Sunshine Blogger Award

Let There Be Sunshine

Fandango14 Comments

2D0211E6-B27F-425A-AA7B-5C4EAD83D813Sadje, at Keep It Alive, has nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award. My blog is an award-free blog, but I really do appreciate when a blogger takes the time to recognize by blog. So thank you so much, Sadje.

There are a bunch of rules associated with blog awards, there are a bunch associated the Sunshine Blogger Award, but the only one I’m going to comply with is the rule that says I must answer the 10 questions asked by the blogger who nominated me. So here are Sadje’s questions and my answers.

1. What is the most important thing in life for you?

My wife, our kids, our dog, and our cat. Oh, and my blog.

2. Do your friends and family support you in blogging (or any other passion of yours)?

I would say that the operative word is “apathetic,” although I think my wife is happy that it keeps me occupied.

3. Which is your favorite flavor, in ice cream?

Ben & Jerry’s Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream.5ACBA63A-B886-41C8-ADB1-42AE815C7234

4. What would be your dream job?

The “job” I have now…being retired.

5. Who is your favorite actor, or author (if you don’t watch movies)?

Whatever actor is acting in the movie I’m watching.

6.What are your ambitions for the next year?

To survive.

7. How do you think the world is going to cope with environmental challenges?

Not well, given the leadership we now have. I don’t hold out much hope for human survival through the end of this century.

8. What would be your ideal holiday?

By holiday do you mean like Christmas or Thanksgiving or are you talking about a vacation? If the latter, I’d love to spend two weeks visiting Australia and New Zealand.

9. How has your way of thinking changed with age?

I am more analytical, more fiscally conservative, and more socially liberal.

10. Which season describes your personality?

Autumn. Crisp, clear, and getting ready for winter.

Anyone else want to take a shot at these questions from Sadje?

Sunshine Blogger Award

Fandango5 Comments

98BBD823-EF19-4ADB-8D5F-DA42BB75C32CLaura, at Lauravent69, has bestowed upon me the Sunshine Blogger Award. I typically don’t “do” blogger awards, but I appreciate it when another blogger takes the time to think of me and my blog. So I will always thank the person who nominated me and will always answer the questions they pose.

So thank you, Laura, for gifting me with your nomination. And here are the answers to your questions.

If you could only listen to two artists or bands for the rest of your life, who would you choose, and why?

Would life even be worth living if I could only listen to two artists or bands for the rest of my life? Probably not, but back against the wall, I’d go with the Beatles and the Eagles.

What is your dream novel, or idea for one?

I’d love to write a fascinating tale about two inept but endearing detectives struggling to solve a grizzly murder. Yeah, that’s the ticket!

Do you remember the first book you ever read?

Do you know how old I am? I can’t even remember the last book I read!

If you could live in any sitcom, which would it be?

“Arrested Development.”

If money were no object, where would you be living?

In a villa on the Amalfi coast of Italy.E82510DD-39E6-42E3-BD08-4396D04A74D9

If you could INSTANTLY become an expert in something, what would it be?

The Amalfi coast of Italy.

Who are three people, living or dead, that you most admire?

I don’t know. Let’s go with Abraham Lincoln, Steve Jobs, and Stephen King. And throw in George Carlin for good measure.

Is there someone you would love to see live in concert?

The Beatles. Though I guess it should be who would I have loved to have seen live in concert.”

What was your favorite subject in school?

10th grade Biology. I had a huge crush on my teacher, Miss North.

It’s “Self-Care Sunday,” what are you doing?

Spending the day writing and reading blog posts.

What historical time period would you like to visit?

Any time prior to November 2016.

I’m not going to “gift” any other bloggers with this award nomination, but I am going to invite any and all other bloggers to answer these very same questions.

Let the Sun Shine In

Fandango17 Comments

1AC158E3-59D9-4007-865B-AA88E3E59889My blogging buddy, Rory, aka A Guy Calked Bloke, gifted me with the Sunshine Blogger Award. The Sunshine Blogger Award is an award for bloggers who are creative, positive, and inspiring – people who spread “sunshine” to the blogging world! Oh yeah, that’s me all right. Mister Sunshine!

So what am I supposed to do with this gift?

  • Thank whoever gifted you and include a link to their blog. Thank you, Rory. The link is above.
  • Use the “Sunshine Blogger Award” logo on your post and display the Guidance. Done and done.
  • Answer the questions from the person who gifted you the Award. See below.
  • Choose 3 bloggers that you wish to gift the Award to. No, I’m not big on regifting, so instead I’ll do what’s next (see below) and open it up to anyone who wants to answer them.
  • Ask 5 questions of your choice. See above…and below.
  • Notify those you gift the Award to. Everyone, you’re on notice. 

Now to the five questions Rory posed:

If you could do something a bit naughty every day and not get caught, what would you do?

I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.

What are the unwritten rules to blogging?

There’s just one. Your blog must have written words. Or visible images. Or both.

What kind of cult would you like to start?

The Fandango Fan Cult. Wanna join?

Is a hot dog a sandwich, a roll, or an overheated K9?

Of a hot dog is a sandwich. It’s meat inside of and surrounded by bread with condiments of your choice. Sandwich.

What is the most creative, inventive and imaginative insult you can come up with?

I don’t know how creative, inventive, or imaginative it is, but my favorite is a simple “Bite me!”

Okay, here are my five questions for you all.

