I’ve been extremely massively blessed to have been honored over and over the last couple months by some really, really great bloggers who like what I’m doing over here enough to call me out on their own blogs. I never would have imagined when I started blogging that I’d get to virtually know so many people in the WordPress and blogging communities who would like what I’m doing nearly as much as I like their work. Miss Demure Restraint said it best: “Bloggers really are the best people.”

I’d like to thank Apple Scout, Never Contrary, Mommy Said a Swear Word, and The Mainland for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award; Rita’s Reflections and Elephants and Rutabagas for nominating me for the Liebster Award; and Momma’s Money Matters and Life Love and Baby for nominating for the Tell Me About Yourself Award. These are all great blogs that deserve a visit from you! You’re not allowed to read any more of this post until you check them out. Now go.

OK,  did you subscribe to all the great blogs above? Good job. Now for the ceremony.

I’m passing on the Versatile Blogger Award to fifteen deserving recipients. Please check out their blogs as they are the cream of the crop.

Mockingbird, Don’t Write A relatively new blog from a seasoned, talented blogger
On My Square Hilarious, biting truth from a real-life comedian
Beyond the Pear Tree  Quiet and thoughtful points to ponder for a moment or a lifetime
Curious Cat on the Run Great travel blog from a gal armed with a serious case of wanderlust and a talent for snapping a gorgeous picture
Miss Demure Restraint  The original versatile blog; hope she can make some room on her shelf for one more accolade!
Liquorstore Bear Stuffed animals + liquor = AWESOME
Dear Expletive Baby Telling it like it is but loving that leeching baby every step of the way
Broken Condoms Unexpected pregnancy was never this fun without Seth Rogan!
Becoming Cliche Everyday I resist the urge to plagiarize each and every thing she says.
Southern Sea Muse Pull up a chair and get comfy. You’ll to want to stay awhile.
An American in North Korea Faces of the Hermit Kingdom
Topicless Bar Why I’m glad Freshly Pressed exists; he nails the expat existence in SoKo.
Snide Reply Some of the best writing you’ll ever find on why being a good parent starts with actually treating your kids like humans
Hidden Connections Wonderfully pensive thoughts on Korea, marriage, and fatherhood
The Unsweetie The only food blog I read regularly. Period. There’s a reason for that.

Now, seven snippets you don’t know about me:

1. I was an extra in Walk the Line. It was filmed in Memphis over the summer of 2004. This was right before I moved to Chicago for graduate school. Not a bad summer job if you don’t mind sleeping in rollers and being on a movie set for fourteen hours a day.

I’m the one at 0:46 in the upper right with the Ronald McDonald hair and makeup:

If it looks like I’m bored it’s because at that point I had heard them sing “Time’s A-Wastin'” close to 675 times. I’m in some other scenes, too, but I couldn’t find the clips on YouTube. Maybe one day I will do a giveaway where you can win a screening of Walk the Line with me and I’ll tell you during which scenes Joaquin Phoenix got all method-y and how long Reese Witherspoon’s toilet breaks usually were.

2. My celebrity crush is Ming Tsai. 

So. Freaking. Sexy. Nearly everything about him is hot: his voice, the way he says “ginger,” how doting he is to his mother, and the fact that he’s not on the Food Network. Dude, everyone wants to be associated with Ming. I have yet to see another PBS chef whose show is sponsored by expensive watches.

Yes indeed, I love me some Ming.

3. My mom once accidentally packed a beer in my sack lunch when I was eleven. And that event made me what I am today. Obviously. I’d say more but I’m saving this one for a full-length post some day.

4. I love ye olde European medieval and archaic things. Beowulf is in my top three favorite books and the mythology of Arthurian romances is fascinating to me because, um, it’s just really kind of jacked up and ridiculously bombastic. When I was in college, Le Morte D’Arthur was my relaxation reading; nothing a coed loves more than reading tales of knights getting their heads cut off willy-nilly. Even though it’s not strictly medieval since it was written in the 20th century, The Once and Future King by TS White is probably my favorite book of all time. I wrote my thesis on it in undergrad and I’m rereading it for the fourth time now.

Like, so, minimum wage chic

5. I am a real-life Gap girl except for the fact that I am anatomically female. I have worked at three separate stores. I first started working at the Gap in 2001 right before the quality started going down tremendously. I still wear (or will resume wearing once I push Bebe from my loins) a lot of the clothes I bought back then due to the fact that I purchased them when the Gap actually put a smidgen of value on quality and didn’t screen print slogans all over the buttocks of their merchandise. I have happy Gap memories and I’ll be sad when the brand eventually folds (a little joke for all my fellow t-shirt slaves), which it doubtlessly will soon :(

6. Frogs rule.  About a year before we got married, B and I were grocery shopping in Chicago. While we were in the pasta aisle, we came across a frog stuffed animal that some child had obviously picked up over in the gifts and flower section of the store and then become weary of midway through shopping and abandoned among the noodles. Being suckers for anything fuzzy with a face, we felt so sorry for the poor abandoned frog that we decided to buy it.

Little did we know at the time that Froggert (his name, duh) would become basically our practice child. He’s gone with us everywhere and regularly shares his often controversial opinions with us whether we want to know them or not. He worked as a recruiter at a competing school while we lived in Korea (the moment we found out, we grounded him but he just started running a cafe out of our apartment when we were at work), he organized protests against the consumption of frogs’ legs while we were in Paris, and he’s tried to start a business that harvests teddy bear fur to knit into sweaters for needy frogs. He’s thrilled to have a new member of the family soon, but we can tell he is a little jealous as he constantly asks me, “Is Bebe being bad?” and then is disappointed when I tell him that she’s extremely well-behaved so far.

Best. Movie. Ever. I mean, you guys.

7. I don’t just like the movies I like. I love adore them. I’m a huge fan of Annie Hall, 2001: A Space Odyssey (actually, pretty much anything Stanley Kubrick), Uncle Buck, Napoleon Dynamite, and In America. These are the Mary Poppinses of movies: practically perfect in every way.

I saw Donnie Darko only a year or so ago and I have regretted not seeing it earlier ever since. I really have nothing intelligent or witty to say about it because I am still incredibly enamored with every single aspect of this film. Please, PLEASE see it if you haven’t already.

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Congrats again to all the recipients!

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