Honest Scrap Award

A big thank you to Amy for giving me the Honest Scrap Award!



"The HonestScrap award comes with a caveat or two. Firstly, you have to tell your readers ten things about you they may not know, but that are true. Secondly, you have to tag 10 people with the award. Thirdly, let all the people you've given the award to know that they've gotten it (comment on their blogs or something). And finally, make sure you link back to the person who awarded you." (Okay, so I personally added in #3 and #4, but really, that's just common courtesy when receiving/bestowing anything.)



The Ten Things are:

1. I don't handle spicy food well. At all. I like to think that my taste buds are just incredibly powerful and can therefore taste the spice when other people can't. Many things labeled "mild" are, in reality, not mild enough for me.

2. I've some things that are called "great literature", but I don't find them nearly as captivating or entertaining as the sorts of books I prefer to read. I'd rather pick up Harry Potter. Or chick lit. Or young adult novels. Or science fiction. The last two books I read were Bitter Is the New Black and Ender's Game. I just found my old copy of Tomorrow, When the War Began in my parents house, so I think I'm going to reread that.

3. When I was in kindergarten, some boys on the bus teased me by calling me Michelangelo, referencing the then-popular cartoon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There was another girl in my class named Angela, but they never targeted her for some reason. My mother's brilliant solution? She bought me a Michelangelo action figure and got me to love the show. Suddenly, the flustered reaction to teasing turned into, "Yes! I LOVE Michelangelo!" (My mom = superhero)

4. Polka dots make me cheerful. I never actually seek out polka dots, but whenever I see them, they just kinda make me happy. Perhaps I should buy more polka-dotted things...

5. The last post I wrote was post #200... and I didn't realize it until I started writing this one. My grad school blog is at #179 (that's what happens when you blog multiple times a week, kids). My random crap on the internet blog is at #215 if you include everything in the Scheduled folder. And my novel blog that I've pretty much ignored for the last year is at #29.

6. Despite the facts that A. I'm usually far busier than I am now, B. I already have blogs that I can barely keep up with, and C. I use Blogger... I'm actually thinking of starting a new blog (in the style of CakeWrecks) dedicated to bad prom photos... I was thinking of calling it something like "What the Prom?" or "Prom-tack-ular". Why? Because I've saved up about 10 forwarded emails with bad prom photos... And I think it would be fun to put up one a day until I run out (or until people send me more, like the Cake Wrecks chick did). Thoughts?

7. When I was in 2nd grade, I was convinced that I would someday have twin daughters and name them Jessica and Tiffany (it was amusing to me when, many years later, I ended up going to school with a set of identical twins who bore those names). Around 1997, I thought if I had a son I'd name him Tarquin and I'd name a daughter Hedwig. Around 1999, I liked the "name" Anavieve Viana (I can't tell you how much that embarrasses the name-freak in me now). In college I went through a phase where I liked names like Friedrich and Zelda. At one point I had a love affair with Dahlia and Clark. Same with Hazel and Jared. In Roma (when I did as the Romans did), I liked Ginevra and Giacomo. When I moved to Chicago, I really liked the names Jeremy, Bernadette (I would've nicknamed her "Betty", but I think that Ugly Betty has kind of tainted that name), Julie and Malcolm. My favorite male name has been for a while now Henry (and there's a weird part of me that would want to nickname him Helo like on Battlestar Galactica, although I think the sensible part of me would beat the sci-fi fan up for that). My tastes in female names seems to change more rapidly (which is somewhat fitting with the current culture). Today, I'd probably pick something something more elaborate (to fit the times... remember that Olivia, Sophia, and Isabella are popular names right now) but still unusual, like Sabrina, Isadora, Clarissa, or Susannah.

8. Here are the characters I've played (most recent at top) that I can remember off the top of my head:
- Tillie "Tea" (upcoming)
- Laramie "Lara" (upcoming)
- Girl
- Sally
- Pastor Gray
- María "Masha" Sergeyevna Kulygina
- Hildy Matthews
- Mary
- Farina
- Hot Cocoa
- Carmella
- Suzanne
- Carol/Carolyn/Caroline
- Imogen
- Luciana
- Erotium
- Adriana
- Rosalind
- Julia
- The Priest
- Lady Macbeth
- Pfeni Rosensweig
- Diana Barry
- Stepsister Portia
- Violet "Vi"
- Ruthven
- Mrs. Louella Soames
- Digna Ochoa
- Rigoberta Menchu Tum
- Jose Zalaquett
- Marlene
- Abigail "Abby"
- Zot the Robot (yes, I played a robot)
- Fairtone
- Mrs. Myrtle Webb
- Emily
- Ernestina Money
- Miss Susan Barrymore
- Chamka
- Singing Ghost
- Carmel McGregor
- Follies Girl
- Tavern Adult
- Lost Boy
- Peanut Dancer
- Martha's New Clam Chowder Spokesperson
- Anansi the Spider
- The Ugly Duckling
- Peter Rabbit
- The Blue Engine
- The Farmer

I know I'm forgetting some, but I think that's pretty good for an impromptu list.

(Note: I decided a while ago that I would try not to give any child of mine the name of a character that I had played, because it would be too weird. As you can see, this has eliminated several good options.)

9. I have a mouth full of fillings. The dentist I went to for most of my life told me that it's not really my fault. Apparently, I have genetically bad teeth that have deep grooves in the middle, making it easy for cavities to form. I went to the dentist this week (where they told me I'm doing an EXCELLENT job, thank you very much), and the dental hygienist said that the fillings are all small and the cavities really weren't that bad. But then I went to a family practice doctor for a check-up who said he was shocked (SHOCKED) by how many fillings I had, because most people my age grew up with fluoride-fortified drinking water that helped with dental issues. Well, whatever. I blame genetics.

10. I'll admit it: I judge people who heavily align themselves with political parties. It doesn't even matter WHICH party. If someone is too far left, too far right, or too far out into the colorful world of independents, I have a problem with them. I vote based on candidates and issues, which means I end up voting in different directions. People who vote straight down a ticket? It feels like they're looking at politics the same way people look at college football; they've chosen a team, and they want that team to win*. I find myself often trying to play devil's advocate to those people and educate them on grey matter, even if I agree with them on some issues.

*(This seems especially true in presidential elections where people bring up things that have NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICS in mud-slinging. Like when a family member of mine pointed out that Barack Obama's parents weren't married. What, exactly, does that have to do with an election?)



So okay... I guess it's time to award people (and also tag them with the meme that comes with it).

1. Valerie from Mixed Salad of Thoughts
2. Heidi from Heidi Renée
3. Jenn from Free and Flawed
4. bFlat from Lens Impressions
5. Roisin from The Beat of My Noisy Heart
6. Angela from My Quiet Testimony
7. P from *Insert My Blog Name Here*
8. Gooseberried
9. Katelin from Gorgeous Footsteps in the Sand
10. Pink Sun Drops

Have fun ladies!



May you be so open and honest in your life that lists like this are seriously hard to come up with. And may you be interesting enough that you can come up with them anyway.

~A~