Ok, so yesterday I got this comment saying I was nominated for a Liebster award. I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of it and, when I googled it, all of the entries were from other people who’d never heard of it and couldn’t find an ‘official’ entry anywhere. I did manage to source the rules and even a nifty little image displayed above.

So here’s the thing, I don’t care about its origins. I don’t care if I never discover who started this thing. I am simply delighted to have someone nominate me! Let’s face it, I’ve been surfing blogs for some time and often seen writers with, well entire strings of these things, who’ve had to write a post and select the next round of recipients.

And as any normal person would,  I’ve found myself thinking:  ‘oh maybe, maybe, they might select me! I seem to recall them liking or commenting on a post!!’  I scroll anxiously to the bottom, skimming to see if my name is there and always I end up with nada.  It’s one of the few times the many voices in my head synchronize and, like donkey in the original Shrek, yell: ‘pick me, pick me, pick meeeeeeee’.

Finally I just stopped thinking about it and BAM, my pot not watched started to boil!

So here is a big big thank you to Speak your mind! Not only did you pick me, but when I went to read your post, I realized that you broke the ‘pick sites with less than 200 followers’ rule and that made me feel special.

Special because my first reaction was inevitably the: ‘oh I got selected because she couldn’t find enough sites with less than 200 followers’. (Yes my inner critic is relentless these days.)

And here we go:

Voila, the rules:

• When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself
• Answer 11 questions from the person who nominated you.
• Pass the award onto 11 other blogs, making sure you tell them you nominated them! and
• Ask them 11 questions.
• You are not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated you!
• Make sure the blogs you chose have 200 or LESS followers

11 random things about me

1. I love dogs. I don’t just love dogs. I LOVE dogs. The smell of wet dog is something that brings me comfort…really.

2. I don’t understand people who drink skim milk. Why not just drink water? It tastes the same and its free.

3. I carry around a bright yellow motorcycle helmet with me everywhere; I don’t own a motorcycle.

4. I’ll drink the rest of my vinaigrette straight out of the salad bowl if I’ve made/finished a tomato salad and don’t have any bread with which to soak it up.

5. I regret more than I care to admit to.

6. River Phoenix gave me a kiss on my sixteenth birthday at the Wetlands club in NYC.

7. America’s trend of ever perfectly straight aligned, filed, and whiter than white teeth seriously freaks me out.

8. I used to suck my thumb and I am sure had I not stopped, I wouldn’t suffer from the bouts of insomnia I’ve been plagued by in recent years.

9. I swear like a truck driver (trying not to) and yet am unimpressed by people who swear.

10. I  despise the Yoga culture yet am devoted to Yoga practice.

11.  I live with a plethora of contradictions which both bothers me and doesn’t.

The 11 questions I’ve been asked to answer:

The 11 bloggers (in no particular order), I would like to nominate and to invite to take part in this award:

• http://www.nonnativebilingualism.blogspot.com/
• http://sliceofshanghai.wordpress.com/
• http://islandmonkeys.wordpress.com/
• http://notsospanish.wordpress.com/
• http://www.thepiripirilexicon.com/
• http://orangespicedrop.wordpress.com/
• http://stoopmama.com/
• http://once-more-with-feeling.com/
• http://theparentingmystique.com/
• http://www.mudhutmama.com/
• http://moralcoral.wordpress.com/

Please Note: in many cases, I don’t know if my fabulous nominees have less than 200 followers but I love their blogs so I am trying not to obsess on this detail.

And the 11 questions I’d like the nominees (and anyone else who fancies it) to answer:

1. What are you reading now?
2. Where would you live and why?
3. What is the one piece of advice you would give your teenage self if you could?
4. Pirate or Ninja?
5. What gives you goosebumps?
6. What are you most proud of?
7. What is the most beautiful song you’ve ever heard? (unless you’ve answered that under question 5)
8. What makes your hackles rise?
9. What is the thing you wish you could have said but didn’t?
10. Who do you admire most?
11. If you could be reincarnated and chose any talent or career, what would it be?

I bid thee all a lovely day.