Blog Award

It's actually not an award, but more of a meme; the blogger version of a chain letter.

I'm usually not into these things, and to be honest, I've put off doing this one for as long as possible because:
~ analysing myself is not my favourite thing to do.
~ yes, I was the one who always broke chain letters when they used to arrive in the mail, and I do so with the emailed ones.
~ I don't like nominating the next victims to do it.

However, I was then nominated THREE times by bloggers Seabee, Jayne and Sandlander, all for whom I have the utmost esteem and regard, and we share the common bond of having lived in the U.A.E., with Seabee still there and Sandlander doing the odd forays back for work.

How could I say no: so, here goes!

1. If you blog anonymously, are you happy with this? If you aren't anonymous, do you wish you started out anonymously so that you could be anonymous now?

When I started our blog, we were living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates - land of censored internet, where anything with a rude word was not viewable, and some blogs were blocked because someone would take offence at the slightest criticism of the U.A.E. and all hell would break loose.  I was never going to set the blogging world alight by discussing anything of great importance, and the main reason for the blog was so that friends and family, living at numerous points around the globe, could keep track of us as we travelled and experienced new adventures.  Since leaving the U.A.E., I have relaxed and posted the occasional image of us and share a little more personal information than before, but I'm happy to keep ourselves relatively anonymous.  After all, our friends and family know who we are, and anyone who wants further details can email us.


2. Describe an incident that describes your stubborn side.

I don't think that I have one!  If I truly believe in something, I will resolutely defend my belief, but I'm happy to let others believe what they will and celebrate the differences.  Anyone who has a totally different mindset to me is not going to be among my friends, anyway.  I'm not sure that this really answered the question.


3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?

How much alcohol am I allowed to drink before I do that?  I hate mirrors with a passion and avoid them at all costs - hence my usual dishevelled appearance, no make-up and total disregard for myself.  Mirrors in supermarkets and department stores should be banned.


4. What is your favourite summer cold drink?

Just one?  Damn.  It differs depending on where, when and who we're with.  One of the best memories is of beer o'clock times while on holidays at Skala Eressos in Greece - sitting with friends in Rosie's Moon Cantina at around 4pm each day; eating tuna salads with divine feta cheese, and downing the first cold Heineken.
Heaven.

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?

Put on loud music and sing. Doesn't happen very often anymore, I have to say.


6. Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life?

I have a Bucket List. It involves a lot of travel and requires copious amounts of cash to do it.


7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person or always ditching?

I was smarter than I let on, but I didn't want to be singled out - I simply didn't know how to handle the recognition. Hence, I didn't try too hard and didn't do anything to draw attention to myself.  Even when swimming, which I excelled at, when I did win races I would be embarrassed.  When we moved to NZ from Fiji, I was stunned (as was my teacher) to top my first year in Science class, with the highest mark in the internal end-of-year exams, and then had to endure walking up to receive a reward at the Prize-giving ceremony. I made sure that I never did that again!


8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what do you see?

In NZ last year, hugging my nephew goodbye, knowing that my brother's marriage was on the rocks and that my nephew would be moving to Slovakia with his mother, and not knowing when or if I will see him again.


9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog, or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people and events?

No, we choose not to reveal too much about ourselves. Our blog is mostly filled with what we've done and where we've been, but the posts read more like a travelogue than a personal diary.


10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?

Next to mirrors, phones come a close second on the list of "Things that would be banned if I ruled the world".  The book wins.


The meme is done and the chain is broken!