Beautiful Blogger Award

Joy @ Joy's Book Blog nominated random bloggers for the Beautiful Blogger Award by saying, "If you’re in the mood for sharing seven random facts, consider yourself nominated!  I’d love to know more about you."  Thank you, Joy, I accept!

Here are the rules for the Beautiful Blogger Award

1.  Link to the blogger who has nominated you.  (Done, see above.)
2.  List seven random facts about you.
3.  Nominate seven creative, beautiful bloggers, and let them know about the nomination.

Seven random facts about me

1.  I drive a Subaru named Emma Sue, whose last name is Baru.  (Yeah, say the whole name now, and you'll get it.)  Emma comes from her dark green, emerald-related color.

2.  Can you tell that I love playing with words?  For weeks, I've been savoring bits of Richard Lederer's A Man of My Words: Reflections on the English Language (2003) and have fewer than 20 pages left to ponder.

3.  I have a cat who's a drama queen.  I didn't know Joy, who nominated me because I'm willing to do this, is allergic to cats.  Thanks for sharing that "random" fact, Joy, so I won't have our Compassionate Sundays meetings in my apartment but elsewhere in the Crown Center.

4.  My home is in the Crown Center for senior living, where we have lots of activities, like exercising, and resources, like the library where I volunteer by reshelving the books.

5.  I've been blogging about books since January of 2007.  The first book I wrote about was The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (2003), which I rated 8 of 10, "a very good book."

6.  I keep a journal, sort of, in the sense that I collect my thoughts and memories in notebooks like this one.  If I ever write a memoir, I'll call it Bits of Bonnie.

7.  I play a cedar flute, sort of.  I have memorized one song ("Whippoorwill" by R. Carlos Nakai), so that's what I shared with my Religions of the World classes when I got to the chapter on Native American spirituality.  It's a haunting tune, and the librarian at the Lee Highway branch of Chattanooga State would tell me each semester that she'd heard me playing it.

If this video quits working, hear "Whippoorwill" by R. Carlos Nakai at YouTube.  I know only the slow part that Nakai plays at the beginning (0:55 to 2:05) of this video, which is all that's on page 63 of The Art of the Native American Flute by R. Carlos Nakai, 1996.  When he speeds up (2:58 to 3:38), he uses the same notes, but faster.  The version I play is on "Changes," his first recording of Native American flute music.  The cover says he composed "Whippoorwill" after hearing the bird's song in the woods of upstate New York.  I love this piece!  Can you tell?

My seven nominations

1.  Nancy @ Bookfoolery
2.  Wendy @ Caribousmom
3.  Helen @ Helen's Book Blog
4.  Colleen @ Loose Leaf Notes
5.  Alyce @ At Home With Books
6.  Ginnie @ Goldendaze-Ginnie
7.  Maphead @ Maphead's Book Blog
    (No, silly, his folks didn't name him that!  It's his nickname.)

An award

Caren Kristine @ As the Spine Breaks has given me a Versatile Blogger Award.  Thanks, Caren!

The rules
1.  Thank — and link to — the blogger who bestowed the award.
2.  Share seven random facts about yourself.
3.  Spread the love by passing the award to five other bloggers — and be sure to let them know.

Fact number 1 ~ I'm a word person, so let's take a look at that word versatile.  It's an adjective which means "capable of turning easily from one to another of various tasks or fields of endeavor."  So a versatile blogger may be one who covers a variety of subjects.  Check, I do that.

Fact number 2 ~ And maybe a versatile blogger is also one who learned by trial and error how to add photos to her blog.  Wanna see?  Here are a couple of recent pictures of my two-year-old great-granddaughter Raegan acting silly.

Fact number 3 ~ And maybe a versatile blogger is one who finally figured out how to schedule posts to appear days later.  For years, my posts appeared exactly when I clicked "publish post," neither earlier nor later.  Now I can line them up to appear when I want them to.  Even though Caren gave me the award on Wednesday, I planned for this post to appear on Sunday, October 23 (that's 10-23-11) at exactly 10:23 a.m.  Get it?  At 10:23 on 10-23, which happens also to be my mother's birthday.  Look at the date and time just below this post.

