All posts tagged Liebster Award

Three Liebs to the Sun

When you write about depressing stuff most of the time it’s hard to fathom anyone accusing you of doing a service to humankind.  But two fellow bloggers have not only done that, but awarded me for it!

Shannon from Mommy Has Issues has gifted me with a Liebster Award.  Count ’em – 1, 2, 3!  Thank you so much.

Cate at Infinite Sadness . . . or Hope? nominated me for another Sunshine Award.  I know at times I’m one hot mess like the sun, but didn’t know I had that much light to spread!  Thank you kindly.

Both of these writers obliterate the idea of perfection before it can even get its feet under it.  Bravo!  Shannon does so for motherhood.  Cate does so for mental health.  And both do it smashingly for surviving this wild ride known as life.

As I’m a repeat offender with these awards, I will complete only the ‘interview’ portion of the process.

Inquiries from Mommy Has Issues: 2818120_orig

  1. If I could haunt someone who would it be and why?  I can think of someone I’d love to torment, but I really don’t like this person and don’t think I’d want to spend so much of my afterlife with her!
  2. If I could go back in time, what era would I visit?  The 50s for sure.  I would follow Jack Kerouac around like a little lost puppy dog.
  3. What 3 things would you take on a deserted island (excluding husband and children)?  A stack of books (yes, that counts as ONE of the things and yes, I’m cheating), a Swiss Army knife, and I know I should say a honking bottle of water, but probably some sort of chocolate/peanut butter combination.  (By the way, I’m glad husband and children were excluded so it doesn’t look bad when I leave them out)
  4. What is my favorite color?  Purple.  And it warms my cockles that my kindergartner has chosen this for hers as well.
  5. Wine or beer?  I have to choose?  That really is unfair.  Depends on what I’m eating.  Salty = beer.  Robust = red wine.  Cheese/seafood = white.  Just call me the Michelangelo of imbibing.
  6. If I were to write a memoir, what title would I give it?  In the spirit of a second-grader, I can’t tell you for fear you’ll steal it.  It’s in the works.
  7. If I were a Superhero, what power would I have?  Definitely flying.
  8. If I could ask my future self one question, what would it be?  Tempting.  But you know what?  In surprise to myself and probably all of you reading, nothing.  I’m gonna see where it takes me.  Wow.  Did I just have a moment?
  9. Do I want to go where everyone knows my name?  Is this a trick question?  I grew up about 60 miles from where Cheers took place.  We still all yell if we meet someone named Norm.  But me – no, I prefer anonymity – unless of course you know a solicitous editor.
  10. Do I like birds?  Heck, yes.  Want to be one.  Any one – EXCEPT mockingbirds.  Me and mockingbirds, we don’t play well together.
  11.  Who is my guilty pleasure music artist?  I can hear my friend, Chris, laughing at me right now.  The Black Eyed Peas.  So out of my realm.  But it’s got a funky beat and I can dance to it 😉 (And Shannon, NIN and Nirvana are not guilty pleasures!)

Many thanks, Mommy, for your nomination!  I am honored.  I love reading your posts of truth and triumph – and often, hilarity!

 

Questions from Cate:  The Sunshine Award

  1. Favorite color: purple
  2. Favorite animal: Red-breasted robin
  3. Favorite number: Three.  I know, ironic, right?
  4. Favorite non-alcoholic drink: green tea with pomegranate juice and seltzer.  Makes me feel fancy.
  5. Favorite alcoholic drink: Again, with the choosing.  Right now, some sort of ale.
  6. Facebook or Twitter: Facebook.
  7. My passions: obsessing – ha.  Writing.  Reading.  Enjoying nature.  Searching.  Photography.  Creative endeavors (vague, I know.  Think where home decor, collage, scrapbooking . . . intersect).
  8. Giving or Receiving Gifts: Giving.  Though free stuff is always good.

