Well, now I have the Beach Boys stuck in my head.
As I struggle to re-acclimate myself to a full teaching schedule this Fall semester, I feel like a total blog slacker. And yet somehow, much to my surprise, I have thrice* received recognition in the fun little tag game that is the Blogger Award.
To be fair, the first time was back in June but I have not gotten around to writing my acceptance speech until now. Sam over at Let’s Be Extraordinary awarded me with the Versatile Blogger Award. She’s a motivated and thoughtful young lady and I wish I had had the moxie to put my writing up in a public space back when I was in high school.
Then, just today, I found out that I had also been tagged for the same award by Holly, who writes a blog about her year abroad as an Au Pair in Belgium. Once again, I find myself reading the experiences of someone who was brave enough to do things that I didn’t start doing until I was older.
To both of these talented, gutsy women, I say thank you and keep writing!
The girls also like to break the rules.
The rules of the game state that I offer up seven things about myself and tag other blogs that I feel deserve the award. I’ll play along with the first rule, but as is my wont, I’m changing the second one to suit my desires. Instead of simply linking to blogs, I plan to compile a list of specific posts that I think are the best of the best. It is my version of Freshly Pressed, if you will.
I’ve already admitted seven things about myself the first time I got a blogger award, so I’ll try not to repeat myself. Also, to keep myself from fretting over what to write, I’ll simply take my clues from what I can see around me in my newly-redecorated office. (I tried to get all fancy and do side-by-side Before and After pictures, but that is simply beyond me at this time of night. If you’d like to see the Before pictures, they are in my previous post.)
Please ignore the ugly intercom in the middle of my lovely Rich Raisin wall. I haven't finished designing my disguise for it.
1. I’ve worn a toe ring on my right foot for the past 15 years.
2. I am attracted to vintage clothing, furniture, decoration, and art. My favorite era is early-20th century. I love Art Deco, first generation Jaguars, and the writers of the Lost Generation.
3. I hate clutter. I could never be featured in an episode of Hoarders. I like to watch that show and then spend an hour throwing things away or getting them ready for donation to the local Goodwill. Even as much as I love books, I would never tolerate the need to climb over piles of them to get to another part of the house.
4. Despite all my best intentions to get to bed early, I’m an incurable night owl.
Yes, that's a rotary phone, and yes, it works. Some of the pictures haven't made it to the wall yet and are still leaning on shelves.
5. Plants and I do not get along. While I do enjoy having plants in a room, I am hopeless at taking care of them consistently. Even when I’m diligently following the instructions for how to care for a particular variety, the poor thing is doomed to live a short life. I’ve got a Christmas cactus on its way out as we speak.
6. From April 2008 to April 2009, I lost 70 pounds (purposely!) and have kept it off since then. I hang snapshots of myself before and after on a corkboard near my desk for motivation to ensure the weight never comes back.
7. My books are now separated into Fiction, Biography/Memoir, and Non-Fiction/Academic sections. The first two sections are alphabetized and the third is organized by subject. Each has a dedicated bookcase. Well, only the Biography/Memoirs fit into one bookcase. Fiction spans three bookcases, and the Non-Fiction/Academic books take up the four that are in my office. How’s that for a Grand Reorganization?
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I started off this post by saying I’d been recognized three times, but I’ve only mentioned two so far. The third comes from Lenore Diane, who has tagged me as a Liebster Blog. As she points out, this has nothing to do with lobsters.
Why yes, that IS Rush's 1976 album entitled 2112 that used to belong to my brother. What I'm not sure of is why I had it out since I don't currently have a working turntable. Yet.
I have to give her credit for doing the legwork on this one. She found out that there is an Arnold Liebster Foundation which “seeks to promote peace, tolerance, human rights, and religious freedom by peaceful and nonpolitical means.” The award was designed to recognize blogs with fewer than 200 followers, and Lenore then added her own twist to it, as she says, “to give a nod to bloggers I believe promote peace, tolerance, human rights, and religious freedom.”
I love a woman who makes her own rules.
I also think her blog is wonderful and I am honored that she included me in her list of blogs worthy of her definition of the Liebster Blog award. It’s no wonder that the Good Greatsby has such a crush on her, undeclared as it may be so far.
Where the magic happens. No, I did not keep a straight face as I typed that.
Once again, I will defer my list of honorees for a short time as I slowly return to a regular schedule of teaching, writing, reading blogs, grading papers, and throwing them across the room neatly recording the grades. And I’m still only halfway through War and Peace.
