Thursday, September 29, 2011

Tell Me About Yourself Award



Today, Bella of The Citizen Rosebud was sweet and gave me the above Award.  The mandate of the Award is to share Seven Random Facts about yourself.

Those of you who've been here before know it doesn't take much encouragement to get me to share.  Sometimes, I worry about the opposite -- giving more information than you want.  I often refrain from doing that to avoid overstaying my welcome.  But now, thankfully, Bella has given me the excuse I need.  Ready?  Here goes!

1.  Blogging enables and facilitates my growth as a person.  It allows me to dive deeper into femininity and women's lives than ever before, which is intensely joyful for me and hugely educational.

2. My entire life, I've wanted female friends.  When you look like a boy, it's often hard to get women to see you as a potential friend.  Blogging helps me overcome that barrier; it enables me to offer information which people can use to understand me before having to decide whether they want to be friendly.

3. My work is very demanding.  I'm a commercial litigator, which means I fight other lawyers over business disputes.  I've been doing it for thirty years and am good at it, but it drains me.  I need activities outside of work to refresh my spirit.  Blogging and motorcycling are my primary passions now.

4. Your feedback over the past year has taught me so much.  Not only about fashion, but about how you think, how you talk, what you prefer and what you dislike.  I pay careful attention to every comment and e-mail I get in a steady effort to learn as much as I can.  I'm immensely grateful to you for every communication you direct at me.  They teach me what I desperately want to know.

5. I love to cook.  I make interesting, often unusual dishes with strong flavors and spices.  For example, I'll throw anchovies into a sauce to make it fishy; I'll toss tumeric into a dish to make it pleasingly orange and full of health-benefits; and I use Tamari (soy sauce) to add saltiness to most of my meals.

6. I've learned you can't predict the future; the best you can do is put one foot in front of the other and head in directions you hope will be fulfilling.  I handled school this way; I handled business this way; and I added motorcycling to my life this way.  I'm currently heading toward a more natural and enjoyable female life.  Over the past year, I've made greater strides in that direction than I ever thought was possible.  I have secret dreams of going all the way with this but, given my life-experience, I don't want to get my hopes up for fear of disappointment.  Right now, I'm enjoying the journey and pushing the envelope to the extent I can. 

7. I value friends more than anything in the world.  I prioritize friends and am willing to help them to a greater extent than is conventional.  When I like you, I pull out all the stops and will do anything for you.  Perhaps that's because I'm a Scorpio.  :)

Thank you for indulging me!

19 comments:

  1. I had no idea that you cooked! The extent of my "cooking" is pouring milk and cereal into a bowl. Sad, but true. Also, I love learning new things about people. I think it's human nature to want to know as much as possible about almost everyone else.

    I don't get much traffic on my blog, but I get a substantial amount of traffic on my acting website. I definitely understand how having so much support from like-minded people helps you develop. I've gained a lot more confidence than I had before and have certainly matured because of my experiences with running that website and interacting with so many great people.

    www.atavisions.com

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  2. I love these sort of blogging awards! You can only learn so much about a person through outfit photos, but blogging can be a great way to connect with people and foster those relationships in this little online community we've established. I'm glad that blogging has done so many great things for you. It's really a great hobby, and a great passion. Thanks so much for sharing! This was great to read!

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  3. I love these awards too - they nicely fill in a lot of the details about people. Blogging has been a great thing for me - I am so glad I decided to jump in.

    Congrats on your award! :)

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  4. These awards are so fun! Glad that blogging has opened new doors for you! Yah for cooking cool food too. I am pretty boring when I cook, but I do love to eat! Heather

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  5. Yay! I'm so glad you're able to find a passion outside of your work to put yourself into. I'm learning more and more just how important that is. So keep on blogging!

    Oh, and seriously. Cook something up for me. I do like to cook, but I'm lazy, so I don't. I had a protein shake for dinner. Yum yum.

