Occasionally, these award thingies pop up. The ones that ask you to share little known facts about yourself or your blog, and then nominate other blogs to do the same.

I find them interesting as a way of increasing blog fertilization, and making your blog gardens grow. I know all the writers out there see little bits of inspiration in comments, characters, people and blogs. You wouldn’t be a writer if you didn’t seek out a little ‘miracle grow’ every now and then to jump start your own creativity…what they used to call the muse (they still call it that, but in this technological world we live in now, the muse is now pixelated as well as natural, electronic as well as acoustic, and present even in other people’s work and art). I write mostly poetry, with the occasional travelogue or recipe or blah-blah piece thrown in, so a little fertilizer goes a long way with me.

These awards are a little way of getting to know each other too, I think. Behind the curtain of the internet, we could be anybody. At least these attempts at internet small talk help us be a little more human and hopefully “real” in our discourse. Small talk is not always easy for some people, and at times we might feel a little like Cleavon Little in Blazing Saddles trying to make friends with the citizens of Rock Ridge.

Well, Sarah Wesson over at Earful of Cider has nominated my blog. Thank you Sarah. I’ve never personally met Sarah, but from her blog I know Sarah is a librarian by day, and a detective noir fiction writer by nights and weekends and days off with some interesting and fun ideas about character development. Plus she wrangles a couple of kids along with her patient-sounding, saintly husband.

So the rules are:
1. Share seven (7) fact(oid)s about yourself that you haven’t already made known in your writing.
2. Nominate seven (7) bloggers you regularly follow to do the same.

Factoids up.
1. I started drinking coffee when I was 11 years old. My Dad would make me a cup to help me wake up, because Middle School started at 7:30 AM. I am now an incredibly early riser. 5:30 AM is not unusual.

2. I secretly enjoy doing yardwork (mowing, weeding, etc.). There is something sustaining about a completed task where you can look at your results from a porch swing while drinking a tall glass of iced tea.

3. I wish peanut M&Ms were healthy snacks.

4. I like surprises (good ones).

5. It is no surprise (see what I did there…) that my favorite reading genre is Mystery/Thriller. This started in my adolescent years with The Hardy Boys, and then moved to Ellery Queen, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, and on to P.D. James, Dan Brown, James Lee Burke, Kathy Reichs, Matthew Pearl and James Rollins.

6. If I were to become independently wealthy (almost no chance of that happening – because, hey, it’s statistics and there is always a probability, no matter how small or insignificant), I think I would still work at a job.

7. Even though I find most math tedious, I find statistics strangely exhilarating. If only there was a porch swing and a tall glass of iced tea involved.

And now…onto other blogs.

I am admittedly more of a blog lurker than a regular follower, and I will not impose upon other bloggers who don’t necessarily know me from Adam’s off-ox to participate. If you wish to play along, consider yourself nominated, check the rules and have at it. Otherwise, enjoy the increased traffic (maybe..no guarantees) that my link to your blog could induce.

1. Sister Madly at The Sixpence at Her Feet, wickedly sarcastic and funny observations. Also, she smells colors.

2. Charlotte Hoather at Charlotte Hoather Blog. She is an aspiring professional singer studying Soprano in Glasgow, UK. She has over 11,400 followers so she needs no boost from a lovely blog award. She posts snippets about life for her and also clips from some of her performances. She’s very good and likely will be a star in the future. Search and find her performance of Oh, Danny Boy…beautiful.

3. Shawn L. Bird at Shawnbird.com. She’s a writer, poet, teacher in Canada. She also has quite a following. I like her blog because she posts at least one poem a day…and it seems so effortless.

4. Becky is studying horticulture in the UK. She has two blogs: one for plant stuff called Life of a plant lover and one for just her creative side called this and that. She posts beautiful pictures of gardens she works in and places she visits, and explains about the different types of flowers and plants and her nature poems are very heart-felt.

5. V. C. Linde, a poet/writer at Listen for the Reverb, is a restless soul, writes very well, and is involved in different venues to make her writing accessible (something I identify with). She has an interest in many different styles. I think her found poetry is most compelling.

6. S. K. Woodiwiss, a poet/writer who writes several blogs, but I follow Poetry: Because Obscurity is a Sin. She has a brooding passionate style. Her words almost ache. It’s a style that’s not for everyone, but it’s good to feel that kind of writing sometimes.

7. Jamie Dedes, at The Poet by Day posts poems, stories, inspirational pieces, pictures….She has a great eye for poetry and the beauty in the words.

If you made it through this, thanks for reading. If you’ve been nominated, feel free to ignore or participate at your choice. If you do participate, link back to me, because as blog neighbors I’d like to know what you do and think about.