It seems the LBA is quite similar to the Very Inspiring Blogger honor, in that I must now:
1. Thank the person who gave you the honor. (Thank you, Susan! This nomination should make you a shoo-in for the Very Tolerant Blogger Award. If there is no such thing, I’m inventing one and giving it to you here and now.)
2. Add the “One Lovely Blog Award” image to your post. Here ya go:
3. Share seven things about you.
4. Pass the award on to seven nominees.
5. Include this set of rules.
6. Inform your nominees by posting a comment on their blogs.
The first two are a snap, but No. 3 begins to get a bit complicated. I don’t know if I can find seven things worth saying about myself. At least, until I’m sure the statute of limitations has run out. After much thought, a few prayers to St. Olga—a woman who sure knew how to get the job done—and a very dry martini, I managed to come up with the following slices of autobiography:
1. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.
2. I very nearly drowned in a lake when I was eight years old. The strange thing is, the result of this experience is that I now have absolutely no fear of the water. In fact, I’m never happier than when I’m around it. (I didn't give myself the screen name of a water spirit for nothing.) I remember very distinctly that after the initial panic, when I started to go under, a feeling of utter peace came over me, like going very gently to sleep. It was actually rather an unpleasant shock when I got fished out. It convinced me that while there are very many nasty ways to go, drowning is not among them.
3. In the words of a friend of mine, I am a “Cat Magnet.” I have owned cats since I was two years old (I have four at the moment,) and the peculiar thing about this is that, of all the many cats who have shared my life, I did not set out to acquire any of them. I never come to them—they come to me. My first cat was a gift from a neighbor. Since then, I've had strays who have literally shown up on my doorstep and refused to leave. Or there were neighbors who moved and couldn’t take their cat, so I felt I had to provide the poor dispossessed feline a home. Or an elderly friend of the family died and left no one else willing to take in his cat. The oddest thing is, this has only happened once with a dog—when I was a child, my then-stepfather gave me a puppy (only good thing the guy ever did in his life, BTW.) I love dogs (I’m no bigot!) and would love to have another someday, but for whatever reason, the gods just pointed to me and said, “You! Toxoplasmosis City!”
4. I dropped out of school when I was fourteen (this will come as no surprise to anyone who's noticed the quality of the grammar found on this blog.) I did later get an AA degree at Santa Monica College, I suppose just for appearance’s sake.
5. I’m a Sagittarius with Virgo rising, just like Jane Austen. And yes, I fully realize the resemblance ends right there.
6. I’m a non-smoking vegetarian who generally avoids processed foods and runs five miles every morning, rain or shine. I also can drink a battalion of Marines under the table and back again, which I suppose balances things out.
7. One of my relatives was a writer on “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.” This undoubtedly explains a lot.
Now for the most painful part: The nominations. Painful because I could easily give this award to dozens of terrific blogs who deserve it a heck of a lot more than my poor muddling self. However, I had to narrow it down somehow, so here they are, with my apologies to everyone I had to omit:
1. Pauline of Pirates and Privateers/HoodooQ: Visit these two blogs to get a great education on Naval history and, well, Hoodoo. Plus recipes!
2. Bourbon and Tea: Andrea Janes not only writes excellent ghost stories, she has a wonderfully eclectic blog covering everything from the supernatural to literature to, God bless her, beer.
3. Edward II: William Wallace was not the father of Edward III, damn it!
4. Embarrassing Treasures: A blog I only recently discovered that is a delightful Blast From the Past.
5. Mary Miley’s Roaring Twenties: Fun site to read about one of my favorite eras in American history.
6. Murder by Gaslight: Because who doesn’t love a bit of historical bloodshed?
7. Jeri Walker-Bickett’s What Do I Know: For being a darn good sport.
And we're done! Undine over and out.
Posts
