Love from Myriad Places

I had a pretty rough week last week. I'm sure I'll write an emo post about how terrible the world is shortly. But then, I was surprised by a lovely comment from an internet hero of mine, Brittney.  Brittney blogs at http://pagesonadoption.wordpress.com about life with four children adopted "older" and from foster care. She doesn't shy away from writing about the hard times, and I love her for her honesty and her great humour and generosity of spirit. So obviously I was delighted to see that she has "passed on" a Liebster Award to me. The Liebster is kind of like a chain letter, designed for small blogs to connect to one another. It's a really sweet idea, and I am insanely happy that Brittney thought of me.

Now, the thing about the award is that you pass it on... and I read a really eclectic mix of blogs on widely divergent topics. My list is going to be a little random, but I hope you all enjoy linking up as much as I have. With no further ado and in no particular order, here are the bloggers I'm passing the "Liebster baton" to. Let's send the love to myriad corners of the world, and embrace it as it returns.

https://maplewalnutmama.wordpress.com
http://nihonomnom.wordpress.com 
http://voodoobii.wordpress.com
http://eigoinnihon.blogspot.jp
http://dustinandlaura.blogspot.ca
http://puneetas.blogspot.jp
http://gaijinexplorer.blogspot.jp 
http://gaijinesse.blogspot.jp
http://squggly-inkblots.blogspot.jp/
http://alwayslookingforsomethinggood.tumblr.com/
http://leavingfundamentalism.wordpress.com/

Here are the Liebster Rules:
1. List 11 facts about yourself.
2. Answer the 11 questions given to you.
3. Create 11 new questions for the bloggers you nominate for the award.
4. Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or less followers to nominate <-- I have no idea how many followers you all have, so I just went with blogs with lower numbers of comments. I hope no one if offended ;)
 5. Go to each bloggers page and let them know about the award.
6. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.

11 Questions from Brittany

1. How many drafts do you have waiting to be edited, finished, or posted? 13 on my computer, a few more in notebooks >.<
2. Would you rather ride the subway with Mahatma Gandhi or pull weeds with Kristin Wiig? Gandhi all the way. I'm fascinated by contradictory people. He did so much for equality and justice, yet espoused such harmful beliefs about women and sexuality. It would be an interesting conversation. Also, I don't like weeding.
3. What is your ideal birthday? Camping, preferably near a beach or good swimming river.
4. What do you do wish you would stop talking about and start doing? That's a long list... probably eating more nutritiously is the most urgent thing.
5. What children’s book describes the meaning of life best in your eyes? The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan
6. What’s your stance on gun control? Haha. Just kidding. Is your house decorated the way you want it? No, it really really isn't. When we first moved here we couldn't really afford curtains. I just bought the least offensive ones I could find in the discount bin, so none of them match. We have three different designs in one room! But now that we have curtains, it seems frivolous to buy more curtains just so that they match...
7. Clear the air about misconceptions you think people have about you. People think that I am a bossy perfectionist who spends a lot of time being angry about how stupid much of humanity is. In fact, I am a bossy perfectionist who spends a lot of time being angry about how stupid much of humanity is AND I really like long walks.
8. Will you link this to a video of you singing happy birthday to my daughter? Her birthday is in one month. Bonus points for doing a birthday jig. I don't think the world deserves to have my singing inflicted on it... but give me a bit of time and I will try to film a jig for her ;)
9. If a hawk landed on your house, would you look up the symbolism of hawks? No, I would double-check the whereabouts of my smaller dog. She looks a lot like a piglet. I'm pretty sure hawks think she looks delicious.
10. Who is your favorite fictional character? Why? Can I have fifty? No? Two? OK then, but I am limiting it to books because otherwise I couldn't choose ;) Hermione Granger, because. Ender from Ender's Game, because [SPOILERS] he is the only human who can destroy the aliens we are at war with, but also the only human who sees the aliens as beings with value.
11. Do you think blogging is important? Yes, I do.

11 New Questions for the Newbies

1. What is the most important thing you read online this week? Links please!
2. Which country that you have never visited do you most want to go to?
3. What is the worst movie you have ever seen?
4. What song do you listen to when you are most in need of a pick-me-up? 
5. What children’s book describes the meaning of life best in your eyes? Ahh, you noticed that wasn't a new question, huh? Glad that you are paying attention. I still want to ask it anyway, because I think it is a fantastic question!
6. Can you name a movie adaptation that was better than the book?
7. What obscure piece of trivia are you most impressed with yourself for knowing?
8. What if your favourite vegetarian recipe? Again, links or post in full please ;)
9. What was your very first pet's name?
10. What is your "guilty pleasure" TV show?
11. Tell me about a book that changed how you see the world.

 11 Facts about Me:
I left this for last because I'm not really terribly interesting, but hey.

1. When I was a child I lived in an ex-ambulance with my dad and my little sister for around a year. We drove all around Australia so dad could interview home educating families for his PhD. I never let my sister ride in the front seat. Ever.   
2. Despite this horrible treatment, my little sister got me the autograph of Eric from Subway to Sally.
3. I wrote a thesis on Gundam, and was awarded first class honours for it.
4. If it were up to me, I would have a minimum of six children.
5. When I was younger and thought the I would be giving birth to my children, I planned to have a daughter named Ælfwynn. I know, I know, she is from a royal line famous for repelling the Vikings and my heritage is more Norse than Saxon. Whatever. It's a pretty name.
6. I am 99% sure that our children are actually going to turn out to come to us named Tiger and Cocoa (those are the readings, not the meanings: They are actually spelled 大翔 and　心愛 respectively).
7. I first met my husband when I was 12, and we got married when I was 24, so I had known him for exactly half my life. 
8. I hand made a Battlestar Galactica uniform for my husband to wear for our wedding.
9. My favourite poems (click the titles to read) are Dylan Thomas' And Death Shall Have No Dominion and Kate Clanchy's Poem for a Man with No Sense of Smell.
10.  The first novel I ever read, aged around five, was The Queen of the Pharisees' Children by Barbara Willard. It's about the forced removal and separation of a group of siblings from their 'gypsy' (Ramani) parents after they are arrested for vagrancy. It affected me profoundly.  
11. I often put my foot in my mouth. Literally.