Fact number 4 ~ And being versatile, I don't always follow the rules.  Therefore, I'm listing only four facts about me.

Some versatile bloggers I respect
1.  Helen @ Helen's Book Blog
2.  Wendy @ Caribousmom
3.  Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader
4.  Nancy @ Bookfoolery and Babble
5.  Sheila @ Book Journey

A sunny day in my town

The sunshine here in Chattanooga today made it hot and humid.  I had lunch with my friend Carla to celebrate her recent move to my town.  I saw her new condo, showed her where to find the town's best BBQ about a mile from where she lives, and took her to Signal Point (pictured above) so she could act like a tourist. Later I finished cleaning out one of my storage units (the hot and humid part of my day) before having homemade burgers with my friend Donna, who moved to my town eight years ago and now lives in the same senior complex I do.  Walking back up the block to my home after burgers, I was visiting with my next-door neighbor when another neighbor who was walking her dog stopped to chat with us. So it's been a great day for talking with friends. Once I was finally home for the day, I turned on the computer to check email and discovered another "visitor."  This one came, not in person, but to my blog.

My new book blogger friend Helen had left a message, saying, "I have an award for you."  Ha!  My sunny day continues, right up until dark.  Helen presented me with the Sunshine Award.  Thanks, Helen!  I'm tired in a good kind of way this evening, but totally ready to climb into bed and read before sleep.  All of you dear readers who have gotten this far should consider yourselves recipients of this award -- from me to you, and you, and you.  Good night, sun.  Good night, moon.  Good night, friends.

A perfect blend

Vanilla has given me the "Perfect Blend of Friendship" award. Since I can't quite read what's written on the second cup from the left, I'm glad someone else could: TRUST, KINDNESS, HONESTY, CARING. Ah, these are some of the things I've learned from blogging.

One cup of tea is nice, especially when I need a pick-me-up. It sits there smiling, with a cloud of warmth hanging over it. But having four cups side by side says friendship, and that's what blogging means to me. I like sharing, for instance, my love of books with *bookie* friends. Care for a sip of tea, anyone? I'll pour. And while we drink to friendship, I'll expound on these four words with my *wordy* friends.

TRUST is always essential to friendship, especially when we share things about ourselves that make us feel vulnerable.

KINDNESS from friends allows us to open our lives to each other and share not only good things happening, but painful things as well.

HONESTY is what your kindness elicits from me; I want to merit your trust by sharing what I have learned, even if I fear you may disagree.

CARING is what I've felt as we share good times and bad; it's so great to have bloggy friends.

I'm passing along this award to these bloggers:

Beth of Blue Ridge Blue Collar Girl
June of Spatter
Nancy of Bookfoolery and Babble
Colleen of Loose Leaf Notes
Susan of Patchwork Reflections
Jenn of Finding My Way

Awards ceremony (dress appropriately)

If I'd known the award ceremony was going to continue for days and days, I would have suggested a party. Okay, it isn't too late. Run home and get all gussied up and ... oh, you're back already? ... then roll out the red carpet and let the party begin!

Absolute Vanilla, whose mother was mugged on Friday in her own driveway (Crime comes home), wanted to lighten things up today and gave out lots of awards. (Continue the party over at HER blog ... but not yet ... not yet ... I haven't given out MY awards yet!) Anyway, this is the description of the first award:

E for Excellence is a blog award for all of you out there who have Excellent Blogs. By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, you have to award it to ten more people whose blogs you find Excellent Award worthy. You can give it to as many people as you want but please award at least ten.

