Sunshine Blogger Award

Hamlette and Eva have both tagged me for the Sunshine Blogger Award again!  And look, I'm actually completing the tag in a timely manner this go-'round.  

Rules

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you in the blog post and link back to their blog.  (Thank you so much, ladies! 💕)
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

Hamlette's Questions

1. What's something good that's happened to you this year?

It struck me recently that I'll be able to look back on 2020 as the year that I wrote a novel.  Like, an actual novel.

For some people, that's pretty piecemeal.  For me, it's a pretty big deal.  I proved to myself that despite all my preconceptions, I am actually capable of developing a story into legitimate novel length.  I am capable of writing x-thousand words for one specific story.  (I completed the second draft last night!)

So that, I expect, will be one of my highlights for the year.

2. What was your favorite movie when you were ten years old?

Probably Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.  That one was (and is) Much Loved.

A scene I painted for DreamWorks Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron back in the day. Acrylic on Crescent 100 illustration board. Still love to use the crescent board for wet media, beautiful surface.pic.twitter.com/U3yFQh1WKj

3. Have you ever discovered you now like a movie or book that you used to dislike?

Quite often, actually!  It doesn't usually happen with books, but I find that there are many films and/or TV shows that I am just not ready for when I am first introduced to them.  For instance, there are plenty of romantic comedies that my older sisters tried to show me when I was younger, which I didn't like at the time because they made me uncomfortable.  But now I enjoy them.  

I'm learning that that's just how it is, and that I don't have to apologize either for being unready for them then or for liking them now. 

4. How long have you been blogging?

It'll be seven years next month!  My first post was published on October 13, 2013.

5. What's your favorite joke?

We had this book of corny jokes that included a section of "Questions Asked in a Actual Courtroom".  I don't know if they were legit or not, but some of them cracked me up.

"These stairs that led down to the basement, did they lead up, as well?"

6. What's a movie or book that people are surprised to learn you enjoy?

The Shallows, for one?  People be like, "but BLOOD and SHARKS!"  And I can say, "those two things actually don't usually bother me very much lol." 😄


7. Do you play croquet?

I mean, I don't not play croquet.  It just doesn't come up that often. 

8. How many blog posts have you published?

This will be my 470th on this blog.

9. What's the next book you plan to read?

That is the question.  Mirror Mirror (by Gregory Maguire), To Best the Boys (by Mary Weber), I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (by Maya Angelou), and Breadcrumbs (by Anne Ursu) are all high on my list at the moment.  We shall see which one snares me. 

10. What's the next movie you plan to watch?

Probably The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.  We'll see what I've actually gotten around to watching from my little library stack by the time this post is finished.

11. Do you want to build a snowman?

Come on, let's go and play!


Eva's Questions

1.  What’s the latest you’ve ever stayed up?

I'm guessing 4 a.m.  (Not that that's a regular occurrence.) 

2.  Are you right- or left-handed?

Left-handed for writing, right-handed for most other things. 

3.  What’s the best movie you’ve watched this year?

Where'd You Go, Bernadette.  Its aesthetic and thematic purpose remind me of the 2013 remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and it's a perfectly balanced exploration of everyday Human Struggles coupled with everyday practical humor.  It's a great movie.

4.  What’s the best book you’ve read this year?

Nonfiction:
  • Be the Bridge:  Pursuing God's Heart for Racial Reconciliation (by LaTasha Morrison)
  • Letters to America:  Contemporary American Poetry on Race (edited by Jim Daniels

Fiction:
  • The Tower at Stony Wood (by Patricia A. McKillip)
  • also My Plain Jane (by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton) because it was so darn fun

Jane Campion {The Piano among other films}

5.  Do you prefer Christmas or your birthday?

Christmas!  It's a whole season; there's music; it's a good time.  I also don't usually need to work on Christmas.  And it happens in the winter instead of the summer, so that's a win in my book. 

6.  Do you keep a journal or a diary?

Intermittently.  They're catch-alls for a little bit of everything:  lyrics or scriptures, spiritual reflections, life crises, etc. 

7.  Neutrals or pastels?

Pastels, mainly.

8.  What’s your favorite letter of the alphabet?

'B' is a nice letter.  It looks cool and it makes a fun sound.  Also 'F'.  I like lowercase 'f'. 

9.  What’s your favorite life hack?

I LITERALLY CANNOT REMEMBER MY LIFE HACKS.  Ugh.  

I guess, if you're like me and have a large CD selection that you want to keep in your car, but have trouble fitting all of them into the glove compartment, you could try this that worked for me.  Keep an eye out at thrift stores for a pack of those super slim, clear plastic CD cases.  I found, like, 30 or so of them in a bundle at a Goodwill.  It fixed the problem, since each slim case is about a third of the size of a regular case.  And now I can fit nearly all of my CDs pretty comfortably.

So . . . yeah.  *lame bow*  Be blessed.

(And yes, you could also invest in one of those visor CD organizer thingies.  These are alternative strategies, here.)

10.  What was the last thing you bought?

Some greeting cards. 

11.  What’s your middle name?

Ann.  (Yes, without an 'e'.  Get wrecked, Shirley.)


My Questions

1.  Is there a particular song that you would show to people if you were trying to explain yourself -- your personality, your heart, your aesthetic, your inner landscape -- in musical form?

