Again with the inspiration!

VeryInspiringBlogAward Several days ago, I was nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award by the lovely and talented Katrina Jack. This isn’t the first time I’ve been nominated for this particular award (you can read those posts here and here, and a list of my other blog award posts is here), but I’m just as flattered now as I was then. 🙂

I’m sure you all know how these things work – you thank your nominator, you share seven things about yourself, you nominate others. I thanked Kate for the nomination in her post, but I’d like to give her another shout-out: There’s a list of books on Goodreads that are Hugo-eligible this year, and Kate’s book Land of Midnight Days is currently at number 6. It’d be great if you’d hop over and vote for her – she’s a wonderful author and a fantastic friend, and she deserves all the recognition she can get. 🙂

And now, without further ado, the rest of it:

1. In just over three weeks, I will be the same age my mom was when she died. As my 31st birthday draws nearer, I find myself becoming more morbid. This, of course, is a continuing trend, because my 30th year has been rather morbid in and of itself. And come this time next year, I plan to have one hell of a party, assuming I survive 2015.

2. My new favorite song is called “Girl in a Country Song” by Maddie & Tae. I’d never heard of them before Seymour played me this song a few months back, but if the rest of their music is like this song, then consider me a fan. I love country music – I grew up listening to it – and I detest the popification of my favorite musical genre. I’ve got nothing against pop music, but all country seems to be anymore is pop music about tractors and beer. Anyway, this song is unbelievably true. You listen to any country song a couple of decades old and then compare it to any country song today, and women’s roles have regressed considerably. I love these gals for pointing that out, because it’s not just in music that women have been fighting this regression – it’s everywhere.

3. I’m ready to head somewhere warm and stay till spring. Yesterday when I left for work, it was -11°F with a windchill of -27°F. This morning, it was -13°F with a windchill of -38°F. Our windows are horribly drafty and our heaters are on their last leg. I am so over this winter.

4. I have an enormous list of books to read this year. I’ll be starting with Shades of Gray, the first book in Joleene Naylor’s Amaranthine series. I should have had this read last month, but…uh…life? Yeah, it happened. Recovering from my last surgery was like recovering from childbirth (again), and I just couldn’t summon the energy to read anything longer than a blog post. Since I like to read at least a chapter at a time when I read a book, this was – is – a problem. I’m still not feeling 100% just yet, but hopefully I’ll be feeling better soon.

5. I saw Exodus: Gods and Kings last night with Seymour and decided I need to reread Exodus. Also, I need to rewatch The Mummy because I spent half of last night with John Hannah‘s voice in my head announcing the various plagues. And when the locusts arrived, I had a mental image of “that Egyptologist feller” clutching the Book of the Dead. No, I have not seen that movie one too many times. It is impossible to see The Mummy too many times. 🙂

6. I can’t wait for Reign to return from its mid-season hiatus. Miss Tadpole and I watch it together every two weeks and are hopelessly addicted. I know it’s a soap opera, but it’s a pretty darn good one, and it’s had the added benefit of interesting her in history. Yay! 🙂

7. I’m looking forward to trying out a couple of new programs on my computer tonight. One is a music composition program, which will be fun to play around with. I can’t wait to hear how some of my music sounds (that will probably change, though). The other will hopefully help me with designing a cover for my new poetry book, which I hope will hit shelves in March.

And now, the nominees! Elaine Jeremiah and Melissa Barker-Simpson, I can’t wait to read your answers. That’s the best part about these things, I think – getting to know people! Happy Wednesday, everybody!