My lovely zinester friend Hannah (author of Not Lonely zine and book blog What Hannah Read) has given me my very first blogger award: the Sunshine Award. Thanks Hannah! The award is meant to recognise positive, creative and inspiring bloggers: what a nice idea. As part of the award there are 10 questions to post, so here are my answers:
Favourite colour:
Blue.
Favourite animal:
Well, if this isn’t an excellent excuse to post a cute picture of Toby, then I don’t know what is!
I am a dog person. I never liked dogs until I had one of my own. 🙂
Favourite non alcoholic drink:
Diet Pepsi with ice (yes, I controversially think that Pepsi is better than coke!)
Facebook or twitter:
Twitter, without a shadow of a doubt! Hannah wrote a great list of reasons why Twitter is better than Facebook on her blog last week. Hannah’s list explains exactly why I dislike Facebook; I would only add one thing – that Facebook has a big bragging culture that, as someone who has envious and socially anxious tendencies, really bothers me. I’m not saying that people don’t brag on Twitter, but I think the format of Facebook is more geared around bragging about one’s busy social life, and it’s a more socially acceptable way of doing so. You have the ability to check yourself and friends in to a place when you’re out, you can upload photos and tag your friends in them (and more importantly, get yourself tagged in other people’s photos), join events, and cultivate a long list of “friends” – all these, when done correctly, can make you look very popular. Not to mention the fact that people think it’s okay to openly brag in status updates about how busy and wonderful their life is! Logging in to Facebook is usually a stressful experience for me, so I try not to visit too often.
Getting or giving presents:
I love giving presents when I’m buying for someone I care about, and when I have lots of ideas on what to buy them and what they’ll like. But I feel as if Christmas has ruined the experience of buying presents – last year I left a lot of my gifts to the last minute, and so had to rush around town on the last weekend looking for nice gifts, and eventually finding something half-decent and going “fuck it, that’ll do”. (by the way, does anyone enjoy buying gifts for male relatives?! It has to be the worst thing about Christmas shopping!) So, without sounding too selfish, I’d say that I probably prefer getting presents. I’m a romantic person, so a kind gesture like a surprise gift is a guaranteed way to make my day!
Favourite flower:
Bluebells. I know a lot of people think of them as a weed – my grandmother used to spend hours pulling the bluebells up from our garden when they sprouted in the spring – but I think they’re gorgeous. I love seeing something so dainty and fragile push its way and start blossoming through the thick garden grass every year.
Favourite pattern:
Vertical stripes.
Passion:
Music. Closely followed by feminism, then by zines.
Favourite number:
6. I have no idea why, but it’s always been my favourite number. I like its shape, maybe that’s it.
The blog I want to pass the award on to is:
Maranda Elizabeth – a wonderful blog written by a self-described writer, zinester, daydreamer and genderqueerdo. They write about zines, mental health, self-care, gender, creativity, and adventuring. I’m always excited to read what Maranda has written when I see their blog pop up in my google reader.
