Liebster Award

With the continual poetry writing going on I’ve gotten behind on comments. I’m thrilled to be nominated for the Liebster Award by both Haylimayli and Ravenhairedgirl.  I’m very thankful and happy to know my work has made an impact in the lives of people I have never even seen in person.

To accept the award, I must follow the rules (shown below):

• Post the award on my blog.
• Thank the blogger who presented this award and link back to their blog.
• Write 11 random facts about myself.
• Nominate 11 bloggers who I feel deserve this award and who have fewer than 200 followers.
• Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter and ask my nominees 11 questions.

For whatever reason the rules on both blogs don’t match so for this post I’ll do a combination of the two.

Here are my 11 random facts:

1. I thoroughly enjoy public speaking
2. I can be incredibly misanthropic (though you’ll never know when).
3. I often let my hair run amok (bed head) on weekends to punctuate my desire for a lazy stay-in weekend.
4. My dad taught me how to comb my hair from very young.
5. I am ambitious to a fault.
6. I am my harshest critic
7. I find that some characters in fiction across a variety of media have more depth and personality than people in real life.
8. I’ve come to a point in life where I’d rather upset others with the truth than please others at my expense.
9. I think togas and robes are preferable means to clothing.
10. If I ever have children, I plan to hang my copy of “The School of Athens” in said child’s room in the hopes of raising a thoughtful philosopher.
11. I am wearing blue jeans at this moment.

And the nominees, for both broadening my horizons my poetry, literature and life while also making me feel incredibly familiar with lives I have never had to chance to live, are…

http://handsinthegarden.wordpress.com/

Home

http://cityofrainandcoffee.wordpress.com/

http://kansamuse.me/

http://crashcoursedummy.wordpress.com/

http://realityhc.wordpress.com/

http://designersophisticate.wordpress.com/

Home Sweet Home

http://loweringhimalayas.wordpress.com/

http://myragingrapids.wordpress.com/

http://thebrainylibrarian.wordpress.com/

Since I’ve been nominated by two people, I’ll answer both their questions:

Ravenhairedgirl‘s questions:

▪︎What’s something you wish everyone knew about you?

For all my arrogance and efforts to appear grown up, I am still very much a child at heart.

▪︎How would you explain your basic life philosophy?

There are two men in my life who both influenced my way of life without knowing about each other. My father and Aristotle both gave me (more or less) the same advice: Nothing in excess; everything in moderation.

▪︎What’s the biggest personal change you’ve ever made?

Living without my grandparents was the biggest change of my life. Having lost all four of them within 4 months shattered any preconceptions I had about the permanence of people’s lives. It made me challenge many things in my life and forced me to create my own answers. Looking back on it, I think that time of loss and the subsequent years were the moments when I really began to grow up.

▪︎What is your greatest fear?

In short: to be forgotten (though this in itself demands clarification).

As someone who thrives on the importance of actions, I also see the importance of individuals who perform actions. Therefore, to me, to be forgotten means not simply that one will no longer remember you; it means that the entirety of your life, the actions you performed, the results of all your endeavors, will ultimately come to nothing. And it is that nothingness, that perfect lack of substance, that is your legacy. That is my greatest fear.

▪︎When and with whom was your first kiss?

I couldn’t tell you, which should go to show the importance of the event.

Haylimayli‘s questions:

1. Do you have a favorite writing utensil or necessary brand?
   1. Not particularly. As long as the pen does not bleed or create too much residue on the end to make a mess I’m generally happy.
2. What is your favorite genre of music?
   1. I was a teenager in the 2000s, which means I came to love plenty of emo, punk rock, and metal. That being said, I’m also my father’s son, meaning I have a healthy adoration for classic rock. On most days, though, I’ll take some of this with a side of tea.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL27LCXRmAo
3. How long have you been blogging?
   1. I ran my own site a little over two years ago (until hosting costs overwhelmed me). I stopped updating that page once I got my first job, and I only recently started blogging as of August.
4. What is your absolute favorite conversation topic?
   1. What’s on your mind?
5. What is your favorite sort of thing to read?
   1. Political news and stories about adorable animals making people’s lives better (which is to say: a balance of frustration and elation)
6. What do you most like writing?
   1. What I enjoy most about writing is that there is no necessary structure. Even if what you write is complete nonsense, a careful (or equally insane) reader may pick up some meaning from the words on a page.
7. How do you feel about rats?
   1. The MTA gives them a bad rap.
8. Who is your favorite artist?
   1. Pink Floyd or The Early November
9. What blogger to you look forward to reading from most?
   1. I really enjoy infinitefreetime. His blog is a healthy balance of professional, personal, and comical endeavors.
10. What’s one thing that everyone notices about you?
    1. I have very long eyelashes.
11. How does this award make you feel?
    1. Like I may have just been psychoanalyzed. 😀

And now, my eleven questions for my eleven nominees:

1. Why do you blog?
2. Is there a particular moment in your life that you think formed you as a person more than anything else?
3. America is the 4th greatest country in the world. Who are the top 3?
4. Do you find that you can blog well with music?
5. How often do you find yourself dancing to music in your head?
6. Cats have taken over the internet. What do they do first?
7. Do you have a best friend you do not see for long periods of time?
8. Who would you add to Mount Rushmore?
9. Do you have a theme song?
10. Where is Waldo?