As I mentioned previously, I have been nominated for a Liebster Award by Kelley from Another Novel Read. This is my first blog award ever, so I don’t even care if she nominated me mostly because we have similar taste in hair and a constitution that even Wowriot can’t kill. 🙂 Now, there is no tangible award for the Liebster Award, and there is no official roster of awards awarded. Feeling like you won the Liebster award IS the award. That, and encountering new and exciting blogs. Sopphey Says the award probably originated around 2010, and may be German in origin. Those who are nominated must answer the questions asked by their nominator. Nominees must then in turn send their own set of questions to 11 bloggers that they nominate. There is some disagreement about the requirements for the nominated blogs, but the spirit of the award is that they should be “up and coming” blogs.

  First of all, my answers to Kelley’s questions:

1. Who’s your favorite non-human character in a book?

Does Gatsby’s Green Light count as a character? If so, it is the entity I choose. Like Gatsby, I also believe in the green light. (Which reminds me of a post I keep meaning to write..)

2.Chocolate or vanilla?

I know some people might think it lame, but in most situations, vanilla. The good thing about vanilla is that its good to begin with, and you can add things to it. Like mint extract.  Or strawberries. Also the vanilla Charleston Chews are way better. The chocolate ones just have chocolate, but with vanilla, you really get some of both.

3. How many books do you read in a typical month?

That depends. Do I have to read whole books or can ones I only read part of count? I’m a binge reader. Some months I might not read a book, but others I might read five. Or possibly more, but I don’t think that has happened since I don’t go to school anymore and therefore don’t have classes to not pay attention in.
4. Coffee or tea?

I like both actually. I prefer not to commit on this issue.
5. What’s your favorite movie based on a book?

Hard question is hard. I really liked Atonement, the movie, but I haven’t read the book despite having a copy available (I haven’t felt like ripping that particular band aid off yet because I know its going to be wrenching.) I liked The Painted Veil, but once again, haven’t read the book, and also I would have written the ending slightly differently. I don’t think I can really know how well I like a movie based on a book unless I’ve both read and watched.

In light of that, I think I will go with Memoirs of a Geisha. I watched the movie first, then read the book. And while the book does have more detail and much more of the fascinating maneuvering within geisha society, I still think the movie did a really good job of capturing the color of the book and the sense of setting, and being true to the characters.
6. Beer, wine, cocktails, other?

Whiskey mostly, Jameson. I’ve cut back lately so its rarely worth spending the calories on anything else.
7. Favorite genre to read?

I feel inclined to answer one way, but I think my behavior actually answers a different way. I actually find myself reading a lot of non fiction recently. I like nonfiction books about historical events and people, that aren’t excessively dry. I’m currently reading Havana Nocture, about the rise and fall of the mob in Cuba. I also tend to like the kind of books that they make you read in literature classes. Wilde, Fitzgerald, BUT NOT STEINBECK. NEVER STEINBECK. He has been my nemesis since The Red Pony, that asshole.
8. Does it snow where you live? If yes, how do you feel about it?

It snows just enough in Dallas that it feels magical. I think if its going to be cold, there should be snow. Otherwise its a rip off.
9. How do you feel about naps?

I think they are actually quite effective, but not practical for the life I have. I learned about “siesta” in high school, on a trip to Honduras, and thought it was pretty great. Siesta makes it seem like you get two days in one. Later, while trying to model, act, and work in bars, I survived on naps in my car. Unfortunately naps and my life are currently incompatible. Fortunately, I’m no longer ever expected to look good, with no makeup on, at 8 in the morning, an hour drive from my house, after working til 3 the night before. We make trade offs.
10. Favorite book cover from the past year?

Should this be favorite cover from a book that came out this past year, or favorite cover of any old book that I’ve seen this year?

Nevermind, I’m just going to go with The Album of Angst. 

Favorite TV series?

Red Dwarf. Hands down. You probably won’t like it, most people don’t, but I love it unapologetically. It is on Netflix, please inflict it upon yourself so more people will understand my jokes.

And now, my nominations:

Guidelines are conflicting on how many followers constitutes an “up and coming” blog. I tried to stick to blogs with under 100 followers (if follower number was view-able). I also tried to avoid blogs that appear to already be making a living from blogging. I enjoy some blogs of that level, but they are easy to find with search engines. I really love finding lesser known gems, so I hope my list helps someone else do just that…

1. Sharon “Nerdtrips” at… Nerdtrips – Nerdtrips covers roadtrips to historical sites. I love travel and want to love travel blogs, but I hate that so many travel blogs cover only tripsthat most “average” people couldn’t do, or provide the same information on the same locations that every other site has. Nerdtrips is outside of that box. I also enjoy that she’s covered both places that I know in Texas, and some places that I knew growing up in IL (mostly sites in Indiana).