If you could start your blog all over again, how would it be different, if at all, from your current blog?

What quote or saying do people spout but which is complete BS?

What is the dumbest way you’ve been injured?

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this week?

What was the last picture you took with your smartphone (if you have one, or with your camera if you don’t).

Okay, as I said, everyone is invited to gift themselves with the Sunshine Blogger Award and to answer these five questions. Or not. It’s up to you.

The Gift of Sunshine

Fandango6 Comments

2496c72b-6f26-4adf-b5ba-9edd86238d1fRory, aka, A Guy Called Bloke, received his 11th, 12th, and 13th Sunshine Blogger Award nominations. Of course he did, because the Sunshine Blogger Award is “an award for creative, positive, and inspiring bloggers who spread ‘sunshine’ to the blogging world!” And Rory certainly does that.

Rory was kind enough to gift me, among others, with that very same award. So thank you, Rory, for that generous gift. And in recognition of his generosity, I am going to answer his five questions. Here we go.

You know in the movies when the victims are being chased by the terrible nasty and they hit them, and think they are dead, but look back and discover the body gone?? If this was YOU how would you ensure the thing stays dead?

I’d pull a Queen of Hearts from “Alice in Wonderland” and shout “Off with its head!” That should do it, right?299e404e-f811-4f1d-b712-437b94ce7641

Have you ever tried sneezing with your eyes open? Why not?

I tried sneezing with my eyes open one time and my eyeballs flew out of their sockets. So never again.a4acf2ad-b985-4aa8-98f2-1ad1e2b45373

Do you have any unusual party tricks?

Yes, leaving unnoticed as early as I can.

Name 5 things you can do with hot wax?

  1. Seal an envelope or a folded letter.
  2. Remove unwanted hair from your body.
  3. Make your own personalize candles.
  4. Pour it over your worst enemy’s head.
  5. Re-secure eyeballs into their sockets after attempting to sneeze with your eyes open.

Name 5 things you should never do when drunk and disorderly and if you have never been in that state then name 5 things you would do if you were?

  1. Drive a car, unless it’s someone else’s car.
  2. Throw a punch at the police officer who pulled you over for driving erratically.
  3. Throw up all over your spouse, significant other, date, and/or your friends.
  4. Tell your boss what you really think of him/her at the office Christmas party.
  5. Attempt to sneeze with your eyes open.

Some Much Needed Sunshine

Fandango20 Comments

F85CA064-50FE-4BAA-8505-EA79826DF281Dr. Tanya, over at Salted Caramel, was nominated for her fourth Sunshine Blogger Award. Congratulations to the good doctor.

She, in turn, nominated a bunch of other bloggers for that award and posed 11 questions for them to answer. I was not one of her nominees because she knows that mine is an award-free blog. But in her own way, she sent me some sunshine on this rainy day in San Francisco when she wrote, “My questions are not just for my nominees. I will be thrilled if other bloggers answer them too.” And then she added “I Hope Fandango of This, That, and the Other obliges.” How could I possibly not answer her questions after that?

1. Do you have a specific blogging niche? Please tell us why you chose it.

No specific niche. I just write about this, that, and the other.

I do have a question about the word “niche,” though. How do you pronounce it? Do you say it so it rhymes with “itch”? Or do you say, it as some I’ve heard, so that it rhymes with either “sheesh” or “beach”? I prefer the “itch” pronunciation.

2. If money and space were not a problem, what books would you buy?

Even were money were not a problem (and it almost always is), I’d probably still limit my “purchases” to free books available to download to the Kindle app on my iPhone. Hey, I’m cheap. That’s why, in my modest life as a retire, money is not a problem. Well, not a huge one, anyway.

3. If Jane Austen was a blogger today what kind of posts do you think she would be writing?

Romantic flash fiction?

4. Who do you prefer: Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple? If you are not into Agatha Christie you can name a favorite character with author please.

It would have to be Hercule Poirot. How could you not love a character who his creator described as “hardly more than five feet four inches but carried himself with great dignity. His head was exactly the shape of an egg, and he always perched it a little on one side. His moustache was very stiff and military. Even if everything on his face was covered, the tips of moustache and the pink-tipped nose would be visible”?1A41573F-C9A0-4DDB-8E86-630EEE18422F

5. What is your favorite movie genre?

Comedy. I love to go to a movie and laugh. A good drama can be engrossing and enjoyable as long as it’s not too depressing. And sorry, Marvel fans, but movies involving superheroes and mutants: meh!

6. Growing up, were you a fan of Walt Disney?

I was as a kid. Not so much anymore. And, I couldn’t care less about the new Mary Poppins movie.

7. What is your blogging inspiration? Do you have a muse?

Life is my inspiration and my muse. That said, prompts from other bloggers can certainly inspire and serve as a muse.

8. Do you see yourself blogging in two years time?

I love blogging, but who knows? According to deathclock.com, I’ll be dead in two years.

9. Images give a blog post most of its impact. Do you agree with this statement?

Yes. I try to have at least one image in each post. Something that can serve to visually illustrate the content of my post.

10. Had you not started your own blog, would you still be writing?

Probably. I’m retired. What else is there for me to do?

11. Has blogging brought about any changes in your life?

It’s distracted me from the chaos brought about by the presidency of Donald Trump (except for my rants about the chaos brought about by the presidency of Donald Trump). It has also introduced me to the extraordinary creativity, imagination, wit, and talent of a whole lot of other bloggers.