You Like Me? You Really Like Me?!!

On a day when things were falling out of the sky, something nice fell onto my screen – I was nominated Friday for a Liebster award!   Which is a lot better than being hit by a meteorite, or even a near miss.

Many of you already know about this award, but for those who don’t, the Liebster is kind of like the Oscars without the red carpet and the limos and the drunks and the paparazzi and Angelina Jolie’s leg.  There’s also no money, trips to the south of France either, but that’s okay.  Like the Oscars, this is an “industry” award in which peers, aka other websketchers, do the nominating. At my house, it also had the shrieks, the tears, the phone calls to my best friends, and the “Me? Me? Are you teasing?  You like me? You really like me?” looks.  And better than the Oscars, we are allowed to receive the award while wearing our pajamas and I don’t mean the silk ones.

The award is intended for websketchers who do not yet have 200 followers and can be a nice boost as we work our way up to that magic number and beyond.  But more than that, it’s a great way for us to support each other in our sketching. 

I was nominated by Jaded Apothecary which you can find at  http://jadedapothecary.wordpress.com/ and which is one of my favorite websketches for its humor, cynicism, wit, snappy writing and best titles ever! I never fail to break into laughter when I read the JA.  And I thank you thank you thank you, JA, for the nomination.

Here’s the way the Liebster works…Nominees are asked to:

*post eleven facts about themselves (is the factchecker on duty?),
*answer the eleven questions they’ve been asked, 
*nominate eleven other websketches and 
*ask those websketchers eleven questions of their own. 

Oh, and to display the Liebster award.  (This part is easy as there are a lot of choices suitable for all lifestyles and personalities.  I chose two. Here’s the second one.)

 The last thing is to notify your chosen eleven so they can get busy putting together their own outfits for the occasion. 

As JA wrote, it’s a lot of work, but worth it.  And I was happy to do it.  I hope those of you I’ve nominated feel the same way.

But before I get on with all the other pieces, I want to thank every person who reads Good Golly Miss Molly, everyone who Follows and everyone who writes to say they want to send it on to somebody else.  I am grateful to you all.

And now on with the show…

Eleven facts about Miss Molly

1.  I can juggle.

2.  Many years ago I started writing a book about unfinished projects. Then the book became one.  I keep thinking maybe one of these days I’ll get back to it.  I did a lot of research and I have a great title for it, but I’m not telling yet.  I want to surprise you.  I’ll just say this, people love to talk about their unfinished projects.

3.  My relationship with technology is not so much “love/hate” as ”like/don’t like so much.”  I save my “love/hate” passion for things like politicians, shopping malls, the way I look in certain outfits or in very bright light, books, movies, the sweetheart of my dreams, music, freeway driving, mean people and trips to the dentist. 

4.  I always like to have a box of crayons in the house, new ones with sharp points, because they remind me of school, which I loved, and of all beginnings and creativity and possibilities. 

5.  My favorite movie dance scene is William Holden and Kim Novak in “Picnic.”  Not for the faint of heart.

6.  I listen to Bill Evans every night before I go to bed.  Nobody played music like Bill Evans. Ever. 

7.  Twenty years ago my entire library of books was stolen and my heart has never been quite the same since.  It’s a long story.  I was able to recover about a dozen of the books, and I’ve replaced others over time, but none of the replacements are quite the same in my hand as the ones I owned and loved before the theft.

8.  I learn more about writing from visual artists and musicians than I do from most books about writing.

9.  I have to live within a four-hour drive of an ocean.  I get reverse claustrophobia with all that dry land around me.

10.  I love hardware stores and my dream is to open an artisanal hardware store where I will sell only gourmet tools, handcrafted nails and screws, handblown light bulbs, free-range lubricating oil, fully finished wooden sawhorses, locally created bleu toilet plungers, and sawblades tempered in a mesquite-smoked fire.  “The Hardware Salon: Where there’s no such thing as an ordinary wrench.”

11.  I don’t think there’s anything special about being a writer.  It’s a job.  I run the other direction when I encounter a writer with a capital “W.”  Get over yourselves.  I feel the same way about artists with a capital “A.”  Go work in a cancer ward.  Drive a van for old people.  Feed the homeless.  Bag groceries and carry them out to the car for the lady with two tired and crying kids. Plant flowers.  It all counts.  There are a lot of pieces to life and living. Writing is one piece but not The Piece.  What matters is not that the world cares about your work, but that You care about your work. 

Eleven questions from Jaded Apothecary with my answers:

1. Do you feel like you were destined to become a writer? And by that I mean, do you kind of feel like that scene in Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit when Whoopi Goldberg tells Lauryn Hill that if she wakes up in the morning and can only think about singing, then she’s meant to be a singer? Is Whoopi Goldberg saying to you, “You’re meant to be a writer, girl!”…or guy?

Yes, in some ways I do feel I was destined. I started writing when I was young and gave it up more than once over the years, but somehow always drifted back or was called back by circumstances.  For better or for worse.  Although sometimes when I wake up in the morning I can only think about getting to the bathroom.  I’m not sure what that means in terms of career choice.

