Liebsters 2 and 3

It wasn't long ago that I'd read someone else's blog and see how excited they were about receiving a Liebster and wonder "How the hell does someone get one of those things?"  The answer was the same as with many other questions in blogging: just connect.  It's been an ongoing theme around here.

So it's no surprise that not too long after receiving my first Liebster I got nominated for another by the lovely Bhavya at Just Another Blog.  Bhavya is a new blogging buddy I made via the A to Z challenge who, BTW, wrote a kick-ass serial for the challenge which you should totally check out.
Then a couple days ago I got another message from Julia over at Along the way with Julia letting me know that she, too, had nominated me.  My head is spinning.  Well, partially because of this and partially from the cold medicine I took not too long ago.  Strep throat = bad for blogging.

At any rate, for those of you new to the Liebster (is there anyone who's still new to this?) I'll briefly go over the rules. 
1)  Thank the person who gave it to you (which is common courtesy, really)
2) Post 11 random facts about yourself
3) Answer 11 random questions from the person who nominated you and
4) Pass the award on to 11 other bloggers with less then 200 followers (cause this award is all about getting people connected to great blogs)

So here we go!  First, my most sincere gratitude to both Bhavya and Julia for nominating me.  Please go see their blogs, read their stories, and let them know that you know how cool they are!

Now, rather than expose you all to 22 random facts about me I'm going to skip to the question answering.  And, in order to keep this post a decent length, I'm combining my two sets of questions for a total of 11.

From Bhavya: 
What is the weirdest nickname that was ever given to you?
I've been called a lot of things over the years, most of which involve the first part of my name- Bev.  It fits nicely into a lot of names: Bevimus (my Twitter nickname, a gift from my friend in The Roman Empire class in college).  Beve (cause I used to have a massive crush on Neve Campbell).  Beverage (just cause).  The weirdest, I think, is Beaver.  It was originally given to me as an insult by some mean kids in school cause I had buck teeth and a massive overbite (before I got my braces).  It's weird that I not only kept it, but that it became the nickname of choice for my two best friends to call me.  Every note that was ever passed to me in middle school was labeled "Beaver".  From insult to term of endearment.  Weird.

You wake up in the morning to find that your head is missing.  React.  (Best. Question. EVER!)
I hate to be so obvious, but I'm gonna go ahead and say that I would run around like a chicken, you know the ones- headless.  I use this expression a lot, here it would actually fit.

What movie/fictional character comes close to describing you?
Used to be Andrew Largeman from Garden State cause I felt lost for such a long period of my life.  Now I'm not sure, but I'm certainty glad to have found home.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
This is selfish, but the ease with which strep throat is spread.

What is your pet peeve?
Geez, I can only pick one?  Alright, lets go with people who don't know how to use their turn signals.  They drive me crazy and there's a lot of them about.

From Julia:
Do you have any pets?  If so, what?

My dog Buddy.  Cutest thing ever.  Seriously- look at that face and just try to argue there's something cuter.  You can't.  He makes every single day of my life better just by being him.

How long have you been blogging?
Going on 5 years now, but it's only recently that people started to discover it.  I'm pretty damned excited.

If you were a superhero, who would you be and why?
Superman, hands down.  I'm not into the whole tragic love story and and I'm glad that I'm not as socially awkward as Clark Kent anymore but the flying thing- that cinches it.  Seems like he spends a decent amount of time just flying around.  I can't imagine a greater thrill in existence than flying.

Name something that is unusual about you.
Again, just one?  How about... I talk to myself out loud.  Usually when I'm stressed out.  Earns me a lot of strange looks when I'm walking through the parking lot, which is about when I realize that I'm doing it.

If you could spend the night in a haunted house, would you?
Part of me wants to say "Helly yeah!" because of my absurd fondness for horror movies.  But another part of me thinks that maybe the girl who screams at least once in every horror movie (even the really bad ones) probably shouldn't be exposed to real ghosts.

What's your favorite thing to eat?
Ice cream.  I am literally killing myself - very, very slowly- with ice cream.  Worth it.

And now, the nominees!

Sally over at Sally's Scribbles who kicked ass in the A to Z challenge and is absurdly sweet.
Suze at Subliminal Coffee who cracks me up every time I read her.
Yolanda Renee at Defending The Pen who will teach you everything you could possibly want to know about Margaret Mitchell.
Sharon at Hope and Dreams who blogs for a great cause.
Deanie at Thoughts and Ideas who braves the world of children's literature and has great advice for writers.
Sam over at writerlysam who did an amazing serial set in ancient greece.
Diane at In My Own Words who lets us view her life through her posts.
Netablogs over at Rabbit Trails who allowed us to explore her book shelf during the challenge.
Kristen at Random Musing from the KristenHead who's blogging everyday in May after rocking April.
M.J. at Effectively Human who managed to keep up with the challenge on multiple blogs simultaneously.
Ida at Reflex Reactions who's active both in the A to Z and May challenges.

And their questions:
WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
WHERE ARE YOU LIVING NOW?
IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
THE POWER GOES OUT.  IT WILL BE OUT FOR SEVERAL HOURS.  WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOURSELF?
WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
GREATEST STRUGGLE AS A WRITER?
WHAT IS THE ONE BOOK YOU THINK EVERYONE SHOULD READ?
IF YOU COULD BE ONE OF THE GREEK GODS WHO WOULD YOU BE AND WHY?
WEIRDEST THING YOU'VE EVER BEEN TOLD BY A FORTUNE COOKIE?

Thanks to you all for stopping by!  Now please keep the love going by checking out the awesome people who nominated me and the new nominees!

My First Liebster Award!

