The Liebster Award

Tonight, since I have a little down time, I thought I'd complete the Liebster Award, for which I was nominated by my real-life and blogverse friend, Grace.  Thank you!

Grace and I got to know each other when I was working as a reporter (she's still a journalist and I have no idea how she maintains her incredible energy) and we later found out that our mothers are old friends as well!  She's an incredible writer, athlete and all-round renaissance woman of sorts and I have to admit that I've always been a little in awe of her.  When I found out that she had a blog as well, I was absolutely thrilled.  

You know how you can figure out if you'll love a blog within two or three posts?  I knew that I would really enjoy hers.  She talks a lot about running and I know next to nothing about sports, but somehow I found myself thumbing through the archives, reading eagerly about cramps, compression stockings and running shoes because her writing is so accessible.  

The award (I think) involves writing 11 random things about yourself and then answering a list of questions that the nominator (in this case, Grace) asks you.  

Then of course, I get to tag people (my favourite part)!  In advance, I'm tagging two people whose blogs I also love, Priya and Libby!

11 random things about me

1)  I love toothbrushes.  My favourite ones are the kinds with all the weird rubber grips and jags and cups and bristles shooting this way and that, but my family is recently on a plain, super-soft bristle kick.  Blah.

2)  Sometimes, when I wake up in the morning, I lie in bed and meow at myself for five minutes as a warm up for the day.

3)  When I was in kindergarten, I was made to stand in the corner for talking too much.  I enjoyed standing by myself and missing the lesson so much that I tried to talk excessively every day.

4)  Chip, my dog, was the culmination of a carefully orchestrated eight years of begging and crying to my father.

5)  I can't do Maths to save my life.  Often, I'll give my students back work with marks on it and they'll swiftly count them, roll their eyes and groan, "Ms Shu, no."  I've taken to letting them do all the calculations for me.

6)  My mum tells me that when I was three, I was obsessed with the word "actually".  We would be walking down the street and I would say, "Actually..." to myself and then be convulsed with delighted laughter.

7)  When it's cold, my nose whistles.

8)  When my nose whistles, I am driven to distraction and subsequently, fits of rage.

9)  Because I've never been any kind of athlete, I now proudly collect pictures of my sports-related bruises.  Behold!

10)  I loathe the words "panties", "myriad", "pamphlet" and "liaise".

11)  I have always wanted to live on a farm.

And now, Grace's questions:

1) What book are you reading (do you have in your life, on your table/ Kindle, should get around to reading) right now? 

I'm currently finishing The Great Gatsby (would you believe I've never read it before?) and I'm really loving it - far more deliciously scandalous than I expected!  Next, I should probably read Midnight's Children, which was a gift from my uncle! 

2) What's your favourite place in the world you've travelled to? 

I love most places that I've travelled to but I was really enamoured of The Alhambra by moonlight in Granada, Spain.  Could be the fact that my cousin and I sat on a low wall, watched the moon rise over it and sang Sound of Silence.

3) Are you a morning person or a night owl? 

Do you know, I have no idea.  I'm the type of person who can be awake and present with some effort when I need to be, and I've never figured out which time of day suits me better.  I'm definitely not fond of the afternoon at any rate.

4) What's your favourite way to deal with stress? 

A long, silent bubble bath!

5) If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? 

Hahaha, I've always always wanted to be a rock star.  I would earn ridiculous amounts of money, appear in every tabloid, have wanton sex and retire to my private island at the age of 40.

6) What's your favourite snack? 

Tough one!  I love so many snacks, but probably Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  Something about the mix of sweet and salty really does me.

7) Are you a shower singer? A secret shower singer? 

I sing everywhere and all the time!  Not secret at all, and sometimes, completely without realising it.  I've taken to giving instructions in class in a fake opera voice.  (Do you sing, Grace?  We must have an evening of merrymaking.)

8) If you could have any superpower for one day, what would it be? 

Cliched, but I would fly.  Particularly over the sea at night.  Maybe it would get rid of that damned fear of heights once and for all!

9) What's the worst birthday present you've ever received? 

Oh, yikes.  Probably a watch with hearts on it.  I liked the watch, not so much the hearts.

10) What smell do you like the most? 

Hamster sawdust and horses!  They really bring me back to my childhood.  (I didn't have horses, but I did have a hamster.)

11) What's your proudest accomplishment? 

Holding down jobs for as long as I have.  My whole life I've never felt like I would ever be a responsible adult and every month, I continue to be amazed that I remain employed and can actually bring home a paycheck.   

And finally, 11 questions for the two people I would like to nominate - Libby and Priya!  I love their blogs because they're both real and fascinating, have a great eye for design and talk about things that really matter to them.  Nothing beats that candid style of blogging and I'm dying to know what their answers would be.  

1)  What really annoys you?

2)  You can do one dangerous thing without experiencing any negative consequences.  What would it be?
3)  What is your favourite cuisine?
4)  What is your earliest memory?
5)  Which part of your life would you relive if you could?
6)  What is the one rule you always try to live by?
7)  What is your least favourite household chore?
8)  If you won the lottery tomorrow, how would you apportion the money?
9)  What would your porn star name be?  
10) What is your dream house like?
11)  What would make you really happy right now?

Hah, that was fun!  Can't wait to read your answers guys, and I'm hoping that you enjoy the tag as much as I did.  Thanks again, Grace, it's been ages since I did something like this!