The Versatile Blogger Award

A BIG thank you to Raelyn Barclay for the Versatile Blogger Award! Raelyn’s own blog has become one of my favourite blogs about writing. If her posts are anything to go by, her book-in-progress will be a must-read. She has also been blogging about using Tarot cards for brainstorming, plotting and characterization. Right up my SynTAROTis alley!

According to the rules of the Versatile Blogger Award, I have to 1) share seven random facts about myself and 2) nominate five bloggers for the Award. Let’s start with my five nominees, shall we? The rules of the award are:

1. Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 5 newfound blogging buddies.
4. Contact the winners to congratulate them.

I now pass these responsibilities to:

• KeriLynn Engel from The Spiritual Skeptic. Keri writes about spiritual topics (including the Tarot) from a sceptical perspective. You might want to check out 5 Tarot Card Myths and 12 Creative Uses for Tarot Cards, as well as her guest post on SynTAROTis, A Skeptic's Tarot Journey: Full Circle. Keri’s posts are well-written and perceptive, and if you think spirituality is a strange topic for a sceptic, Keri will change your mind!
• little red is a gorgeous blog that I have only recently discovered. Take a look at the lovely homepage, then dip into any or all of the posts. They are beautiful, thoughtful and thought-provoking.
• Lisa Kilian’s What Not to Do as a Writer has won this award before, but such a funny and inspiring blog deserves to win the award a second time.
• The Skeptic in the Room is a new blog by Eddie Scott. Eddie not only writes about scepticism, he sings about it! Listen to “The Skeptic in the Room” (From the chorus: It’s always such a drag to be the skeptic in the room / I state my case and watch the room grow silent as a tomb / ‘Cause I’m the one who always says “How’s that supposed to work?” / Which makes me end up sounding like an overbearing jerk).
• If “versatile” refers to various fields of endeavour, I must include my husband in this list. His latest blog discusses his (recent) interest in low-fat cooking, but he also gives tips to single ladies or women with DIY-challenged husbands/boyfriends at All the single ladies, blogs about his professional expertise in experiential or work-integrated learning at Learning in vivo and his research expertise at Qualitative inquiry growth, expresses his pro-feminist views at Pro-Egalitarian, gives advice to people living in sectional title housing in South Africa at Sectional Title Living, and counsels the domestically challenged (like his wife!) at Suddenly domestically challenged.

Seven facts about myself … hmm.

1. I live in Johannesburg, South Africa, possibly the most exciting place to be in terms of racial integration. We have our ups and downs, but on the whole, I am very proud of what we have achieved since 1994.
2. I’m writing a book about integrating creative thinking—new ideas, problem solving—with Tarot. I approach Tarot with a sceptic mind—in other words, I don’t believe the cards can tell the future, but I do believe they can be a tool in uncovering the answers within us, and stimulate the imagination.
3. Talking about imagination—I am fascinated by how people use their imagination to come up with gadgets, gimmicks, business ideas, systems, and plots for novels. My current favourite authors with HUGE imaginations are Terry Pratchett, Bernice Rubens, Philip K Dick, Ruth Rendell / Barbara Vine, Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett … oh, have I mentioned him already? :-)
4. About my own imagination: I have a soap opera in my head. Since I can remember, I have had stories in my head about a core group of people, set in a kind-of alternate history. Ye-e-e-ears ago they were all kings and queens and princesses; now they’ve morphed into rock stars and kick-ass lawyers. There’s still a king around, though.
5. I’ve been married for almost fifteen years (come November) to a supportive, interesting, versatile (see above) man who can (thank goodness!) cook. Which leads me to point …
6. Suddenly domestically challenged was inspired by yours truly. I am exceptionally ungifted in domestic matters. I can’t bake, cook, sew, or knit, and any kind of housework bores me to death. I have a chronic blindness to dust and disorder. Fortunately we have a lovely lady who takes care of most of the above!
7. I have not always been a sceptic. Like Fox Mulder, I wanted to believe. Then doubt struck. Questions arose. Woolly thinking became irritating. Know-it-alls with no facts to back up their pronouncements drove me up the wall. I began to notice hypocrisy, contradictions, and certainty now seemed closer to dogmatism. I have survived the anger, hurt and fear that comes with doubt, and have now come to acceptance and tolerance and … um … a tendency to be a know-it-all (but at least I try to gather all the facts, ma’am!)

Comments

[Dreaming_iris]

Thanks so much for the award & kind words about my blog! Ooo, this post will be fun to write. It'll be hard to choose just five

Your husband is certainly deserving of a "versatile blogger" award! I've got to check out all those blogs of his!

(Also.. I'm blind to dust as well... at least I pretend to be ;)