I’m so excited to be nominated for the Versatile Blog Award by the talented Inion N. Mathair! I’m not very good at social media, but I think I met this lovely mother-daughter writing duo on twitter, of all things. They’ve been nice enough to check out my blog and you should take a look at theirs. They have some very insightful posts.

VBA~RULES~

1.) FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT. THANK THE PERSON WHO GAVE YOU THIS AWARD. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE NAME THIS AWARD CARRIES, IT GIVES YOU AN IDEA, JUST HOW INCREDIBLE THIS NOMINATION REALLY IS.

2.) INCLUDE A LINK TO THEIR BLOG.

3.) SELECT FIFTEEN (15) BLOGGERS THAT YOU FOLLOW AND FEEL QUALIFY FOR THIS AWARD. YOU CAN ALSO LOOK FOR NEW BLOGS THAT INSPIRE YOU. OR MIX IT UP.

4.) NOW THAT YOU’VE SELECTED THE FIFTEEN BLOGS. GO TO THEIR SITE AND NOMINATE THEM.

5.) (VBA WINNERS) ALTHOUGH IT’S NOT MANDITORY, A LIST OF THE WINNERS NAMES & THEIR BLOG ADDRESSES CAN BE POSTED ON YOUR BLOG. THIS IS MERELY OUT OF COURTESY TO THE SEVEN (7) WINNERS. THIS WAY, THEY KNOW WHO YOU SELECTED AND WON’T DOUBLE PICK. {THX JENNIFER ZEIGER FOR THE GREAT IDEA}

6.) FINALLY, TELL THE PERSON WHO NOMINATED YOU, SEVEN (7) THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF.

Okay, here are my seven things:

1. I was a VISTA Volunteer after college and worked at an adult literacy program in Baltimore, MD for a year. I had never even driven in a city before, and there I was, smack in the middle of inner-city Baltimore. Of all the jobs I’ve had, this one was the most rewarding. We really made a difference in people’s lives. And I’m proud to say the South Baltimore Learning Center is still around and thriving more than ever.

2. I. Hate. Spiders. Charlotte’s Web was one of my most favorite children’s stories. But I just can’t stand spiders now. If it’s in the house, it’s toast. Don’t ask me how I got through the Shelob scene in Return of the King. Ugh!

3. I drive a stick shift. People are surprised by this. I guess it’s not very common these days. I had to learn to drive on a stick, hated it, and then my first car was stick. I’ve been driving them ever since.

4. I am a Star Wars fanatic. Original trilogy. (Thank you, George Lucas, for ruining my childhood memories with the prequels.) I’m awesome at Star Wars trivial pursuit. If only my parents had bought two of all the toys so I could have saved one in the original packaging!

5. I used to play clarinet. I was in band from fifth grade through high school and played in a trio freshman year of college (then I switched to recorder so I could join the early music group). I thought about pursuing music as a career briefly, but as much as I loved playing, I didn’t like to practice. I didn’t have the drive, and writing was much more of a passion.

6. I was an honors speaker at my high school graduation. I was painfully shy and terrified of speaking in class, let alone speaking in front of however many hundreds of people were in attendance at graduation. But I wrote a kick-ass speech that told off my class in a somewhat diplomatic way and talked about the issue of conformity. People were shocked, probably first that I could speak out loud and second that I dared voice my opinion of them. My friends cheered and some of the other nonconformists gave me a standing ovation.

7. I love bagpipe music. Must be the Scottish heritage from way back.

I’ve already tagged a bunch of people on various other posts, so I’ll just say that if you’re kind enough to read this, consider yourself a versatile blog award nominee and feel free to post this on your own blog! Just let me know in the comments and I’ll give you credit and share your lovely blog with others.