Versatile? Me?

Well, it seems that Bevchen over at Confuzzledom has given me this award.

As these things go, there are a bunch of rules you’re supposed to follow, but I’m going to break them. Yes. This elementary school teacher is actually going to break the rules. Shocking, I know.

I’m not going to break all of them, of course. That would be just too scary. But I am thanking Bevchen for her kindness in passing The Versatile Blogger Award on to me, and I am linking to her blog. And I am going to tell you seven random facts about me. Hopefully they will be so random that I have not ever mentioned them here on my blog.

Here goes:

1) I was fascinated by maps as a child. Maps of all kinds: world maps, country maps, provincial road maps, street maps of cities, floor plans of houses (those are sort-of maps, aren’t they?). I could spend hours sprawled on the living room floor, oblivious to everyone else in my family stepping over and around and sometimes (in the case of my brother) on me, staring at a road map and planning how to get from one place to another. To this day, everywhere I travel, I collect paper maps. Yes I have a GPS, yes I have Google Maps on my phone, but a paper map is still a total necessity to my well-beingwhen I’m away from home.

2) My first word was “car-car”. Not “Mama” or “Dada”. “Car-car”. That tells you a lot about why I am with Porsche Guy, doesn’t it?

3) I think I have adult-onset ADHD. I used to have a tremendous capacity for paying attention. Even when I was bored, I could pay attention. But now I have completely lost that ability. I can’t even turn on the TV without also playing some game on my laptop or phone at the same time. I can’t read anything for more than maybe ten minutes, tops, and then I have to get up and do something else. Often I start something and don’t finish it, or else I never start it at all – and then I have the audacity to wonder what the hell interrupted me so that I never got around to completing whatever it was. I tune in and out of conversations, and even if I am tuned in, don’t ask me what we just talked about, because I have no idea. Yep, ADHD – or else menopause.

4) I loved high school. Really! Oh sure, there were parts that didn’t impress me too much, but on the whole, I had tonnes of fun, worked hard, played hard, and enjoyed it all tremendously. And I’d do it again, if I could!

5) I wish I had the courage to get a small, discreet tattoo. I don’t know where I’d put it, maybe on my hip or my wrist or my ankle. I have no clue what I’d want it to look like either. But it doesn’t matter, because I am too afraid of the pain to get one anyway.

6) I am basically an introvert. It has taken me most of my life to admit to and be okay with this, but it is true. And it’s not a bad thing. All it means is that I recharge my batteries by being alone, that I must have alone time to function as a reasonably competent human being. If I am forced to be with people, even people that I adore, for a long time, I am miserable and nasty and not much fun to be around. Once I get some time by myself, I am a happy little social butterfly again – till I need to be alone again. So don’t take it personally, it’s not you, it’s me.

7) One of my favourite breakfasts is birthday cake. This was a tradition of long standing for me. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a birthday cake for many years now. But it is my birthday in eight days. I may have to rectify the situation and get back to this treasured and long-missed ritual.

So – what do you think? Am I versatile enough for you?

Blogging prolifically

I am apparently a prolific blogger. Both Mrs Jones and Katyboo think so – and you’re not going to argue with them, are you? They’re a couple of tough broads, and they’re on my side!

I do like writing. I find this whole blog thing gives me a creative outlet that I actually crave sometimes, and I enjoy it immensely. I like the fact that there’s really no pressure to write, other than what I put on myself. I write when I feel like it, when I have something I’d like to say. It doesn’t matter if anybody reads it – and sometimes, I doubt anybody does! Even DD doesn’t always read what I write – but that’s okay, because she’s probably heard it all before anyway!

But prolific? I guess that depends on your definition of the word. I certainly can’t manage to write every single day, though I do try to post something a couple of times a week, at least. As well, I’ve only been blogging for not-quite-two years. There are a lot more bloggers out there who have been writing much longer than I have and are way more prolific than I am, and much more entertaining besides! I mean, as we all know, sometimes the inspiration is just not there. And sometimes, it is – in the middle of the night or some other inopportune moment. And five minutes later you promptly forget that brilliant/ funny/ profound “thing” you wanted to tell the world. (Or is that just me?)

Anyway, I will of course decorate my blog with this bright, colourful award. I find it quite esthetically pleasing and it will certainly class up the place a bit.

