Uma, who blogs at https://uma197.wordpress.com/ has kindly nominated yours truly for the Liebster award. It’s an honor, of course, and I’m humbled. But I’d be lying if I say that this is right up my alley. If, like me, you grew up in the ’80s, friendship books were all the rage. We’d happily answer all the questions asked, write them in colored ink, and then go and make up our own. And it is nice to see that in this world of semi-(non-)interpersonal communication, this tradition is still alive and well.

I have to admit that I only discovered Uma’s blog very recently, but it already feels like I’ve reconnected with an old and dear friend. You should definitely go check it out.

But now to the award. So here’s the cut and paste first.

Rules for Accepting It

• Write about it on your blog and thank the person who nominated you, write about their blog too.

• Display the award on your blog.

• Nominate 5 to 10 blogs which you feel deserve it.

• Let the nominees know that you nominated them.”

 

And create your own set of 10 questions 

Questions I got:

1 Your thoughts on Love, lust and marriage.

There are several types of love, and if love were always like it is portrayed in the romance movies and novels we’d get bored of it pretty quickly. We appreciate much more what we work with and work for. Lust is the initial driving force, that keeps us together, or gets us in trouble. It’s great as long as no one gets hurt. And in marriage you need both. For each other. I don’t believe in polyamory, as the proponents of it always come across as being engaged in some sort of power play. Polygamy is just hurtful no matter how you try to word it, more connected to lust than love, no matter what they tell me.

2 Has someone influenced you positively or negatively in your life? Who and how?

My best friends Daniela and Esther when I was twelve. Esther was from a very religious family, no TV, no makeup, no teen magazines, and aside from school books, only fiction that talked about God. Daniela was the class beauty queen and very into boys, makeup and nice clothes. I fell right between them. We weren’t aware of it back then, but to realize in junior high that differences were perfectly acceptable and enriched friendships rather than hindering them, it was a huge deal.

3 What was biggest milestone in your life?

When I was nine I lived on a block where age played a huge role. The twins in the neighboring house took me under their wing, but they were eleven, so whatever they said went and no back talk was tolerated (Chicago was always rough). At my school (K-12) there was a high school junior whom I greatly admired. I would have done anything for her. Not only was Dena never abusive about the situation (she never made me bring her anything), but she’d treat me like an equal, even introducing me to her friends as her friend. Her behavior was responsible for how I treated those younger than myself. It showed me that you could be responsible for someone (she’d take me to school sometimes and even delivered me to my classroom when we were late, taking full responsibility) and still treat them with dignity.

4 What’s your favourite travel destination? why

Really, anywhere I haven’t been in a while and where I have friends, because after so many years apart it’s always great to catch up.

5 Your 3 top pick movies

Metropolis

Once Upon A Time In America

The Professional

6 Your 3 top pick books or authors

Aleph by Paulo Coelho

Weightless by Sarah Bannan

Shella by Andrew Vachss

7 What do you like about your country?

Which one? I love the coffee culture in France, that we always question everything and don’t just blindly follow authority. That we easily embrace people and ideas, but that we’re also quick to set them straight. The way we express things, and the language. Not to mention that it is a pretty beautiful country.

What I love about the States is the friendliness, openness, and acceptance (yes, I know all that is changing, but it’s still there in some people), that each state is different, the books and entertainment, the geography, the way we were taught in school to think for ourselves and research (apparently not such a thing anymore either).

8 What do you hate about your country?

The racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, bigotry, fear mongering and negativity.

9 What’s your go to junk food?

Doritos for snacks. Anything I can order when hunger hits and I’m nowhere near any decent restaurant / food. Which is when I usually reach for the junk food.

10 How and why did you start blogging?

Someone close to me deactivated their social media accounts. I still wanted them to be a part of my life, ditto a relative. Plus, rediscovering Hungary after 17 years of absence when I hadn’t even grown up here was getting so weird, I needed to write it down for myself and my friends / those close to me.

My nominations

https://americaoncoffee.wordpress.com/

https://alawyersprayers.com/

https://aweni.net/

https://dipasingapuri.com/

https://mycybernovels.wordpress.com/

https://smellthecoffeeweb.blog/

https://supergirladvent.com/

https://thecagedbirdsingsweb.wordpress.com/

https://travelswithmyart.com/

https://vishalbheeroo.wordpress.com/

My set of questions

1. Who or what is the (biggest) love of your life?

2. Which twelve people would you invite for a dinner party and why?

3. Do you believe that boys and girls can be friends? Why / Why not?

4. Who or what was your biggest nemesis in childhood?

5. Is it better to rule with love or with fear?

6. Which cultural cliches of your culture (of choice) do you fit and what makes you think so? If you’re from the U.S., feel free to use the state you most identify with.

7. What was / is your biggest fear?

8. I’ve asked this before, so it’s kind of cheating, but some of you weren’t around then. Imagine that nearly 200+ years after your (rather unhappy) union your husband from that life shows up in your life. On the day of your wedding anniversary. Do you find this creepy or romantic?

9. What was a misconception you had as a child?

10. If you weren’t blogging, what would you be doing? OR What was the best thing that happened to you via blogging that wouldn’t have happened otherwise?