Thursday, October 11, 2012

Liebster Award/Random Stuff About Me

Seeking Bazinga has honored us with the Liebster Blog Award:


Thanks! And by the way, I love the subtitle of your blog: "The Continuing Search for Epic Geekdom." It doesn't get much better than that. :-)



The Rules:
1. Thank the person publicly who nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award and link back to them
2. Copy & Paste the award image to your blog
3. Choose other bloggers with less than 200 followers and inform them of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog
Okay, this is where it gets different from blog to blog:
1. Answer the same questions the blogger who nominated you answered in their blog OR list 11 things about yourself, answer the 11 questions the person giving the award has set for you and then ask your own 11 questions.
2. Nominate other blogs that you enjoy to receive the award who have less than 200 followers – some blogs say nominate 5 blogs while others say nominate 11 blogs.”
Six Facts About Me:
  1. I'm the mom of three unschooled kids -- ages 8, 14, and 18. A simple definition of "unschooling" is homeschooling without curricula. Or another way of looking at is is that everything serves as curricula -- board games, kitchen experiments, books, movies, the internet, conversations while you're driving in the car, video games, life experiences ... well, you get the idea.
  2. As a teen, I was a wannabe rebel who never really had the recklessness -- or sheer nerve -- to jump too far off the beaten path. Y'know, didn't listen to the "cool" bands, but didn't go hardcore "punk." (This was the early 80's.) Used the "gateway drug" -- marijuana -- but never tried anything "harder." Showed up at school drunk then laid low, terrified I'd get caught. Got into all sorts of truancy problems for skipping school, and usually spent the time at the library reading. So I read The Color Purple by Alice Walker and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut instead of The Scarlet Letter and Oliver Twist -- let's hear it for life on the edge. ;-) Anyway, it's a good thing I lacked nerve, because it would definitely be years before I developed much sense.
  3. I've never quite outgrown living in a fantasy world, with books, movies and all sorts of wild daydreams. It's like full-on theater in my brain at least 50% of the time. I fought this side of myself for years. What a waste of energy.
  4. My drug of choice is caffeine -- specifically hot tea. Lots and lots of it.
  5. I'm a native North Carolinian living in Virginia, and I'm about to confess a radical act of heresy against my Southern roots. I don't care for sweet tea. I'll take my iced tea without sugar, thanks. :-)
  6. To say that I'm physically uncoordinated is an understatement. High school gym was enough purgatory for me to cover a lifetime of sins, or it would have been if I hadn't skipped school so much. I once went to play basketball with my husband and sister-in-law -- I fell down on the way to the basketball court and broke my wrist. Even thinking about athletics is clearly too dangerous for me.
Seeking Bazinga's Questions:

1. What’s your favorite curse word and why? -- I've gotta go with a classic -- the "F Bomb" has always been my favorite. It's versatile, gratifying to say, and -- if used correctly -- always gets a reaction. I nurture my appreciation of this word by hanging around cops and watching Quentin Tarantino movies. ;-)

2. What sound or noise do you love? -- The sound of crickets chirping, especially in the fall when it's ubiquitous. It's calming, somehow.

3. What is your favorite painting, and why? -- I love art, and I really can't choose a favorite painting. My teens and I have an affinity for Surrealism (I'm sure that won't come as a surprise to anyone). I guess I love the fact that it bypasses the thinking part of the brain and appeals to the dreamy subconscious. What does this famous painting by Rene Magritte say about the human condition? Hell if I know. But I can't stop looking at it.

The Human Condition by Rene Magritte

4. If you could meet any person, alive or dead, who would it be and what would you discuss? -- Tweaking the question a bit, but my biggest wish would be to talk to my mom again -- she died, quickly and unexpectedly, nine years ago. She was quite possibly the smartest and funniest woman I've ever known. Hard to say what we'd discuss -- the kids, this painful presidential campaign, the pretentiousness of literary types who claim book bloggers are destroying literary criticism. What was really going on in her life during her last few years. How I never got to say "I'm sorry" and "thank you."

5. If you could live forever, would you? -- No way. Too much of a good thing.

6. If there is a God, what would you like to hear him say when you get to heaven? -- "Welcome to Heaven. The library is that way -- you'll find every book and film known to man. And your mom and grandma are waiting for you in there. Have fun!"

14 comments:

  1. Congrats on the Liebster Award! Your homeschool sounds awesome.

    WHAT?! You don't like sweet tea? I guess I'm a typical Southerner, because I love it, even though I don't drink it much. ;)

    Since half of these questions are taken from Pivot's famous questionnaire, I think it would be interesting to see bloggers answer all 10 questions. That would be a cool blogathon.

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    1. I have no idea what Pivot's questionnaire is -- tomorrow, I'll google it and find out. :-) And yes, I am kind of an aberration with not liking sweet tea. I don't know whether it's kosher to ask this, but what part of the South are you from?

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    2. I'm from Kentucky. Go Wildcats! :)

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    3. I've only been to Kentucky once. I bet it's a beautiful state.

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    4. It is indeed. I've been to Asheville, NC, and I thought it was quite beautiful as well.

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    5. Yes, the N.C. mountains are beautiful, as is the Shenandoah Valley of VA, where I live now. The part of N.C. where I was born and raised -- the eastern part of the state -- is just flat, humid, and mosquito-ridden. With lots of tobacco fields. :) I couldn't wait to move somewhere mountainous.

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  2. Oh, I see -- adapted from the Proust Questionnaire and used on James Lipton's Inside the Actor's Studio. What did I ever do before Google? You're right, this would make a cool blogathon. :-)

    1. What is your favorite word?
    2. What is your least favorite word?
    3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
    4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
    5. What sound or noise do you love?
    6. What sound or noise do you hate?
    7. What is your favorite curse word?
    8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
    9. What profession would you not like to do?
    10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

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  3. That's funny about the sweet tea. I'm not from the south, but I was Memphis for a few weeks once and I got so much crap for not liking sweet tea. Too much north in my blood I guess. ha

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    1. *Smile.* On the other hand, my husband's from New Jersey, and he loves the stuff.

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  4. I really love what you say about no longer fighting the part of yourself who lives in a fantasy world.

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  5. Congrats on the Liebster Blog Award :) Homeschooling without curricula sounds interesting.
    It's nice to know a bit more about you!

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  6. Congratulations on the award! That unschooling technique is really quite interesting. I'm not sure I've ever heard of that.

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