Emily, thou art a blog-saver. I slept in till midmorning today (hallelujah; after this week, I sorely needed it) and realized, “Um, I don’t have a post for today.” Between my previous entry raising support for the Children of the Bard audiobooks and today, my brain has had about zero space for blogging. And then I sit down to scrounge something up for you faithful questers, and lo and behold, Emily has nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award! Many thanks.
So. Seems simple enough. Seven facts about me. Nominate fifteen bloggers (. . . which may shrivel down to a smaller number). Here we go.
1. I live with siblings who love to quote things, mainly movies. My brother especially has a filing cabinet for a brain. He must have hundreds of quotes stored in there, complete with voice impersonations. Alas, I do not have this ability. So it gave me great joy recently to be able to say, in the accent of Scarlet Witch (from Avengers: Age of Ultron):
“Ve vait for two days for Stark to kill us.”
When my brother admitted that was pretty good, I enthusiastically repeated myself throughout the day, much to his growing annoyance.
2. Speaking of Marvel, this trailer makes me flail like a hungry octopus. Deb’s fangirl post preeeeetty much sums it all up.
3. As a wee child, I loved pineapple. Until another little girl, a guest in our home, loudly declared her distaste for pineapple on her pizza. From that point on, I hated it. It took me all the way to my teenage years to rediscover my love for pineapple, both on its own and on pizza.
4. This:
5. One of the best things about my job is the casual dress code. I get to wear jeans to work!
6. My absolute favorite band from about age eleven to fifteen or sixteen was pureNRG.
I bought all their albums and basically didn’t listen to anything else; three of their posters graced my wall; and I went to one of their concerts. I’ve since outgrown them, but every now and then I listen to some of their music just for nostalgia’s sake.
7. While we’re on the topic of my childhood . . . I had this big stuffed dog named Casey. During my early elementary years, before I started being homeschooled, I would put her on the living room couch and instruct my mom to leave her there all day. Otherwise she’d be too lonely! She had to be with people! Toys have feelings, you know. (Toy Story convinced me of this.)
Hello again, questers! It’s been a long week work-wise (which is great for the paycheck and good exercise for my stamina) . . . so I honestly don’t have the brainpower to do justice to any of the in-depth posts I have planned. Maybe next week?
But today is a good day for a tag. Specifically the Infinity Dreams Blog Award, given to me by Victoria @ Stori Tori’s Blog. If you haven’t yet checked out her corner of the internet, wander over to find her assortment of tea reviews, soundtracks, vocabulary expansions, and general geekiness.
(By the way, I haven’t a clue what inspired this tag/award’s name. Maybe it started out having some relation to dreams or infinite somethings?)
Rules
1. Thank and follow the blog that nominated you.
2. Tell us eleven facts about yourself.
3. Answer the questions that were set for you to answer.
4. Nominate 11 bloggers and set questions for them.
Eleven Facts About Myself
1. I love dark chocolate. The darker the better. (Up to a point. Those 90% cocoa bars taste like straight up cocoa powder.) If you wish to buy me chocolate, Lindt is very welcome. *smiles innocently*
2. I have jumped off a fifty-foot structure. Since it was the only way down at the end of a high-ropes course, and I was harnessed in, it’s not as impressive as it first sounds . . . But it was scary.
3. Because my hair can’t decide if it’s blonde or brown, and is instead a ‘dirty blonde,’ and because I dislike that description, I have taken to describing it as honey brown.
4. Stacks of paper are the bane of whatever sense of tidiness I have. One of the many stacks on my desks currently consists of: a voter info card, my incomplete submission form for Rooglewood Press’s contest, old envelopes that haven’t made their way to the recycling bin, a devotional sheet from church, a Legend of Zelda coloring page, scrap paper, a wedding invitation, a college booklet, a humorous note from my aunt, a list of what I packed for holidays this summer, more scrap, training material from work, a graph of my Sleeping Beauty word count progress, a Tangled coloring picture, an old blog post of Mirriam’s that I printed (with the intention of hanging it on my wall), and yet more scrap. It’s way past time I clean my desk!
