One of the Cool Kids (I got the chain letter!)

How fun! I was nominated for a Sunshine Blogger award by the A. Joann blog.  “The Sunshine Award is given by bloggers to bloggers who inspire positivity and creativity in the blogging community.” Cool! It isn’t a huge thing, just an opportunity to connect and pay it forward. I’m in! What happens is that I will answer the questions from my nominator, and then nominate some more folks and ask them different questions. It’s kind of like a more positive and transparent version of the chain letter of old, and I’m ok with that!

Questions from A. Joann for Me

Here are the questions and my answers.

• How do you stay up-to-date on current issues in the news?

I have several devices – a personal phone, a work phone, an iPad…and I subscribe to Apple News on all of them. It doesn’t discriminate; any public news source is available through that feed. I check it a couple of times per day, usually the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. This keeps me confident that if there’s a nuclear war, I’ll know about it just about as soon as anyone else. I also have at least two hours commuting to work in the car each weekday, and my radio is permanently set to NPR – Morning Edition on the way to work and All Things Considered on the way home. I also have a son in college, a sophomore at University of Texas, and he makes sure I know of any current outrage. : )

• What is one goal you have for today?

My goal for today – or any day – is to figure out a way to stay positive no matter the obstacles and challenges that come my way. And to do it without being annoying, and in the hopes that some of it rubs off on others (without being annoying – did I say that?).

• How often do you write your posts?

I write in bursts. I’d like to post every day…but no, that’s not possible. I have a very rewarding and challenging corporate job that keeps me very busy during the week. Three days a week is my realistic goal for writing, but even that isn’t possible sometimes. I tried to post every day during National Haiku Writing Month (once I joined up) and didn’t quite make it. However, on weekends, especially if it is raining, I can bank several posts for later release. And I am a writing fiend on business trips, because of the down time in airports, the lack of responsibilities in the evenings and the free time on weekends. This is one of my favorite travel finds / travel posts: April in Paris: Rue des Martyrs.

• What food is your least favorite?

There’s no question. I have ranted about this many times. Beets! and alligator and mayonnaise.  Check out this post if you’d like to join the beets discussion.

• If you were to pick a famous person to travel with, who would it be and why?

Gosh, that’s a hard one! Does it have to be a famous person? I like traveling with my son to see the world through his eyes. But if it does have to be a famous person, I’d like to check out the world with Langston Hughes, because his poetry was so beautiful and moving and I’d love to pick up his vibe, vision and inspiration. Or Sam Houston, a truly interesting historical person whose story is anything but predictable. (I wanted to name my son Sam Houston but his father objected.) Or maybe Emmeline Pankhurst, the British suffragette, so I could learn from her drive and dedication, or Laura Ingalls Wilder, just to hear her tell all those Little House stories. Or the Gershwins, just to listen.

• What (or who) inspires you to exercise?

Nothing inspires me to exercise for its own sake. Nothing! But – I love to work in the garden, walk in a Paris park, crew on a sailboat or chop-chop-chop doing my own sous chef work. Does that count?

• What was the last thing you ate?

My 87-year old German mother-in-law had us over to dinner and made a pork roast, “potato balls”, and sauerkraut and sausage. We also had an appetizer that I put together, a goat cheese and herb ball surrounded by smoked salmon atop vodka-dressed arugula, and crowned with caviar.

• What is the best color for a car, and why do you think so?

I don’t care about cars in the least. Whatever color is the cheapest.

• What movie would get you to sit down and watch it again on a rainy afternoon?

OMG, there are so many! My Dad and I used to watch old movies together, and they are my go-to relaxation tonic. How to pick? There could be one of the Thin Man collection (see photo below), or one of the ten Fred and Ginger movies, or a thoughtful, meaningful treatise on social injustice like To Kill a Mockingbird (my favorite movie) or Gentleman’s Agreement, or a lightweight musical comedy with a classic American songbook musical score like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or American in Paris.

• What flowers do you think have the best fragrance?

Jasmine? Roses? Gardenia? Golden Dewdrop? All of which I have in my back yard, a couple of which are shown below.

• What is the most rewarding aspect of blogging?

The connections! The unexpected connections… wow.

I have heard from someone in Australia who knew of my grandfather and has some geophysical historical information to share with me. He found me because of this post about my grandfather, I now have several 70-year-old photos of my grandfather in his professional life, as a result.

I have made friends who have helped me to look at, unravel and translate emotionally confusing parts of my past; not directly, but simply through listening to and absorbing their life philosophies.

I have connected with folks who have a similar culinary outlook to mine, and learned so much from their more diverse experiences with ingredients. I’ve found some wonderful recipes, and have rejoiced when people tried one of mine.

I have interacted with lovely people who, like me, are curious, love to travel, love people, and love to connect. I’ve taken their travel advice, and shared a bit of my own.

My Nominees

I’m putting forward some nominees for this Sunshine Award, although I suspect that several of them don’t participate in these kinds of activities.  No worries (although I think your answers to my questions would be fascinating)! And the nominees are:

1. Storyteller
2. Pleasant Peasant
3. Glasgow Gallivanter
4. Loving Leisure Time
5. Keralas Live
6. Recipe Reminiscing
7. David Bruce Blog
8. Julie H. Cares
9. Rhapsody Boheme
10. Bill Waters Haiku
11. Love Traveling

My Questions

Looking forward to your answers – here are my questions.

1. What advice would you give to your younger self?
2. What’s your favorite food memory, a meaningful meal that you will never forget, and why? What was so special about it?
3. If you’ve experienced a time when everything stood still for a moment, and you realized in that split second that you would remember this event for your whole life, what was that time?
4. Where do you want to travel next, and why?
5. Who inspires you?
6. Why do you blog?
7. What’s your favorite book?
8. What skill have you always wanted to master, but haven’t yet started on?
9. In one sentence, what is your life philosophy?
10. What do you want to do tomorrow?
11. What is your favorite dish to cook, and why?

It’s About Community

The Sunshine Award is given by bloggers to bloggers who inspire positivity and creativity in the blogging community.  The rules are:

1. Thank blogger(s) who nominated you for a blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
3. Nominate up to 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.

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Thank you for nominating me for this Sunshine Blogger award to the A. Joann blog. It took me a few days to respond, but it was really thought-provoking and fun. You rock!

© 2018 Glover Gardens