Nomination for the Versatile Blogger Award

As a really new blogger, I had no idea that there was an entire world of bloggers out there sharing amazing stories, life experiences, beautiful, moving poetry, incredible photography, wonderful travel tales, and…well, the list just goes on and on… I started this blog for really selfish reasons: I knew I would either burst or implode if I didn’t get my stories out of my head and onto some medium that I could share with others. What I never expected was to discover so many kindred spirits all over the world who, like me, appeared to feel the very same way about their own writing and artwork.

One of the first blogs I began following was Rilak’s blog – by Dejan Rilak (https://rilaks-zagreb.guide/) from Zagreb, Croatia. I was drawn to his blog because I had been to Croatia a few months before. I stayed with his blog because it is so well-written and so interesting. I am therefore so honoured to have been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award (VBA) by none other than Dejan himself. Please do go and check out his blog: he works as a tour guide and tour leader in Zagreb and all over Croatia and its neighboring countries. I cannot thank him warmly enough for this nomination.

Dejan explained that the rules for accepting this award are simple:

• You write 7 interesting facts about yourself
• You nominate 15+ amazing bloggers for this award

The first list was much more challenging than I expected. I am quiet, reserved and low key. I have always considered myself a very interested person but do not find myself particularly interesting. I do hope you find the following facts noteworthy:

1. I am a reader. I prefer fiction: reading has always been an escape for me. And I always re-read the books I love best. My favourite author is Stephen King, but I also love John Steinbeck, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Irving, J.K. Rowling, Ray Bradbury and Diana Gabaldon. And I simply adore Dr. Seuss! There are so many others though… I could go on and on.
2. Although recently retired, I worked in adult literacy for over 25 years and did a lot of volunteer work for our local family-literacy program. One of my favourite volunteer activities was reading children’s stories on our local CBC Radio station for a 10-year period and sharing reading tips with parents. Whatever shyness I might have seems to disappear when I am reading to children: the sillier I can be, the better…
3. My second-best form of escape is the movies. The best movies transport me and leave me silently pondering for days, but I even love the really bad B-movies, especially if they have anything to do with end-of-the-world scenarios or zombie apocalypses. My top 5 movies, not necessarily in order, are: Cinema Paradiso, Dead Poets Society, Sophie’s Choice, Le Festin de Babette (Babette’s Feast) and Once Upon a Time in the West. With major honourable mentions for Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz, It’s a Wonderful Life and Schindler’s List. Again, though, this is a list that could have gone on and on. I should also mention that most of the movies I have mentioned have absolutely awesome soundtracks/music themes. The music is, for me, a huge part of the escape…
4. If I had to choose one food to live on for the rest of my life (which would give me all the nutrients I required, of course), it would be movie popcorn. No butter. And for the record, if I went to the movies and the popcorn machine were broken, I would turn around and go back home. No popcorn, no movie.
5. My mother tongue is English but I lived in Québec City (Canada) for 35 years so I also speak French. It was an important accomplishment for me, as my mother is Acadian but my sister and I were only raised in English. Even as a little girl, I felt ‘robbed’ of part of my culture: it was a magical moment when, at around age 20, I was first able to speak with my maternal grandmother, who only knew a few words in English.
6. I love to dance. Always have; hopefully always will… (and hope I can be forgiven for having danced Disco back in the 70s. Hey, that was my time and it did have a pretty good beat…)
7. I am completely ‘weight-blind’. If you have lost 50 lbs (22.7 kilos), do not be disappointed if I don’t notice. On the other hand, if you have gained 50 lbs, I likely won’t notice that either (this has happened to me with friends….no one believes it but I am really not making this up).

My second list has been just as challenging. First, I am new to the blogging world and I am well aware that the blogs I have discovered to date are not even the ‘tip of the tip’ of the iceberg. Second, I tried hard to nominate bloggers who (to my knowledge) have yet to receive this award, which is designed for fellow bloggers to help one another gain a readership and recognition. Please do check out (and share) the bloggers I am nominating (in no particular order):  some have made me laugh; some have made me cry; some have simply kept me wonderfully diverted and several have been kind enough to give me many helpful tips and comments along the way:

• InkBlots and Icebergs – Mistressoftheink ((https://inkblotsandicebergs.wordpress.com/
• Crow on the Wire: Mark Tulin (https://crowonthewire.com/ )
• Broke-single-dad: A blog on thriving, when you only really planned to be one of those 3 things. (https://broke-single-dad.com/)
• Michael James – Writing is Hard (https://authormichaeljames.com/)
• Murder Tramp Birthday: Hypomanic ramblings of the indecent mind. (https://murdertrampbirthday.wordpress.com/)
• The Equilibrium of Life – And the Garden of the Mind (https://theequilibriumoflife.wordpress.com/)
• Everyday Strange – Finding the odd among the ordinary (https://everydaystrangeblog.wordpress.com/)
• How I Lost my Chains – I’VE LEARNED THE MOST UNLEARNING EVERYTHING I’VE EVER KNOWN (https://shewassetfree.ca)

• Life with an Illness (https://lifewithanillness.com/)
• Neil Womack (https://nlwmck.wordpress.com/)
• madebyfay – Where doodles come alive (https://madebyfay.wordpress.com/)
• Unoriginal (Love) Notes – For me. For you. For us. Lizardin Bain, (https://unoriginalnotes.com/)
• Write Under the Light – Write to see the light (https://hannathegraceblogs.wordpress.com/)
• Kenneth Feel Good Photography (https://feelgood-photography.com/)
• The Rambling Student – The blog about anything and everything. (https://theramblingstudentblog.wordpress.com/

I sincerely hope you check my nominations out: I think they are awesome. I am so proud and honoured to be contributing to WordPress with such an interesting, dedicated and talented group of writers…

And to my fellow nominated bloggers, do check out this site for all the information you will need about how this award works: https://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/