I accept! Thanks, Vanilla! I want to thank everyone who helped me reach this point in my life and ... (What? Okay, okay, some anonymous person has passed a note forward to tell me to skip my long acceptance speech and get on with giving out the ten I'm supposed to pass along here today.) Without further ado, my ten. Folks whose excellent blogs I visit regularly include:

Sara Lewis Holmes of Read Write Believe
Selma of Selma in the City
Susan of Patchwork Reflections
Nancy of Bookfoolery and Babble
June of Spatter
Jenn and Allison of Looking Into
Karen of Verbatim
Chris of Book-a-rama
Dewey of the hidden side of a leaf
Wendy of Caribousmom

Oh, my, I'm getting another award! The Biggest Heart Award went to "some people who are very special to me -- and who I know to have huge hearts," Vanilla said. Thank you, Vanilla. You are also very special to me, and I worry about the danger of violence that you and your mother face.


Whoa! More awards!

The You Are Toad-ally Awesome Award ... got it from Vanilla (thanks, dear heart) ... awarding it to these TOAD-ally awsome bloggers:

June of Spatter
Jenn of Something to Say
Colleen of Loose Leaf Notes

The Best Blogging Buddies Award for Global Communities ... got it from Vanilla (more thanks) ... awarding it to these bloggers who live all over the world:

Seamus of Shameless Words (a New Zealander of Irish stock now living in France)

Myrthe of The Armenian Odar Reads (a Dutch woman who moved to Armenia)

Jenn of Something to Say (an American living in Den Haag, the Netherlands)

Selma of Selma in the City (an Aussie living in Sydney, Australia)

Teddy Rose of So Many Precious Books, So Little Time (a Canadian who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia)

Gwyneth of Misadventures in Malawi and Beyond (humanitarian aid worker settled now in sleepy Lilongwe, Malawi)

Vanilla of Absolute Vanilla ... I can, too, give it back! ... (a "citizen of the multiverse" living in South Africa)

Amy of Mediterranean Views (an American living in Spain since 1987)

Melissa of Quotidian Life (an American in the Middle East)

Barbara of Barbara's bleeuugh! (who's writing and raising a small army of six in Ireland)

Marylyn of Marylyn's Travels (an American stationed in Seoul, South Korea)

Sharon of Bibliobibuli (a Brit in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia)

Jon of Writing in a Vacuum (in northwest United Kingdom)

Kay of As it happens (a writer and tourist guide in New Zealand)

Marg of Reading Adventures (who lives in Melbourne, Australia)

Kailana of Kailana's Written Word (a Canadian who just "made my day" ... see my acceptance speech here)

Chris of Book-a-rama, a stay-at-home mom who lives in the Canadian Maritimes

The Friendly Site Award ... got it from Vanilla (thank you so very, very much) ... passing it along to:

Beth of Blue Ridge Blue Collar Girl
Stephanie of Confessions of a Book-a-holic

And I'm adding another category, this one specifically for newbies to the blogging world. What I'm saying to each of these bloggers is WELCOME to the blogging world! These are people who may be in line for blog awards in the near future:

Kate of A ceaseless mind is an expat in the Netherlands who has been blogging for 12 days now.

Donna of Book Reviews by Donna posted her first book review today! Believe it or not, this is her second blog ... she posted her first post on her first blog (Chattanooga Coexist Club) on Saturday.

Now let me hear loud and prolonged applause for everyone who got an award today ... and for every one of you reading this blog! Yes, go on, clap for yourself, too!

(Mutter and mumble ... I think I've forgoten to put somebody on one of these lists, somebody I thought about and never got to her/his blog before it slipped my open mind, somebody ... I may have to come back and edit this post when I remember who it was ... mumble, mutter ... but who was it?)

UPDATE: It was Chris! Yep, I meant to include her in the Best Blogging Buddies Award for Global Community's list, as well as the E for Excellence Award, which I did get her into. So Chris, apologies for being late, but (look up there above) I have added your name to the list, at last.
__________

UPDATE: A couple of the award winners have asked about the champagne. Did you too miss the champagne? So sorry. Here it is, and if the fancy stemware seems too small, click to enlarge it ... lol.