Hiya!  I know it’s been a few days, but after all those haiku I posted last month, I needed a bit of a break.  Also, I’ve been fighting off a migraine for the last few days, so my time doing much of anything productive has been pretty limited.  But now I’m back, more exhausted than ever, and ready to…uh…well, maybe not wow you, exactly, but hopefully keep you entertained with my stunning ability to trip over flat surfaces.

That should do nicely, yes?

No?  What do you mean, no?

What do you mean, you want substance?  Why on Earth are you here, then?  Wait!  Don’t leave me!

Okay, that was a little pathetic.  Well, if it’s substance you want instead of slapstick, how about this?  I was nominated for the Liebster Award earlier today by the lovely G. Edward Smith.  He’s got a very nice blog and it’s well worth checking out.

As usual, we’ve got some rules for this puppy. They be as follows:

Ze Rules

1. List eleven random facts about yourself.
2. Answer the questions that were asked of you by the blogger who nominated you.
3. Nominate eleven other blogs for the Liebster Award and link to their blogs.
4. Notify the bloggers of their award.
5. Ask the award winners eleven questions, to be answered upon acceptance of the award.

The Liebster Award is supposed to be for blogs who have 200 followers or less.  I have more than that, but since Mr. Smith was so kind as to nominate me (and I have nothing better to post today), I’m going to accept it.  In the meantime, I’m working on something of actual substance (though some slapstick may be involved – you never know with me :D).

Eleven Random Facts

1. I am overly prone to guilt.
2. I headbang to classical music.
3. I love, love, LOVE bad jokes, especially if they contain puns.  See picture at right.
4. I’ve lost 40 lbs. over the last year.  I’d love to lose another 40.
5. The older I get, the more easily distracted I – SQUIRREL!
6. The Wedding Singer is my favorite Adam Sandler movie and one of my favorite movies ever.
7. I regularly quote The Princess Bride and I am determined to turn Seymour into a fan.
8. I still think it’s weird that Edward James Olmos and Constance Marie played husband and wife in Selena and father and daughter in American Family.  I mean, visually, it’s just odd.  They did a great job making her appear older as the movie progressed, but he didn’t seem to age a day!  He looked like he was middle-aged at the start of the movie and he didn’t look a day older at the end of it.  Meanwhile, she looked like she was in her twenties at the beginning of the movie and aged maybe fifteen years or so.  Don’t get me wrong, I love them both, but it was just weird.  Or maybe you just had to be in my Spanish class.  We watched both things there and it was a big deal for us.
9. I wish I had more time for things like writing and photography.  I’d love to have a couple of days to wander the countryside with my camera and notebooks.
10. I am so not a morning person.
11. Random movie lines pop into my head at the weirdest times.  This morning while I was brushing my teeth and thinking about Harry Potter (we’ve been watching the movies with the kids and I was replaying scenes from The Half-Blood Prince in my head this morning), it was this one from Aladdin: “I think it’s time to say goodbye to Prince Abooboo.” 🙂

My Q&A

What is the last song you listened to?
“After All” by Cher and Peter Cetera.  Not one I would have chosen, but it’s what came on the radio.

Why did you start your blog?
Initially, I wanted to share my opinions with others and have intelligent conversations with people, something I was lacking at the time thanks to a very restricted social circle.  Then it became a way to stay in touch with relatives and friends who were scattered to the four winds.  Then it became a forum for some of my poetry and short fiction and an occasional place to vent my frustration with Iowa’s psychotic weather.  And boy, has it ever been nutso this “spring” (and trust me, I’m using the term spring in its loosest possible sense).

Who inspired you to start writing?
To be honest, I really couldn’t tell you.  I’ve always written; I really don’t remember a time when I didn’t write.  I remember some of my favorite childhood authors being R.L. Stine, David Cohen, Alvin Schwartz, Ann Rinaldi, and Roald Dahl, among many, many others (seriously, if I sat down and thought long and hard enough, I could list authors all day and maybe longer), so I’m sure that some credit is definitely due to them.  And in all honesty, Ann Rinaldi is still one of my favorite authors because who doesn’t love a good YA historical?  And hers are the best.  Also, the entire Dear America series (there were multiple authors for that and I can’t remember specific authors, but the first one I read was the one about the Titanic and it was excellent) is great and you should all read them.  At one point, I’d read almost all of them, but then they kept coming out with new books and I started college and just didn’t have the time to read them anymore.  Oh!  And the American Girl books.  Maybe they’re a ’90s girl thing, but I loved them, especially the original four (Felicity, Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly).

