I am quite new to the blogosphere so was pleasantly surprised the other day to find that I had been given a Liebster Award! The last time I got an award was in a school assembly, and it was for going a week without pulling the legs off spiders in the playground. Or something.
The award had been sat on my “about” page for some time. I was also particularly pleased (and humbled) to see that it had been awarded to me by a blogger that I have incredible respect for, and was in fact one of the first (if not first) bloggers that I followed. I seriously encourage you to go check the Undead Dad out. His writing is truly inspiring.
And according to the Undead Dad “……..Leibster is a German term for sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. It’s generally awarded to bloggers with less than 200 followers as a form of recognition and support to keep on blogging.” And here are the rules:
- You must thank the person who nominated you (thank you Undead Dad!)
- Answer the 11 questions posed by your nominator
- Pass the award on to 11 new recipients
- Pose 11 new questions to your bloggers
- Stick the Leibster award somewhere on your blog (if you like)
I had a REALLY hard time thinking about my nomination list as I follow so many great bloggers. So I decided to choose a list of 11 whose writing is
- a little off the radar,
- has at times forced me to think and challenge my own preconceptions and values
- demonstrates a bravery or honesty that I simply don’t possess
- has made me laugh out loud
- deserving of a broader audience
My 11 nominations are
http://poweredbyteaandgossip.wordpress.com/
http://sarahssurvival.wordpress.com/
http://marriedtoalcoholic.wordpress.com/
http://littlestepsblogdotcom.wordpress.com/
http://delusionsofcandour.wordpress.com/
http://justanormalmummy.blogspot.co.uk/
http://lynseythemotherduck.blogspot.com/
http://lullabiesandlouboutins.blogspot.com/
Oops, that’s 12 nominations. Ah well, sue me.
These are the questions for you lovely nominated people (some of which I have stolen from others)
1. Which of your blog posts is your personal favorite?
2. Unicorns or zombies?
3. Name one other blog post from another writer that really inspired you?
4. If you could possess one super power for the day, what would it be and why?
5. Describe yourself in 20 words or less
6. If you started / owned your own country, what would you have as the top three principals of your constitution?
7. What three things would you tell your 18 year old self, given the benefit of hindsight?
8. What is the best joke you have ever heard / can remember?
9. What is your earliest childhood memory?
10. What is your favourite month of the year and why?
11. Favourite ever holiday and why?
And these are my answers to the 11 questions I was posed
1. Which of your blog posts is your personal favorite?
They all mean something to me, but my favourite is perhaps this one…..
“I’m travelling abroad for work without my children, is it OK to be feeling this happy?”
…..simply because the picture I paint in the final few paragraphs is a vivid memory I carry around with me in my mind. This memory keeps me going when I am away from home and feeling down.
2. Name one other blog post from another writer that really inspired you.
I am going to break the rules here slightly and name two – this one from the Undead Dad, a brilliant meditation on the zen-like act of weeding and this gloriously funny one from Just a Normal Mummy on why gin is better than children
3. Unicorns or zombies?
Unicorns are beautiful but I have always fancied taking a swing at a zombie with a baseball bat.
4. Favorite children’s/YA book?
The Hobbit. I read it about a quad-zillion times when I was younger
5. Why did you start blogging?
I love reading and writing. And parenting is such an emotive subject which provokes the most profound emotional reactions. I just had to have an outlet for those emotions, and blogging seemed like the ideal vessel. And I also wanted to nose around and take solace in the fact that every second, somewhere in the world, a toddler is ruining someone elses day.
6. On average, how many times a day do you check your blog and/or its notifications?
Once or twice. Ok three times. Alright, four times. Yes ten times. About fifteen times.
7. What is the most important lesson you’ve learned from blogging so far?
I’ve learnt two things – It’s your story, only you can tell it. And hot chicks dig guys who can write.
8. Do you have kids and, if so, do you hope that they’ll read your blog one day, or stay the hell away?
Yes I have two, one is currently 3 and the other is 1. I am still considering whether my blog will remain my secret. Even my wife is unaware that I write it. I currently don’t feel very comfortable with this secret, I feel as if I am being slightly dishonest in some way by keeping the secret, but I find writing under the cover of anonymity helps me to write more honestly and openly. I may choose to tell her one day. But not before I have deleted / edited all the incriminating posts.
9. You’re on death row: last meal?’
My home made spaghetti bolognaise and chilli con carne, my wife’s thaka dhal and saag paneer, one of my wife’s home made pizzas and a slice of mille feuille from Patisserie Valerie. I would try and eat myself to death so the bastards couldn’t take me alive.
10. When does the writing bug tend to strike?
All over the place. I have to write stuff down in the notes app on my iPhone. I find a post develops over a number of days. I think of an idea, write it down as a post header and then generate the story over the next few days in my mind. It can be days / weeks between actually getting an idea and sitting down to write about it
11. Real name or pen name?
Pen name, although it would actually be pretty cool to be christened “The Secret Father”. I would simply HAVE to be something cool like a spy with a name like that.
The_Secret_Father 