5. Some facts about myself are apparently very long-winded . . .
6. I spent an afternoon this week getting tomato juice all over myself and the kitchen counter. It’s canning season!
7. I like to put cucumbers or pickles in my tuna sandwiches.
8. I have a little scar above my left eyebrow. I pretend I got it in some epic battle, but in truth, I had a birthmark surgically removed as a young child. (Not nearly as interesting.)
9. August Booth is one of my favorite Once Upon a Time characters. SO FAR. I retain the right to amend that statement should he ever turn bad, something which happens a whole awful lot to characters in this show! But he’s a writer. Enough said. And though he’s not been a very good boy lately (as of Season 1’s conclusion), something about him is special.
10. I love keys . . . old-fashioned skeleton keys with twining strands of metal. So beautiful and mysterious.
11. As a child, I combed my house in search of secret passageways, knocking on walls and floors, poking in corners. Alas, there were none to be found. If I get a chance to design my own house one day, I am definitely adding some secret tunnels.
Questions from Tori (as if I haven’t rambled on long enough already!):
1.) Shorts, jeans, or skirts? Shorts or jeans. I do like skirts, but they’re not practical for everyday wear, and I don’t own very many to begin with.
2.) Hot weather or cold weather? In between weather! Spring and fall are my favorite seasons.
3.) What’s your favorite flavor? Depends what sort of food group we’re talking about here. To start off, I love berry flavors, chocolate, Italian food (so . . . garlic? in not-too-overpowering amounts?), mint, etc.
4.) Coffee, cocoa, or tea? Depends on the day. I’d say coffee or tea sooner than cocoa, simply because hot chocolate is so sweet and filling. Though I do enjoy it on a cold, wintry afternoon.
5.) What’s the first book you remember reading? A Little Bear book that I thought I could read, but had actually only memorized.
6.) Favorite song artist? I have a number of those, but one is Anthem Lights. They’re a four-guy Christian group, producing both their own original music and covers of secular songs. Their harmony is AMAZING, their sense of humor is hilarious, and their heart for God shines through (especially in their original music). Some of my favorite originals are . . .
And one of my favorite covers . . .
7.) Do you play an instrument? Sadly, no, but I’d love to learn piano or violin or cello. If it didn’t require so much time and effort, that is. Just download the skills into my brain, please!
8.) Favorite fandom? Though I’m a fan of many things, I’m not sure how many I can actually call a fandom of mine. To me that implies a thorough knowledge to go along with one’s deep, abiding love; and I hesitate to claim I know all the ins and outs of these things. But I’m proud to be an Imp of Goldstone Wood, a fan of Marvel, a fan of Dragons in Our Midst (and the following series), and a casual Ring nut. (I say casual because I’ve yet to watch the movies or read the books more than once. *hangs head in shame*)
9.) Favorite actor? Let’s just follow my trend of slacking off and answering these questions with multiple answers, shall we? I loved Martin Freeman as Bilbo, Will Poulter as Eustace, Shailene Woodley as Tris, Chris Evans as Captain America, Sebastian Stan as Bucky . . . The list goes on, despite the fact that I don’t actually follow celebrities.
10.) Do you have a favorite scent? Cinnamon. Rain-soaked air. Fresh bread. Coffee. Cucumber melon lotion.
11.) Are you introverted or extroverted? Introverted. Somewhat extroverted around people nearest me.
Let’s put some dreams and infiniteness into this . . .
1. Describe the most recent dream you can remember having.
2. “To infinity and beyond!” Who’s your favorite Toy Story character?
3. If Iron Man and Captain America were pitted against each other (not that hard to imagine), who would you root for?
4. What are your top three favorite things about autumn?
5. When’s your prime time: morning, midday, or late at night?
6. You’ve been handed the leash of an emperor’s pet tiger–quick, what do you do with it?
7. Do you have any pre-writing ‘rituals’ or habits? (If you’re not a writer, feel free to describe any other preparatory habits of yours, whether it’s your morning routine, or what you do to get ready for studying, or anything else.)
8. Favorite song artist?
9. Name a real-life hero of yours.
10. What’s your goal(s) in blogging?
11. Name a literary/film couple you shipped that ended up sinking.
Have fun! As always, it’s up to you whether or not you accept this tag.
And if you’ve made it this far . . . congratulations! You are either very patient, very bored, or actually interested in my silly ramblings. Have some pie.