Cate, I have so enjoyed reading your thoughtful and thought-provoking writing on your blog.  Thank you for doing it and thank you for sharing.  And thanks for thinking of me . . . 🙂

 

The blogosphere is often a lot more hospitable than the actual one in which we live.  Thanks to Shannon and Cate for making it so!

 

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by Jennifer Butler Basile on June 12, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Identity, Writing
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Posted by Jennifer Butler Basile on June 12, 2013

https://choppingpotatoes.com/2013/06/12/three-liebs-to-the-sun/

Doubly Lieb

I feel as bubbly as a schoolgirl.  

So much excitement and blog love.  

The positive and honest woman behind Surprise Mama has nominated me for The Liebster Award, my second!  My goodness, one was an honor, but two!  How much can a modest woman take?  I’m not going to turn any of it down, mind you.  

I am going to pass on the whole 11-11-11 bit of the Liebster and opt for a modified version of the rules as it’s my second time around.  

First, a shout-out to Surprise Mama.  Motherhood catches us all by surprise, I think, but she is candid about how her life has been transformed by unexpected motherhood.  She has a great photograph of all the toes in her family as the header of her blog (are those really yours?).  And she still believes in handwritten thank-you notes – a girl after my own heart!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for thinking of my little ol’ blog as one of your nominees.  

Surprise Mama posed eleven questions for me to answer, which I will now attempt to do.

  1. What is your favorite book that was made into a movie (and was the movie any good?)  Hmmm . . . that’s tough one.  The movies usually pale in comparison to the books and some of my favorite books have never been cinematized (is that a word?) – which may be a good thing.  But Fahrenheit 451 has been bopping around in my head lately.  I love that movie in a strangely stark sixties sort of way.  
  2. Vanilla or Chocolate?  Oh, most definitely chocolate.
  3. What is your proudest moment?  When I catch one of my daughters being kind / taking care of one another.
  4. What is the best job or volunteer position you have ever held?  Running my campus’ chapter of Habitat for Humanity
  5. Sneakers or stilettos?  Sneakers.
  6. If you were to teach a class, what would it be called?  Journalling as a coping tool
  7. If you were to take a class, what would it be called?  Knitting 101
  8. What is the best gift you have ever received?  My husband’s love
  9. What is your favorite blog (besides your own)?  I’ve been stalking The Red Tent lately.
  10. If you could travel around the world, what five destinations would you be sure not to miss?    the stone house my great-grandfather grew up in in Ireland; the back alleys (or would that be allée, ha!) of Paris; Provence; Italy once again; my friend’s kitchen in New Brunswick for a cup of tea.   
  11. What scares you?  Loss of control (I know, I’m working on that).

Go to Surprise Mama’s Liebster post and visit all her fine nominees.  Or go to her site eleven different times and send her view-counter off the charts!  

Thank you for double the Lieb love, Surprise Mama!

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by Jennifer Butler Basile on May 4, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jennifer Butler Basile on May 4, 2013

https://choppingpotatoes.com/2013/05/04/doubly-lieb/

Long Live the Lieb!

So I’ve been slacking this Lent and on week second-to-last made a half-hearted attempt at giving up something.  Actually,  my schedule made it for me.  I’d noticed that the last few Sundays I hadn’t been logging on / checking in on my blog, Facebook, e-mail – all that fun stuff that sucks up inordinate amounts of time.  I’d been filling my time with family, house stuff, etc.  And since this occurred on the day of rest, I saw it as a sign that perhaps I should leave that time untouched by multi-media’s dirty little mitts.  Yes, it is a bit rationalization.  No, I didn’t put it to particularly good use in praying or praising the Lord.  (Though my husband and I did take up watching Mark Burnett’s interpretation of the Bible – ha!)  I did, however, want to check my stats and inane Facebook updates more than ever. Has my soul grown by fighting that temptation?

Perhaps.