After years of seeing the badge on other people’s blogs and not really knowing what the heck it is, I have been nominated for the Liebster Award by one of the unimaginably awesome people I've recently met: Rebeccah Giltrow. 

So, of course, I begin by thanking Rebeccah for being the amazingly wonderful person she is and ask that you all take a moment to visit her over at Rebeccah Writes and see who else shares this nomination.  And to Rebeccah: words cannot express how grateful I am to you.  You just astound.

Next up: the rules (as I understand them): When you get nominated you 1) Thank the super cool person who nominated you (see above), 2) post 11 random facts about yourself, 3) Answer 11 questions about yourself, 4) Nominate 11 other awesome bloggers for the award and 5) Pose 11 new random questions to them.  Sounds like fun, right?  So here we go:

11 Totally Random facts About Me

1)      My favorite movie of all time is Garden State (and given how many movies I’ve seen that’s saying an awful lot).

2)      When I was a kid I mispronounced my R’s and S’s.  I went to speech therapy for a year.  We played games.  I was sad when the impediment self-corrected and I didn’t have to go anymore.

3)      When I was in high school I had a monstrously large crush on Steven Burns, the original host of Blue’s Clues.  I thought he was so adorable that I referred to him as my “future husband Steve”.  This earned me an endless supply of weird looks.

4)      My favorite singer in all of existence is Billie Holiday.  ‘Nough said.

5)      When I can’t find the word I’m looking for I substitute the word “thingie”.  I use this word so frequently that it tends to corrupt the vocabulary of those around me.

6)      I cannot whistle.  Physically incapable of it.  No idea why.  

7)      My very first career aspiration was to be an art teacher.  This was replaced by park ranger after seeing Yellowstone Park for the first time.  I have never been either of these things.

8)      The windiest place I’ve ever been is the recreation yard on Alcatraz island.  The wind blew so hard I literally got knocked on my ass.  It was sort-of awesome.

9)      My greatest accomplishment thus far: receiving 2nd Dan (2nd degree black belt) in Tang Soo Do.  Soon to be replaced next summer when I test for 3rd Dan.

10)  If I could be any animal it would be an eagle simply because flying seems like the greatest feeling you could possibly have.

11)  In first grade I almost got left back because I struggled so much with reading.  Thanks to my mother’s tireless advocacy I was allowed to advance, placed in a special class that taught the Slingerland method, overcame my disability, and have worshiped the written word ever since.  Thanks, Mom!

And now, 11 answers to Rebeccah’s questions:

1)      Where in the world are you right now?

I live in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, a suburb about 17miles north-west of Philadelphia.

2)      What has been your best gift?

I know this is sappy, but I’d have to say my significant other.  He’s been the best part of my life for the past 7 years and embodies the idea of home to me.

3) Can you play a musical instrument?

I have played: the flute (5th to 8th grade), the trombone (9th to 12th grade) and the piano (one year in college).  Sadly, I no longer play any of these things.

4) If you could time-travel to any period in the past, where would you go?

As a woman?  Nowhere- it's been a pretty recent development for women to enjoy the freedom we currently do and I would not want to go back to a time when I would be disenfranchised and/or owned.  But if I could be a rich, white male I would go to the Renaissance and be the first person to create some new form of art or scientific discovery (but hopefully something that wouldn't get me burned for heresy).

5) What is your favorite dessert?

My favorite food in existence is ice cream (gelato if in Italy, which is rare, so ice cream).  If I were going to eat myself to death, it would be with ice cream.

6) Who was your favorite teacher at school?

My 8th grade American History teacher.  He was once a smokejumper and had pictures from his training that he would show us via slideshow.  He also frequently told us that if we didn't have time to study we could use our textbook as a pillow and learn by osmosis.

7) Do you have any pets?

My dog Buddy makes every day better simply by existing.  I write about him often here.

8) Where did you go on your last holiday/vacation?

Dave took me to Manhattan for my 30th birthday in August.  I saw the High Line for the first time, ate real pizza and fancy ice cream (duh), saw The Book of Mormon on Broadway and re-visited the Natural History Museum and the Cloisters.  Due to simultaneous family events at the time I visited with my parents and my in-laws.  It was wonderful.

9) What languages do you speak?

Sadly, just English.  I took Italian from 7th to 10th grade but failed miserably once we reached conjugated verbs.  If I could learn any language now it would be Spanish, for utilitarian purposes.

10) What's your favorite word?

Bucolic- adj- of, pertaining to, or suggesting an idyllic rural life. 
Evokes all sorts of wonderful daydreams involving sunlight and vast expanses of land.

11) If you could exchange lives with anyone who would you choose?

No one.  It's taken me 30 years to reach this comfort level in my own skin, the prospect of getting to know myself as someone else is entirely too exhausting to consider.  Besides, I actually kinda like myself.

And now, the nominees!

1) Chuck Allen

2) Eric J. Krause

3) Larry Kollar

4) Susan Helene Gottfried

5) Icy Sedgwick
6) mazzz-in-leeds
7) Catherine Russell
8) Katherine Hajer
9) Michele Wallace
10) Marc Nash
11) Cheney Giordano

Now it's your turn to answer these questions:
1) What is the last book you purchased?
2) Recall your last dream.  What happened?
3) Name something that you do alone that you wouldn't do in front of others.
4) Name the last album you purchased.
5) Any scars?  If more than one, pick one and tell us how you got it.  If none, tell us about your most bone-headed injury.
6) Favorite quote?
7) Most exotic (your definition) location you've been to?
8) If you could meet any famous person from history, who would it be?
9) What are your nicknames?
10) Favorite childhood T.V. show?
11) If you could have a super power, what would you have?

And that's it!  Thank you again to Rebeccah- I am so thrilled.  And to the awesome writers I've nominated: go forth and spread the love!

Happy Easter!