July has been a string of hot, humid days punctuated by rainstorms. Stepping outside was like hitting a wall of muggy air most afternoons–the temperature has hovered around 30 degrees Celsius (that’s close to 90 Fahrenheit, for all you Americans).
Pea season and strawberry season have come and gone. Fresh sugarsnaps just taste of summer, and a slice of pie stuffed with just-picked strawberries confirms that yes indeed, we are in the midst of summertime. And we can’t forget those few meals that were strictly composed of watermelon and rohl kuchen. (That’s a Mennonite/German dish . . . a deep-fried doughnut-y thing that looks like braided/twisted bread. It’s absolutely delicious with watermelon.)
You’d think these hot days would ooze by slowly, but noooo. July galloped by nearly as fast as May and June. I won’t inundate you with all the details, seeing as much of what filled my month was the same as last time (and the time before that): work, family time, gardening, general life activities, etc.
However, a few new things did happen this month.
My family and I celebrated Canada Day with friends. Snacks, fireworks, more glow sticks than I knew what to do with, and all-around fun times.
I wrote like crazy for my Sleeping Beauty novella–have I mentioned how desperately that thing is trying to grow into a novel??–and am currently at 17k. I hope to reach 20k in the next day or two, if I push hard. Not like that will signify the end of the story . . . The prince is just now on the cusp of going off to rescue the princess. Sound like a problem? It is. Even so, I’ve been having a delightful time unspooling this story, untangling threads and plaiting them into a design that will need some tweaking later not. Plus, Luci and Hadrian and Aleida and all the rest have completely captured my heart.
Recently, one of my dearest friends spent two and a half days at my place, during which time we enjoyed catching up, goofing off, watching both Captain America movies (her first time seeing them!), and bike riding out to a park to do a fun photo-shoot in the heavy July heat. Yes, we made sure to guzzle lots of water.
My two sisters took care of a friend’s little dog for a week, so we saw lots of that adorable pooch here during that time. (Do you know how hard it is to put her in her kennel for night and have to leave her whimpering there? Do you? She’s like a bratty child at bedtime, but how can you say no to that sad little whimper? My sisters had to drag me away.)
It was quiet on the reading front this month–only two novels. Now I know all you bookworms are gasping in horror right now, but in my defense, I was busy and one of the books was Pride and Prejudice.
This is my exact copy, picked up in perfect
condition at a book fair. For $3, that’s a win,
wouldn’t you say?
It took me almost three weeks to read, and every chapter felt like an accomplishment. Not that it was a bad book–not at all! I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s just not the style I normally read, what with long sentences and heavy narration. But the cast of characters is a delight. Spunky Lizzie, kindhearted Jane, enigmatic Mr. Darcy (oh, my dear Mr. Darcy), indolent Mr. Bennet, frantically flighty Mrs. Bennet, adorable Mr. Bingley . . . Plus, the book is surprisingly witty. Can’t go wrong with formal, wordy insults.
The second book is Plain Kate by Erin Bow.
On a whim, I picked it up at the library because the cover was pretty and the blurb interesting. The simple narrative style is deceiving, though. I was expecting the story to sit comfortably on the younger YA level, but the darker themes and sparsely poetic prose nudge it up a bit. Seriously, Ms. Bow knows how to paint a stunning picture. I’m in love with her style. And with Kate herself, an orphaned carpenter thought by the townsfolk to be a witch. Simultaneously gutsy and fearful, this plain-featured girl possesses remarkable skill with a knife. Her cat, Taggle, winds up talking (don’t worry, that’s not a spoiler), and very quickly chose a spot in my heart as well. He’s just . . . very catty. If you’ve met Eanrin from Tales of Goldstone Wood, you’ll understand what I mean; yet Taggle is still his own unique self. Just hear him speak:
“Hello,” he said, then rolled over and peered up at her appealingly. “I am fond of you and present my throat for scratching.”
Besides, he offers to kill things to make Kate feel better. HE IS SUCH A CAT. Anyway, I’m nearly finished. This last quarter is raising all sorts of questions about the “villain.” Such as, should I remove the quotations and consider him an actual villain, or is he merely a sympathetic antagonist?
