463rd Friday Blog Roundup

I got nominated for my first Liebster Award.  I’ve seen this on a bunch of blogs, but I’ve never been picked. (Unless you count the times someone says, “I don’t know who to tag.  If you’re reading this, you’re tagged.”)  But this week, Em-i-lis picked me.  ME!

So thank you, Em-i-lis!

And I apologize if you did pick me, and I have completely blanked on that experience.

These are her questions and my answers:

What is your favorite nickname, bestowed by another or self-inflicted?

I was called Mickey back in middle school/high school.  And I really loved that nickname because the cutest boy in Hebrew school gave it to me.  That really cute boy didn’t age very well.  I am basing that on a Google search I just did.  I’m now highly disappointed.  But he was really cute when we were twelve.

With whom would you most like to have dinner (that you’ve not yet)?

I have a long lost family member that I connected with due to the family tree I’m making, and I would love to fly out to the West Coast and meet her.

Why do you blog?

Mostly because Josh would like other people to help carry the burden of listening to my thoughts.  Since I started blogging, I have mostly stopped bringing up huge topics at midnight when he’s trying to fall asleep.

What’s your favorite way to spend an afternoon?

Reading on the sofa next to Truman’s cage.  With hot chocolate.  And fuzzy socks.

What have you learned about yourself and/or your interests via blogging/writing?

I learned what it feels like to belong.  To fit somewhere.  For so much of my life, I didn’t have a place I fit.  And then I found writing and it was like slipping into an almost finished puzzle.  Then I would forget how I fit in writing and struggle in other places.  But every time I returned to writing, I would think, “oh yes!  I belong here.”

Let’s break for an easy one: Sweet or salty?

Sweet.  All the way.

Off the top of your mind, what are your favorite three books that aren’t your own (for you pubbed authors)?

• Harry Potter heptalogy (I know it is cheating to put 7 books but I need to break the rules)
• The Phantom Tollbooth
• Handmaid’s Tale

What’s some of the best advice you’ve ever received?

Always shit before making a big decision.  Or… maybe less disgustingly, make decisions on a relaxed body.  Before you hit send, before you make up your mind, before you take any steps that are no-going-back points, make sure that nothing physical is goading you to make up your mind faster than you wish.  Also, Carla Cohen’s advice to “just wing it.”

If you love to cook, what’s your favorite utensil? If you hate to cook, what’s your favorite dish prepared by others?

A solid spatula.  Like a pancake turner?  I use it for stirring, all the time.

What’s one of your favorite destinations (you could have gone once or many times)?

We go to Chincoteague a lot, so that’s up there as a favourite destination.  But I equally have a lot of love for the Book Mill in Montague, MA.

Who am I tagging?

• Loribeth from The Road Less Traveled
• Luna from Life from Here
• Justine from A Half Baked Life
• Lori from Lavender Luz
• Karen from River Run Dry

Consider yourself lucky that you were the first five people who popped into my brain!

Your questions:

1. Longest you’ve ever gone without a shower.
2. Tell us about a recent disappointment.
3. Tell us the person you’d most like in the car with you for a road trip.
4. Which do you like better: goats or sheep?
5. Do you like to watch scary movies?
6. What do you call yourself when you’re talking to yourself inside your head?
7. Name someone from your kindergarten class that you wonder about to this day.
8. What is the best song for picking up your mood?
9. How do you organize your socks?
10. When no one is home, do you close the bathroom door?

Everyone else, feel free to answer these too.  By the way, Josh contributed #9 and #10.

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Thank you for weighing in about the Creme de la Creme.  Sounds like there is a critical mass of people so… onward!  The list will open for submissions on the 15th next week.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “I Didn’t Make it Into the Newspaper” (Little Chicken Nuggets)
• “I Took a Walk” (Too Many Fish to Fry)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Wordgirl’s “Self Contained” is a post that I read a bit late, but I’m including it this week because it blew my mind.  You will cry reading it.  You will probably recognize something of yourself within it.  It was simply the most beautiful thing I’ve read in a while.

Misfit Mrs. also had a post about an anniversary that I was late to read that really belonged in last week’s roundup.  Can you tell that I’m behind on my reader?  Read it for that ending: “I feel like the patron saint of improbable, though. Or at least I owe a small corner of my home to building an alter to that currently undetermined saint. The savior of lost causes, the champion of losers, or the queens of epic failures are all in my court.”  But really, the entire thing is just lovely.

And the Vial Makes Three has a post about which one will carry the child that made me laugh.  It was, by far, amongst some actual heartfelt content, the best use of hashtags ever: “I am delighted to celebrate vicariously with these wonderful women, but (in all honesty) it makes me jealous. I know when it does happen for us it’s gonna be swell… it’ll be great… we’re gonna have the whole world on a plate.  #musicaltheaterref #merman #gaybies.”

Lastly, Andmom has a post about the word “just” — a word I’m guilty of using in a post this week.  It’s about needing more than and less than, and trying to fit into a system that is clearly not designed with her child in mind.  The frustration comes through every word of the post, and I hope that they find a solution that works.

The roundup to the Roundup: Get to know me… and I’d like to get to know you.  Eighth Creme de la Creme is starting next week.  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between October 4th and October 11th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.