2. Since I can’t cook, I’d love to read about your worst cooking disaster. Go on now. Make me feel better about myself.

I’m an impatient cook and my cooking disasters are almost always a result of this.  Why stir for 2 minutes when 30 seconds will do?  My earliest cooking disaster along this line came when I was a teen-ager and tried to make a lemon pie. The instructions were to bake the shell first and let it “cool thoroughly” before adding the filling.  Yeah. Right.  The result was lemon soup and I don’t mean the good kind.  I’ve never burned down the kitchen or poisoned the family, so my disasters are paltry compared to some others.  But cooking is like baseball. Remember what Yogi Berra said? “You win some, you lose some and some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for them all.”  So grab your apron and try again. Or call for pizza. 

3. If you were a tree, what tree would you be? And don’t you roll your eyes at me. They ask this question during corporate “development” sessions for a reason. I don’t know what that reason is, but still. I’d like to know your answer.

I’d be a willow tree.  Let me know if you figure out what this reveals about me. Probably something deep and embarrassing that should not be posted on my websketch. 

4. What’s the last television show you gave up on watching because you just couldn’t deal with it anymore?

The Six O’Clock News.  Bad story lines, poor casting, dumb jokes and generally weak production values. 

5. What’s your favorite holiday?

St. Patrick’s Day.  Green beer and Irish kisses!  (What did you expect from Good Golly Miss Molly?)

6. Did you, like me, have a panic attack (but a good one) when you first realized that people in other countries were reading your work?

Actually, I did.  But it wasn’t about Good Golly Miss Molly.  It was when an article I sold to a newspaper went global and I found online that it had been picked up and published in some international newspapers.  When I see that people in other countries are reading Good Golly Miss Molly, I’m delighted and wish them well and say thanks and I hope I never say anything to offend you.

7. If you could make a difference in the world (and I’m talking about a genuine, magical difference…not the Miss America crap), what would it be?

I think making people laugh is a great way to make a difference and I try to do it as often as possible. When people are laughing they’re almost always better people.  And flirting is great, too – magical and genuine and so much fun.  More flirting could change the world.  (I don’t mean like Miss America – I mean like you really care that the other person is on the planet.)

8. I can’t watch the commercial for the ASPCA without crying uncontrollably for 20 minutes, clutching my own dog and loving on him until he literally forces himself away from me, and, sometimes, placing a quick call to my therapist. Can you? I mean, it’s sad!

I don’t have a dog these days, but I’m saving up for a miniature horse whose name will be Whinny.  And if someone makes a commercial about miniature horses being treated badly, I will definitely cry, but I probably won’t call my therapist because she already knows I’m weird.

9. Do you have any friends in your life who date back to your childhood?

I love this question, because I do!  I do have a friend in my life who goes all the way back to the 6th grade. If you knew how old I am, you’d know that’s a pretty long time.  We’ve had some great adventures, including that summer in San Francisco (and that’s all that will be said here), been through every major event in each other’s lives and still laugh and giggle like we’re twelve when we get together or talk.  I’m so glad you asked.

10. What’s your favorite color, and what do you think it says about you as a person?

Teal blue.  And butter yellow.  And red.   I think this says I need to speak to my therapist after all.  Actually, my favorite clothing color is teal. My favorite wall color is butter yellow. And my favorite accessory color is red.  But most of the time I wear jeans and black turtlenecks.  The writer’s uniform.

11. When you travel, do you ever wish you could pull someone aside, open their suitcase, pull out a different outfit, throw it at them, and then send them to the restroom shouting, “You will change into this right now, because as things stand, you look ridiculous. Who let you believe this was okay? You’re in an airport, ma’am! Pajama jeans and an old Body Glove t-shirt are unacceptable!” Explain.

No, mostly I worry that someone will pull ME aside, open my suitcase, pull out a different outfit, throw it at me and then send me to the restroom shouting, “You will change into this right now, because as things stand, you look ridiculous. Who let you believe this was okay? You’re in an airport, ma’am!”  I have, however, lived in a couple of tourist destinations and more than once wanted to say something similar to people on vacation who were dressed like they were escaping from a burning building. What is it about traveling that can turn perfectly decent people into slobs?  We can still see you, you know!

Eleven questions for my nominees:

1.  Best day of your life so far.  I got this from “City Slickers,” that scene when the guys are riding along with the herd and talking.  And like their rules, the best day can’t be the day any of your kids were born.

2.  If you could be somebody else for a day, who would it be and why?

3.  What are your three favorite foods?

4.  When did you consider yourself grown-up (if you do)?  If you don’t consider yourself grown-up, what will be the marker?

5.  What tokens, charms, special objects do you keep around to inspire your writing or other work you do if you’re not a writer?

6.  If you could make up your own astrology signs, what would the name of your sign be and what would be the symbol?  Explain.

7.   Who was your favorite high school teacher and why.

8.   What was the last live music performance you attended?  How did you like it?

9.   As a kid, what was your favorite book? Do you still have a copy?

10.  Someone once said it’s not what we give that defines love but what we give up.  Have you ever given up anything for love?  What and why?

11.   What’s your favorite mode of travel?

 And the Good Golly Miss Molly nominees are:

http://uspandey.com/

http://yardsofgrapevine.com/

http://easterbunnyblog.wordpress.com/

http://peacelovegreatcountrymusic.com/

http://clparson.com/about/

http://cjriii.wordpress.com/

http://mselenalevontraveling.com/

http://authormccloskeyspeaks.wordpress.com/

http://trimbathcreative.wordpress.com/

http://gorjaeous.com/

http://bekahgraham.wordpress.com/

Congratulations to all!

Con amore, con brio,

Miss Molly