Well, that about sums up July. Not as much to detail here this time around, which is why I went on and on about books. But that’s a topic we all love, right? (And if you don’t, I must question why you read blogs in the first place, especially the blog of a writer. Stick around and I’ll convert you.)
How was your July? Do you have plans for August? I’ve got a few, one of them being to actually finish Sleeping Beauty’s first draft, title it, and start editing it (a.k.a. chopping it into pieces with my Big Editing Axe). Do tell! I’m interested to hear how your summer’s going. And since we were talking about food–quick, what’s your favorite summer dish?
Deborah O’Carroll at The Road of a Writer recently did a week of tag catch-ups, and she nominated me for one of them: The Sisterhood Award! If you’ve never experienced Deb’s wry humor or amazing writing, go check out her blog. Plus, she has ridiculously amazing dreams involving Marvel characters.
(By the way, to any male readers, I give you fair warning. This is a slightly girly post, if the title hadn’t already alerted you.)
Rules
Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site.
Put the award logo on your blog.
Answer the ten questions sent to you.
Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.
Nominate ten blogs.
Questions
1. Introvert or extrovert?
Extrovert!
…
Bahaha, did I fool you?
No?
Didn’t think so. I’m much more of an introvert.
2. Do you like coffee?
Yes! I’ll have two creams, no sugar, please. Or a mocha. Or an Iced Cappuccino from Tim Hortons, mixed with chocolate milk.
3. What are you reading right now?
Deb, you almost caught me at one of those rare times when I’m in between books and not reading anything. But this morning I started Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, so we’re okay. (I don’t know why, but I’m always surprised to find humor in those old classics.)
4. Favorite fairytale?
When I was little, it was always Cinderella. Later, Beauty and the Beast edged up beside it. Those are still two of my top favorites, but Sleeping Beauty is currently proving to be quite interesting too. *cough*
5. Favorite color?
Blue–anything in a turquoise/aqua shade makes me happy. And also green, especially a fresh spring green or olive green.
6. Favorite animal?
Do I have to settle on just one? Horses, big cats (as in lions, tigers, leopards, lynxes, cougars, etc.), hawks, DRAGONS (oh wait, did you mean real animals?), ferrets (just to look at, not to pet . . . they reek something awful), and basically any large, furry creature that looks either majestic or adorable.
7. Favorite food?
Deb. Honestly. You know how difficult such an open question is? Couldn’t you have been more specific? Like favorite dessert or favorite meat or . . . you know. Gah. Okay. I have always loved my mom’s cashew chicken. It’s basically a stir-fry dish made of veggies, cashews, and chicken with homemade hoisin sauce.
8. Favorite TV show?
Um, I don’t really watch TV. Because we don’t really have cable. And quite frankly, I don’t feel I’m missing out on a whole lot. But I have seen parts of some shows. If I’d watched more than two episodes, I’d shout “Once Upon a Time!” But I haven’t fully formed my opinion on that yet. Let’s go with Gilligan’s Island, because I’ve seen both seasons, and despite the cheese and leaps in logic (WHO in the world brings suitcases full of stuff on a three-hour tour?!), it’s quite funny.
9. Favorite historical time period?
Ooh, I love this question. I’d say the Renaissance, because it’s somewhat cleaner than the Middle Ages, yet still has that lovely medieval quality. But I also like the 1800’s. And I enjoyed learning about the two World Wars and the Civil War in American history. (Happy Independence Day to all my American friends, by the way!) Goodness, I can’t even answer these questions properly. I don’t have a single answer for any of them.
10. Favorite book character you met recently?
Hmm. Maybe the Outlaw, from Ted Dekker’s Outlaw and Eyes Wide Open. Everything he said kind of shook up truths I’d taken for granted or gotten used to, and presented a whole new facet. Pieces of his dialogue have lodged themselves in my brain and started to work their way into my thinking. So the Outlaw is definitely a thought-provoking, heart-piercing character.
New Questions
I’m throwing a couple of Deborah’s in here because they were so fun.
What book world would you like to live in?
Favorite flower?
Name a friend who’s like a sister to you, and if you like, share a memory.
Dream ride? (Could have wheels, wings, or legs.)
Favorite book character you’ve met recently?
What song is playing in your head right now?
Favorite historical time period?
Would you prefer to live in a hobbit hole or Rivendell?