I am also supposed to link here, where the Prolific Blogger award is explained, and I am to add my blog to the blogroll there (whimsically entitled “Mr Linky’s Magical Widgets”), which I have done. I am supposed to link back to whomever gave me the award, and I’ve done that, too.

Then I am supposed to pass the award on to seven more deserving bloggers of my acquaintance, and that’s where the whole thing falls apart for me. I just never know who to give these things to! I’m happy enough to receive them, but I quake at the thought of choosing some bloggers and not others! What if I hurt someone’s feelings???

So, as usual, I’m going to break the rules and not follow that rule …

… unless you happen to be Pauline of Brightest Blue, or VioletSky or Mrwriteon of And I still think so or Bevchen of Confuzzledom or XUP or Wenderina of Anxious Moments AND Yellow Cottage Chronicles (yes, this woman actually writes TWO blogs, if you can believe it!) or Linda of Frenchless in France. If you are one of those people, I’m sending you this prestigious award. And I don’t care if you don’t “do” awards. You’re all getting one anyway simply because I like reading all your blogs. Now, go forth and continue blogging, you Prolific Bloggers, you!

I win!

Pauline of Brightest Blue has bestowed an honour upon me, lovely person that she is! She has nominated me for this award:

It’s the Kreativ Blogger Award, which is probably meant for people who are – um – “kreativ”. I’ve never thought of myself as particularly creative (or even “kreativ”), not in the way Pauline is, but I do like to write and writing is a creative activity. Sometimes.

Now, there are rules in order to claim this award.

1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.

2. Copy the award logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link the person who has nominated you for the award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated.

So, here goes:

#1 – Thank you, Pauline!
#2 – Done. (See above).
#3 – Again, done. (See above. Again.).
#4 – Oh. Seven interesting things about me. This one I’m going to have to work at. But, read on:

1. I’m actually quite a good shot with a pellet gun. This is despite not having the greatest distance vision. I can hit a beer can about 99 % of the time from maybe fifty metres away (which may not be all that far in the grand scheme of things, but whatever. It feels far to me.)
2. I took accordion lessons from age 6 till age 12. I was pretty good. But I was also pretty little, so I couldn’t carry the thing by myself. At recitals, I had to go sit down on stage, then someone (usually my dad) would carry the instrument out to me. I haven’t even attempted to play it for almost 40 years. I don’t think I’m any good any more.
3. I once dyed my eyebrows really blonde. This was to match my dark brown hair in which I had just had blonde highlights put. I thought I would look better if my eyebrows were lighter, now that my hair was. I was wrong.
4. As a young teenager, I never had crushes on singers or film stars. No. I had crushes on hockey players, good Canadian kid that I was. In the early 1970s, I was pretty sure that I was going to marry Derek Sanderson of the Boston Bruins. If I ever met him. If he’d be interested in some awkward 13-year-old girl in Vancouver. However, by the time Derek came to play briefly for the Vancouver Canucks, I had moved on to real boys. Tough luck, Derek.
5. I don’t like popcorn. I can’t even stand the smell of it, especially the microwave version. I have never, ever eaten popcorn while watching a movie. That would ruin the movie for me. (In a corollary to this, I am a cheap date to take to a movie.)
6. I watch very little TV, and what I do watch is mostly sports. Hockey, motor racing, Canadian football, golf. I watched the Olympic games quite a lot, too. There are a couple of programs that I download fairly regularly and watch on my laptop, but rarely on TV. I don’t understand people who basically wake up in the morning and turn on the TV. Why do they do that? And why are so many of them my friends?
7. I get rid of stuff very easily. You might think that I don’t have a lot of stuff, but I actually do have a houseful. I just have only the things that I absolutely need, and not too much of anything. Clutter makes me nervous (just ask DD and PG!). My rule of thumb is: if you haven’t used it or worn it in a year, get rid of it. My other rule of thumb is: if you buy anything new, you have toss something old. My third rule of thumb is: less is more. And surprisingly, I have very rarely thrown something out that I later regretted. Or that I admitted regretting.

Okay. Enough of that. That was hard. I’m tired now. I can’t even think who to pass this award on to! So I’m going to break rules #5, #6 and #7 here (sorry, Pauline!) and tell you all to simply please grab that award for yourself if you’d like it – and you know who you are, you Kreativ Bloggers out there! Go! Take that award! Make it your own! You’re a winner!