2.  Do you like tattoos or no?

3.  What is your favorite thing about your favorite holiday?

4.  What non-story-related hobbies do you enjoy?

5.  Top three favorite TV shows?

6.  What is one thing that the world need more of, in your eyes?  (Serious or trivial.)

7.  What is one thing that the world need less of, in your eyes?  (Serious or trivial.)

8.  Do you need more cool air or more heat when you sleep?

9.  What scents do you tend to love in candles, perfumes, etc.?

10.  Top three favorite animals?

11.  Socks or no socks?


My Nominees


Comments

  1. You could also get one of those CD binders and keep everything in one compact space. :) Great answers!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for tagging me! I was just thinking about how awesome your questions were! :D

    Congrats on finishing your second draft!! I've never gotten there so I think it is amazing!!!

    Also, that is incredible that you write with your left hand and do everything else with your right. My left hand is basically useless. XD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're most welcome! I hope you enjoy answering them. :D

      Thank you!! <3

      Haha, thanks. It's interesting, 'cause I never really know how to answer the "Are you right-handed or left-handed" question. xD

      Delete
  3. That was the same for me on movies and tv (and probably some books had I known of them at a younger age). I would feel "left out" or not up with pop culture yet grossed out by stuff. Not that I think I'm right in everything I've tried, there is a balance between growing up and dulling conscience which I'm not sure how to balance.

    Mirror, Mirror is on a potential reads list. I've been going through Fairytale Central's retelling lists narrowing down and trying to find which libraries have what.

    Wow that Frozen art is stunning.

    Fellow leftie here. Left-handing for writing, but right for other things, like everything else? I'm left for as many things as I can I guess, like I prefer it but I can function well (probably better if I've grown up doing it) for like the computer mouse, or anything I really couldn't have gotten a left-handed version. Or knitting, but then that doesn't really seem "right" dominant anyway although there is a leftie way. I don't feel like some lefties seem to be almost dysfunctionally left-handed, where they are even more left dominant than righties are right dominant. Like my sister. 2 out of 6 kids are lefties without a left-handed parent or grandparent. Most people I know have a least one left-handed parent.

    Also, when trying to figure out hand lettering I discovered lefties can be over-writers (that's then one people seem to think of most), through writers (gets messy) or underwriters (me). Which means you have to find your exact hand position to learn from because the angles are all wrong. I've decided that I'll stick to oblique cut calligraphy pens for lefties, makes it simpler.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I definitely relate to that. It is a struggle to balance being okay with watching mature content and being willing to watch actually harmful content.

      I'm partway through Mirror Mirror now and it's bizarre. Funnily enough, it's actually one of those situations where I'm trying to figure out, "Is it actually, you know, okay for me to finish this?? Or would it be more harm than it's worth?"

      Isn't it?! Fan art amazes me.

      Neat! Yep, that's me: left hand-dominant for writing, but right hand-dominant for practically everything else.

      Ah, gotcha. I've never tried hand lettering or calligraphy very in-depth, but I relate to the unique struggles of writing with one's left hand. xD (Pencil lead all over the side of your hand during a school exam, anyone?)

      Delete
  4. Yes, you did!! You completed TWO WHOLE DRAFTS of a WHOLE NOVEL!! Look at you go, girl!! :D

    Haha! Blood and sharks are definitely on the (long) list of things that bother me ... so I'll just be avoiding The Shallows ;)

    "Get wrecked, Shirley" I'M WHEEZING

    I'm going to do Hamlette's questions on my blog, and I might do yours as well ... they Intrigue me ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THANK YOU :D :D :D

      Haha, probably best, then. (I think that sharks are for me what haunted houses are for some people: "scary," but like in a chill, fun, non-serious way. xD)

      Somehow, I knew you would appreciate "Get wrecked, Shirley". xD

      Please do! I look forward to your answers, to whoever's questions they end up being. ;D

      Delete
  5. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is one of the most beautiful movies. From the animation to the music, it's winderful.

    Thanks for the tag!

    ReplyDelete
  6. So first of all, fun post, second of all, thanks for tagging me! That was so sweet of you. :) I will definitely be filling this tag out!

    Congrats on finishing your novel! That's so awesome! Well done! *fist-pump* I know how much work that involves.

    I think I would have loved that joke book, haha. XD Literally, though, some questions lawyers ask are so stupid, haha.

    Ok wow, blood and sharks would probably bother me a bit. (There has to be a very strong purpose for them both being in the movie for me to watch it. Like, I'm not ever going to watch Jaws. No thank you. But I absolutely love "Soul Surfer".)

    That's really cool that you use both your left hand and right hand! I'm right handed with absolutely everything and eeessh, if I ever have a hand injury, I hate to think of what would happen. Yikes.

    "Get wrecked, Shirley" XD WOW, haha. That made me laugh.

    Off to do my post, now! :D


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But of course! ;) I enjoyed your answers.

      Thank you so much! <3

      It was a very entertaining book, to me, at least. ;D

      Haha, I don't watch many movies that have a ton of either. But neither necessarily deter me from a movie, on their own. What I like about The Shallows is that it's more of a medical/survival drama than a shark flick.

      I think about that too, actually! What would happen if I ever had a hand injury.

      Hee hee, thank you. I'm glad it amused you. ;)

      Delete

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