The Versatile Blogger

Oh joy of joys! I've been nominated for something I confess to hankering after for a while now - a Versatile Blogger Award!! 

Thank you, Perpetua for this lovely nomination - I am so pleased you thought of me. Perpetua is that most wonderful of bloggers who makes you really feel you know her - through her posts, her comments and her responses to comments left for her. She makes the world wide web vibrate in a delightful way and some of her beautifully written posts have moved me intensely and deeply as well as made me laugh and chuckle, in the same way I do when talking to a close friend.

Those nominated have to tell you five quirky things about themselves and then pass the award on to five more bloggers, so that's what I'll do!

Except, of course, it's not so easy to pick just five blogs. I have thought long and hard and whilst I could have made a very long list of very versatile (and quirky) blogs because those are exactly the sort I love to read, this is my choice today.

My name is Kirsten not Kristen -  Kirsten takes the most wonderful pictures and has a fantastic eye for detail. I can't remember who we found each other but we enjoy each other's blogs and share a sense of humour (though not the spelling!) and make each other laugh.


Avoid the jellyfish - who wouldn't want to read a blog with this title!? Even better that it's written by my quirky friend, Celia. A beautiful mix of atmospheric Scottish views, memories of childhood in Ireland, random thoughts and stories of family - all from a lovely person.


The Doll House - Anna, who is English and lives in Norway, lives in a gorgeous house from which she posts gorgeous pictures with gorgeous words, with enviable elegance. I sometimes visit her to find a little calm and tranquility when things get a little chaotic here. It always helps.


A Quiet Corner - Karen is another blogger with whom I find I have a lot in common. I love how she writes, her joy in her surroundings and all the things that happen to her and her family - I feel that if we'd ever met, we'd be friends and I find that very comforting! 


And the hardest of all is who to put in the spot that's left. Or rather, who to leave out. I would love to include everyone on my blog list - and even that's not everyone I would really like to include! However, my final choice today is ..


Imagination-Chariot - a blog I have only recently discovered and which is absolutely fascinating. Hita is an inspired artist who now lives in southern France and she tells wonderful tales with beautiful illustrations as well as showing glimpses into the lovely region where she's made her home.  There is such a strong sense of creativity in her posts, her art and her photographs and I am always delighted to visit her blog. 


There - I've really enjoyed that bit, apart from the people I didn't include. Now for the hard bit.


After the initial excitement at having this super (and coverted) award, I began to realise the difficulty of identifying five quirky things about myself. 

I lay awake last night (honestly) thinking what was quirky about me and whilst I could possibly describe myself as a 'quirk' (even though I don't really know what one is) I can't think of quirky things about me. 

So this morning, I googled 'quirky' and read up on what it might mean to see if this helped me identify any particular habits or mannerisms I have that could be described as such.  Nothing much helped as I really do think that the quirk is in the eye of the beholder, though Wikipedia suggests that quirkiness could be synonymous with eccentricity and that sort of helps. 

I also like Harriet Beecher Stowe's comment that "every man had his own quirks and twists".

So on that basis, my quirks are:


i) I have a bit of a phobia about ...damn it... have to say it... lolly sticks.  So bad it is sometimes that I have insisted that a complete stranger throw away their stick quickly once they'd finished eating the lolly. I just can't bear it if I can see someone with one in their mouth.
 

ii) Plastic carrier bags - I can't throw them away. A long time ago, probably about 25 years ago, I lived in denial about this particular quirk; I used to stuff the bags out of sight, usually down the back of radiators until my partner at the time found them and decorated the whole house with what he'd found. I came home one day and there must have been about 200+ of them hanging from the light fittings, dangling from the banister, draped around the furniture... it sort of brought the problem into the light and from then on, I've had a special dispenser/container bought from IKEA which keeps them (and me) under control. And of course, since then, this particular problem has been addressed by the government - who now legally prohibit the mindless pushing of these addictive items by shops and supermarkets. This has helped me enormously and I'm grateful for the now international programme of support.

iii) A proper coffee every morning. Not sure if this is a quirk or a necessity but mine must be drunk with due reverence and preferably in solitude.

iv) Whilst in some of my earlier posts, I have mentioned that I am not a completer/finisher, I didn't quite give the full picture. (Ah, I wonder why that was?) I have a bit of an aversion to perfection (or aiming for it myself) and I think for this reason, I have the quirky habit (one could call it something else, but I call it a quirk) of always leaving something when I do the washing up. As with the plastic bags, it started off unconsciously but when it was pointed out, I realised I finished one bout of washing up by preparing for the next one - setting a teaspoon or a cup aside for the next time. Washing up is like that - it never ends so I don't like to pretend it does.

 

v) My final quirk borders on a confession and I hesitate before sharing it with 'the world' but what the hell. I hate wearing tights under a dress or skirt. I wear boots as soon as the clocks go back and as long as there's only a minimal gap between hem and boot, I don't bother with tights. That's not the quirk. The quirk is that I wear odd socks under my boots - always.  Not pretty; but I get a strange pleasure in knowing that everything looks quite normal on the outside but things are a little quirky 'underneath'.

And this is an analogy for how I look at life in general and why certain blogs appeal so much - because I know I'm not alone. I look forward to hearing how my nominees express their quirkiness.