2. Belphoebe at Rags of Love – She bills her blog as “A style blog for dress hoarders, dream catchers and literature lovers.” Her coverage of places is both personal and informative, her photos are appealing but not over manicured, her personal style is somehow literary-looking, and frankly, she seems nice. She’s not a new blogger per se, but the blog is newer.

3. Sean at One Sip at a Time – Yes, I picked a boy! One Sip at a Time  is in short about cocktails in Pittsburg. Posts are a little less frequent than most blogs that I follow, but I think its unique and interesting, and I like blogs that are infused with local flavor – esp. local flavor of places that you don’t already think you know everything about. On this blog, cocktails are an art, and bartending a skill. I don’t know if Liebster nominations will be his thing, but I wanted to give him one anyway.

4. Lyndsay at Love Long and Prosper – Mostly list format musings on geek subjects, such as pets in geeky costumes, geek bars around the world, being geeky at different ages. I like the list/top ten format, and although a lot of her content comes from elsewhere on the internet, her commentary is funny and relate able. Also, her taste in finding things on the internet is good, and one of her hobbies is “gaining and discarding new weekly hobbies.” FTW.

5. Busydarling at A Devastatingly Heavenly Darling – She’s scattered, up and down, bitches about things, rambles, and is endearing. I hear her in a British accent even though I know its not the right accent (actually South African.) When she’s unhappy, she makes it funny, and when she’s happy, her posts about finding clothes to fit thin but curvy shapes and what helps her focus are interesting and detailed. Her posts about Dutch life provide a different point of view for me, although her rambling, ranting style seems placeless.

6. Unfortunately Common – Less frequent but much thought over music posts. Impeccable taste. I’m biased about this one, but let’s just say that he goes to a lot of the shows I go to. If you like The National, The Walkmen, Chromatics, The Joy Formidable, Beach house, daughter… or if you’ve never heard of any of these bands, you may like this blog. Now let’s take bets on whether or not he passes the Liebster.

7. Tagra at Tagra Reviews Things – Tagra reviews things. Tagra reviews the shit out of things. Things like games, movies, books, and booze. These reviews are not for girly men, they are long and detailed and for the literate. Also one of the frequently used tags is “meh”, a practice which I salute.

8. Audi at Fashion For Nerds – I may be breaking the “up and coming” rule on this one, her blog has been around a while, and I’m not sure how many followers she has. But I like it, and I never hear other people talk about it, so I’m going for it. She is a scientist who blogs fashion with outfits and style analysis. She does not wear “blogger outfits” and she is not 21. This is one of the few mostly outfit posts blogs that I find continually interesting, because her style is varied and eclectic, and also she throws in just enough posts that aren’t her own outfits. I also like that she doesn’t wear things that are frou-frou or movement impairing.

9. Renee (and contributors) at Guerrilla Aging – I don’t think I am the target audience of this blog, yet. Its about “Navigating the third half of life”. Yet I find it enjoyable, because each post is the kind of personal experience writing that I enjoy, and every writer so far has been a good writer. I also like it because I don’t like to believe that we are just crawling quickly towards the worst decades of our lives, I want to believe that life can be good and interesting for people “of a certain age”. I don’t want to believe that who you are is compulsorily washed away when you become a little old lady.

10. The mysterious Nerdy Girl on a Mission – I don’t know her name. Perhaps her mission calls for anonymity. Her blog hasn’t even been around for a year yet, but she already has several strong posts. I particularly enjoyed her thoughts on the medium of the short story, and her review of Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress made me LOL and WTF outloud.

11. Myra at Myraspace – Myra’s blog has been defunct since 2010, but I’m giving it an award to protest the fact that she is no longer posting regularly. I really enjoyed her handful of posts. Her life commentary is funny and clever, and in addition to being endearing on the internet, I also know she’s endearing IRL.

And now… your questions, should you choose to accept them…

1. What do you have in your pockets right now?

2. What author do you hate most? Is there an author that you hate as much as I hate Steinbeck?

3. If you had lemons, vodka, whiskey, bad cheap wine, ice tea, strawberries, Pepsi, and Sprite, what would you fix to drink?

4. Why did you start blogging?

5. What do you feel is your personal worst blog post ever?

6. What’s the craziest search term that has led a viewer to your blog?

7. Do you ever miss making Myspace layouts and questionnaires?

8. Would you rather smell bad, or have to use crutches?

9. Is your real name associated with your blog? Why or why not?

10. What event are you looking forward to most this year?

11. Look at the picture below. What word are you most likely to use that quote in response to?

Now I gotta go tell all these people I gave them awards.