Hmmm, that was more about books than about writing, wasn’t it?  Well, I guess the answer is obvious then, isn’t it?  Books inspired me to start writing.  Because I love books.  And you will have to pry their musty, dusty remains from my cold, dead hands, no matter how peacefully their e-book overlords usurp their place of power.  Come to think of it, that’s probably how I’ll die – crushed to death in my library by a tottering tower of books.  I think I’m okay with that. 😀

What is the one place you would like to visit before you pass?
I can only pick one place?  That’s not fair!  I want to see the world!  Travel the stars!  ♫For the beauty of the earth, for the wonder of the skies♪… Okay, that’s enough bad singing.  I’d like to travel Europe, I think, and that’s about as narrowed-down as you’re going to get.  I really would like to see the world, but if I had to pick one place, that would be it.  I’d love to see all the historical sites and see where my family came from and learn all the languages and taste all the food and…and…Well, after all that, I might never leave.  Especially after visiting Italy – I’d probably be too big to fit in the plane back home. 🙂

The one big advice for the kids of today?
Don’t be so reliant upon technology; it will fail you at some point.  Get outside and play with other kids!  Be polite and respect your elders and remember, the world doesn’t owe you anything.  You only get out of something what you put into it.

Some of that may sound a bit harsh, but I find myself saying quite a lot of it to my own kids, especially the part about the world not owing them anything.  Also, “We’re not made of money, so be careful and take care of your things.”  I say that a lot, too. *sigh*

Never have I ever ____________________________________.
…sung karaoke.  And never WILL I ever, unless copious amounts of alcohol are involved.  I don’t think I’m a good singer and I have a small problem with stage fright.

Do you always match your socks?
My kids socks, yes.  My socks and Seymour’s?  Not so much.  We’re capable of finding two socks that match…most of the time.

What’s one quote you really like?  Inspirational or otherwise.
Good judgment comes from experience and experience, well, that comes from bad judgment. 😀  I’ve no idea who said it, but I heard it when I was a teenager and I’ve loved it ever since.  Also, there’s a lot of truth in it.

What do you want to be remembered by?
How do I want to be remembered?  That’s a toughie.  Obviously, I want to be remembered as a great writer, but I suppose time will tell on that score.  I want to be remembered as someone who didn’t give up, who always fought for her dreams and persevered till the very end.  Of course, I’d like to succeed in those dreams, too, because I want desperately to show my kids that if you work hard enough, you really can do anything you want, no matter how many times you shoot yourself in the foot.  But I also want to be remembered as someone who was always there for her friends and family when they needed someone, and I’m not sure I’ve been doing a good job of that lately.

Do you believe in love?
Of course I do!  It’s why all my short stories (well, most of them, anyway) are silly little love stories and why all my longer works have at least one romantic subplot in them somewhere.  Though it has to be said: This question made me think of Cher.  Do you believe in life after love?♫

When was the last time you shook somebody’s hand?
Hmm, it’s been a while.  I’m not sure when the last time I shook a hand was, though I do hold hands with Seymour regularly.  I hold the boys’ hands regularly, too, but that’s more to keep them from running off down the driveway and out into the street *cough*Thumper*cough* than anything else.  But really, you can tell a lot about a person by how they shake hands, so I strive to do it well.

The questions I’d like answered:

1. If you could have lunch with any one person, living or dead, who would it be and why?
2. What is your favorite song and why?
3. What is your dream job?
4. What is your favorite season?
5. Why did you start blogging?
6. What is your favorite comfort food?
7. If you had a time turner like Hermione’s in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, what would you do with it?
8. If you could have lunch with one of the captains from Star Trek or one of the characters from Star Wars, who would you choose and why?
9. Do you use your cell phone mostly for talking or mostly for other things?
10. What makes you dance?
11. And the follow-up, what makes you sing?

And now, the envelope please!  The nominees, in no particular order, are:

1. Sophie Tallis
2. Kate Jack
3. Andrea Baker

Okay, so I know there aren’t eleven there.  Do you know how many that is?  I’ve got things to do!  Also, um, it’s taken me two days to put this all together as it is.  If I spent the time needed to comb through my readers to find eleven blogs that have less than 200 followers AND accept awards, this post might never be published.  (By the way, I’m pretty sure my nominees have more than 200 followers.  Sorry about breaking the rules.  But, see, it’s like Cap’n Barbossa said: they’re really more like guidelines, right?  And he’s a cap’n, so he should know what he’s talking about, right?)

And that’s enough of my yammering for the day.  Happy Tuesday, y’all! 😀

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