Perhaps the Lord has rewarded me!  This past Sunday afternoon, I was speaking on the phone with my mother.  She mentioned reading my latest posts and excitedly announced that I’d gotten an award.  What?  You have to go on and check, she exclaimed.  But it’s Sunday . . .

Waiting until Monday morning to read the exciting news made my nomination for The Liebster Award that much sweeter.  Who deemed me worthy enough?  Which of my readers enjoyed my writing enough to choose me amongst all those out there?

Tieshka, that’s who!

Many, many thanks to Tieshka for awarding me with The Liebster Award.  I found her blog, Jardin Luxembourg, by way of her post about a micro-brewery tour with friends.  A weekend getaway tasting small batch, hand-crafted beer?  Sign me up.  And she even hiked the next day and managed to think about cleaning her house.  She may be my hero.

She shared the rules of The Liebster Award with me:2818120_orig

  1. Proudly display The Liebster badge!
  2. Thank the person who nominated you.
  3. Share eleven random things about yourself.
  4. Nominate eleven blogs/bloggers worthy of the award (who also happen to have less than 200 followers).
  5. Answer the eleven questions asked of you.
  6. Pose eleven questions to your nominees.

So, on to the sharing of eleven random things about myself . . .

1. I’m thinking right now that random is easier said than done.

2.  I wear orthotics (which is a fun word to say).

3.  I really don’t like Justin Bieber but thought those with Bieber fever might appreciate my play on words in the title.

4.  Plus, I love alliteration!

5.  I am a word geek, in case you couldn’t tell.

6.  I apparently intimidated a waitress last night when she tried to take away my half-eaten dessert thinking I was done.  I was not.

7.  I just bought a bird cage, but do not, nor plan to, own any birds.

8.  I have been in a writers’ group for nearly two years now.

9.  My new favorite driving music is The Lion’s Roar by First Aid Kit (Thanks, D!)

10.  I want a chain saw.

11.  I am not a psycho-killer, Qu’est-ce que c’est

And in the event that they still want to associate with me after that, I’d like to nominate the following blogs for The Liebster Award:

The eleven questions Tieshka offered for me to answer:

1. How many siblings do you have, or are you an only child?  I am an only child.

2. What is your favorite vacation spot?  Alone with my husband, preferably with a bottle of wine.

3. Are you afraid of heights?  The edges of them!

4. Can you swim for at least half a mile?  Um, no.

5. Which blog have you enjoyed writing most (topic)?  Chopping Potatoes.

6. What two foods do you detest?  Vegamite (sorry to my Australian friends) and anything so spicy it makes my nose run.

7. What is your favorite sport?  To play?  Basketball.

8. Would you rather wash dishes or take out the trash?  Surprisingly, wash dishes, though you wouldn’t be able to tell looking at my kitchen sink!

9. Have you ever traveled outside of the country you live in?  Yes.

10. What is your favorite cartoon (or used to be when you were a child)?  Garfield.

11. Do you prefer to use a PC or Mac computer?  I am a Mac convert.

Hmmm . . . now what do I wish to know about you?  I feel like I have to channel my former self circa grade eleven/sixteen years old.  It is fun, though!

1.  Why did you start your blog?

2.  What’s your grandest dream?

3.  What’s your favorite color?

4.  Name the favorite room in your home and why.

5.  What’s your favorite word?  Okay, two – I know it’s hard to choose.

6.  What do you put off in order to write?

7.  What do you do instead of writing?

8.  Where’s your favorite spot to write?

9.  Have you ever been to Spain?

10.  What’s the last meal you cooked?

11.  What’s the last song that got stuck in your head?

Thank you to all the bloggers whose writing inspires and thoughts provoke.  I hope you accept and share the blog love.  For, I love reading.

Long Live the Lieb!

8 Comments
by Jennifer Butler Basile on March 28, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Identity, Uncategorized, Writing
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Posted by Jennifer Butler Basile on March 28, 2013

https://choppingpotatoes.com/2013/03/28/long-live-the-lieb/

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