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  6. What a fun award! I really like how open and honest you are on your blog. I hope you continue to lead more of a female life. It's so gratifying to be true to yourself. And although you may not have many female friends in the real world, you have dozens of female reader friends who love and support you! :)

    Cook something for us and take pictures for your blog!

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  7. Like Sheila, I love these awards. Not only do they show us more about the person, but it shows even more in what you choose to say.

    Per your #2, we actually have this in common. I'm female, but I've always made male friends due to my interests/hobbies. Growing up, I was happier playing video games and pretending to be pirates, than playing with dolls or playing house. These days I do miss the female aspect and turned to blogging to make friends who could relate on that aspect. And while, yes some are still male-bodied, I get that "girly-time" in.

    I really hope this blog keeps being a place for you to explore and allow yourself to be you. It's awesome that you're sharing it with us, and allowing us to see the joy someone gets from simply embracing the things they love.

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  8. Very interesting facts! Congrats on your award!

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  9. I'm really happy blogging has become such a big part of your free time, and especially that it brings you fulfillment! I believe it's been a few years since I started reading and you've grown in so many ways...it's especially heartening to see you exploring your own femininity more and more.

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  10. A huge congrats on the award.
    I can see how you would be great at your job. I just see that fire and persistence in you. Somehow comes across I guess.
    I so enjoy your views and your thoughtful posts.
    You are very versatile and unique and genuine.
    Daphne.
    http://fashiondivamommy.blogspot.com

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  11. It's always nice to hear more about you! Congratulations :)

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  12. I like learning more about you and Rosebud knows you certainly deserve this award!

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  13. Congrats on the award ... I guess a lot of us do not realize what a power blogging has. It has been a pleasure knowing you this past year! :)

    ♡ from © tanvii.com

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  14. I love finding new information about my favourite bloggers (like you!) I didn't know you loved to cook- I am the opposite so I always admire someone who can whip up a dish! You can't predict the future but sometimes I wish I could but I guess half the fun is waiting to see! Thank you for your kind comment- you always make me smile! :)

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  15. I love those awards and I love to (over)share! I also love your answers, they're so you! Blogging is a great way to make friends for life and to learn interesting new things, I agree! I found answer no. 2 kind of weird - most of my friends are men. In fact I'm not close to enough women. I love to cook too!I cook like you describe - many spices and soya sauce to many meals. And I found a new job in which I cook too!! How cool is that??
    It's great to get to know you more! :)

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  16. You are so brave to take on the journey you are traveling Alley. Let me assure you that whether you "go all the way with this" YOU have already arrived.

    I liked learning these added details to what makes your life. Rooting for you- Bella Q
    the Citizen Rosebud

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  17. If you like spicy flavorings, you HAVE to look for this Asian chili oil that I LOVE. I could put it on almost anything. It's red pepper flakes in oil with peanuts. I just can't explain how tasty it is. It's not that spicy, actually, but then, I'm told I have tastebuds of steel. It takes something reeeeeally hot for me to think it's hot (works well for me having married into a Cajun family). The only thing in English on the jar besides the ingredients is "Chili Oil" in small letters. It has a picture of a depressed looking man on it, so we call it Little Man Sauce. hehe It's at most farmer's markets and Asian groceries. I put it on fried rice, cheese pizza, pasta, vegetables, anything. I haven't been eating it while pregnant because it has prickly ash in it, which I read isn't good when you're preggers, and I miss it! I'm also told Sriracha is really good but haven't tried it yet. And I'm also hearing good things about truffle oil. I don't like the texture of mushrooms but do like the flavoring, so it might be good for me. I'm actually not much of a cook at all unless the mood strikes me. If it weren't for hubs being a willing cook, I'd probably eat nothing but cereal and frozen pizza most of the time!

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  18. Oh, Cupcake. You are lovely. I always enjoy finding out more about you. At some point I would really love to know more about number 6 and your hopes for a more natural female life. I hope this for you and want you to be happy and fulfilled.

    xo,
    Tracy

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  19. I had no idea you liked to cook !!! +

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