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*You like that I pulled out the ole ‘thrice’, didn’t you? Wouldn’t it be a great word to revive, along with fedoras and dinner parties? Who’s with me?
As a Linguist... 
Thanks for your kind words ^_^. I love the new office, it looks great! At home I don’t even have a bookshelf yet…well, it’s built, but not stained or anything. I actually think I have enough books again to make a shelf worth while!
That was such a difficult thing about being overseas: lack of books! I had a few but I really missed being surrounded by my books.
I made a decision to read ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ in French. They have a one volume copy so it’s pretty thick. I haven’t even finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe yet and I’ve almost been here 9 months. A lot of stuff gets in the way and since I have to try a little harder b/c it’s in French I just don’t bother. But I should.
It’s hard to read in a foreign language when you think of reading as a relaxing activity; it suddenly seems like work and that can be quite off-putting! :)
I’m with you on #3! One of my hobbies is getting rid of stuff. Unfortunately, with two other not like-minded individuals in the house, I live in a place that doesn’t reflect my love of minimalism. Oh, how it ever does not . . . !
I’ve been in those situations. It can be so frustrating! I hope you at least get a little corner to yourself somewhere!
I think #7 deserves a drumroll, ta-dah, and standing ovation. Congratulations on #6, 7 and all the recognition…so glad I bumped into you and your take on things.
Thanks, Georgette. I’m quite proud of #7 as well. As I was organizing, I would get a whole section done, walk into another room, and realize that there was an entire stack that I’d forgotten about and I’d have to do it all over again! I kept yelling, “Where the heck did all of these books come from?”
And by bumping into me, I got to bump back, so it’s a win for both of us :)
I’m also a user of “thrice,” as are my daughters! We also have #3 in common. Everything in my house has its place and I don’t own a single knick-knack! Congrats on your awards! They are well-deserved! :)
P.S. My furry girls don’t follow the rules either!
Thanks!
Yeah, knick knacks are just clutter with a fancier name ;)
Thrice users rock!
Ah “thrice” … a fancy word I know and use. Yes, I – a woman of little vocabulary – use the word ‘thrice’. My entire family uses it, in fact, when we want to sound smart. We need all the ‘smart sounding’ words we can muster. At least I do.
Congrats on the awards, especially the award you gave yourself by losing (and keeping off) 70 lbs. That’s incredible, L! Excellent!
Oops, I completely forgot to share the fact that I literally laughed out loud with your GG reference. Nicely done.
Yay! Mission accomplished!
Ah Lenore, you are a woman of more vocabulary than you give yourself credit for :)
Thanks again for the Liebster award and kind words!
Thanks for recognizing my award to you! I thought you may have forgotten! And also, I’ve worn a toe ring on my LEFT foot every summer for a while now!!
I didn’t forget and I’m sorry it took so long! The summer just got away from me and I didn’t realize how much time had passed since you first tagged me :)
I thought the toe ring would be a temporary thing, but I have not taken it off a single time since I first put it on. I don’t even feel that it’s on.
Three awards, wow! Congratulations!
P.S.If you skip the descriptions of battles, you will be done with War and Peace in no time :-)
P.P.S. Dear Tolstoy-ans, please keep your rage to yourself.At least I have read it :-) Maybe, later, I will get around to re-reading it with the aforementioned scenes.
Thanks!
Y’know, I have read all the battle scenes so far but I can barely remember them so I guess I may as well just have skipped them. It’s actually quite amusing to see my copy. I’ve got about 25 little post-it tags with notes marking up a bunch of sections so I know where I have to go to reference something yet again. I know a book shouldn’t be this much work, but I’m kind of embracing it. To a point ;)
The office looks great! I love that raisin wall. Also, kudos on losing that weight. I’m impressed – it must have required quite some extended self discipline. Good for you!
I needed more discipline when I first started to lose weight, but then it just got to be a habit and it was easier. Plus, seeing actual results kept me motivated, which helps with the discipline of course! In some ways, maintaining is harder because if I gain a few pounds after the holidays or something, it’s harder to get back into the ‘losing’ mode than just staying in losing mode (I’m actually fighting with a few pounds right now! The cruise and trip to Normandy was fantastic, but a girl doesn’t face a week’s worth of unlimited food and then 5 days of French croissants without any consequences! :)
I love my raisin wall! I love color in the house. The last room I did over was the bathroom, which is now orange. My family thinks I’m kooky but I adore my orange bathroom! (That’s where the girls are – on top of the shower door in front of the orange bathroom wall.)