? There's a lot of places I want to go, but if I had to pick three, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Amsterdam, Netherlands.

 5. Big city girl with a never ending job and socialite parties - or small town girl where you shop online and grow your own garden? Substituting girl with guy, I'm the city guy with a never ending job and socialite parties.

 6. What's your go-to for takeout/delivery when you're too lazy to cook? A hamburger joint, not fast food, but a real hamburger restaurant.

 7. Do you have a signature dish that you swear you're the best at? Nope. I can't say I'm into cooking, but I'm okay at it.

 8. What inspires you for your home décor choices - do you have a theme? I like plain, earthy and bold settings. Something that's not too fancy, but at the same time shows off that grown and sexy steez.

 9. What book should every child read, and what movie should every child watch? Every kids should read the Chronicles of Narnia, the original one. Every child should watch Kids, but probably not until they get in their early teens.

 10. What does your ideal Sunday look like? Church, sports, an alcoholic beverage, a plant to burn, and if applicable the person I'm dating.

 11. What blog post of yours were you most proud to write? All of them. I'm proud of all my posts because it gives me the motivation needed to continue doing whatever it is I do.

My nominees for the Liebster Award are...

Jordan Walker of Aphrodite+Kidd 

G.T. Nina of Nuestro Futuro: Dia y Noche

Anna-Maria Winter of On The Edge
David Stein of David's Place
Rakesh Reddy of Rakesh Reddy
Charlotte Brokenbow of Turropia
Pink Owl in Black of Pink Owl in Black
Justin Jackson of Smo Struggles
Nashia Anthony of Makeup and Beauty Mayhem
Louise Linddal Klarskov of My Creative Corner
Sydney Kuezner of Sydney's Life In Pixels

My Questions for the Nominees...

 1) When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

 2) What motivated you to start  your blog?

 3) Where do you see your blog in the next 2 years?

 4) Do you write your blog for fun, or are you deep in blogging with SEO and affiliate marketing and all that other blogging stuff?

 5) Does a bear shit in the woods and wipe his ass with a white rabbit?

 6) Do you like sports? If so, who's your favorite team(s)?

 7) If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

8) What do you like to do for fun?

9) Have you ever written a guest post for someone else's blog?

10) Is it true that whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?

11) What rhymes with orange?

Well, it's been a fun. Once again thank you Stephanie Smallsen for the nomination and the connect. I had to find people to nominate because amazingly I only have two friends who blog. If you've been nominated before,  I didn't mean to waste your time, but hey, could you share my blog with your peers? I'd really appreciate it. Good luck to all the nominees should you choose to accept.