Well, this came as a wee shock (sorry, ‘surprise’ is more positive, substitute that here please) in my notifications the other day – nominated for a Liebster Award by fellow blogger and mathematical genius, AbyssBrain. Thanks AbyssBrain – I do appreciate that you thought of lil ol’ me!
Having said that, I did an online search for these Liebster Awards, but could only find websites in Spanish, which weren’t too helpful as my language skills only extend to French and German. However, I did come across this rather useful blog post, which explains the origins quite well – please have a read. My gut is also telling me that whole thing seems rather sketchy…
BUT ANYWAY…
The point of the Liebster Award (I think), is to assist new bloggers in getting more followers – hence the request to nominate 10 new bloggers with under 200 followers to answer the next 10 questions in aid of the next Liebster Award. The rules, again, were a bit iffy on this point, but I’ve gone with the rules sent to me by AbyssBrain in this post.
So, to continue paying forward the goodness with which this infamous award brings forth, I will of course answer those lovely – but quite challenging – questions that AbyssBrain detailed below – and of course, don’t forget to have a look at his great blog with all sorts of mathemagicalness on it!
- What is your opinion of mathematics in general?
I believe that it is vital to humans quantifying their existence – it’s everywhere, and most of us don’t even realise we use it regularly, even if someone/something else is doing the maths.
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how reliant are you on technology? Explain.
Very reliant – again, we use it every day without a thought. It’s normal. From phones to tablets to PCs to the transport I use, to the coffee machine that gives me my wake up drug every morning. My favourite thing is to let my phone battery die for a few days… unreachable, the way it used to be. I have to leave the city more often than not – I have this quenchless desire to set myself free, even from music. Mind you, music is everywhere anyway; it’s just how one interprets all those sounds.
- What are your top 3 favourite books?
Wow, that’s a tough one… there are 100s of books I’ve read, and have loved, laughed over, hated but continued reading anyways, given away, stopped reading halfway through because they were too confusing, etc. However, there are those that obviously stuck in my head big time… and are quite parallel to my personality or, better said, parallel to the many facets of my character. I’d therefore have to say:
Wild Swans by Jung Chan
The Eve of the World by Robert Jordan
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
Frankly, though, that doesn’t even cover the genres I love – which include books and series like The Abomination, and The Abduction, by Jonathan Holt, The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden, by Jonas Jonasson, and The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith.
Having said that, Enid Blyton with her Magic Faraway Tree and its Enchanted Forest are stories I read as a child and still love today, while Judy Blume’s Tiger’s Eyes and Fudge books held my hand through early teens, and Irvine Welsh with Filth, and The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks were books that I read in my late adolescence and early twenties.
- If somebody ask you to give a random advice, what would you say?
“Are you sure?” But seriously, depends how random the requested advice is. Moreover my “advice” comes with a message “everyone’s perceptions are different, especially mine, but it’s your life and you have to make the final choice. There’s usually no right or wrong but rather the easier or harder path to take.”
I don’t really offer advice. But I do listen, and offer my perspectives based on someone providing their own biased information.
- What is the most boring and tedious thing that you have ever done?
When I was 16 years old, I worked at a wallpaper factory and my job was to paste wallpaper pieces into design display books – for £2.60 per hr; I didn’t realise at the time that the job would never stop being the same, it would just go on and on and on, the same thing, day in, day out for 7 hours, 5 days a week. I was told to slow down – how?! One wallpaper sample I slid between two sheets in the display book – one transparent over the top, the other the base on which the wallpaper sample should be stuck.
Wallpaper. Display book.
The aforementioned words are synonymous with boredom, in my opinion.
- If you could have any job that you wanted, what would it be?
Eeek! I’ve been asking myself that since I was a child – I want to do everything!
EVERYTHING IS SO COOL!
I want to learn how to get a generator working, do an electrician’s course… I did a course in basic mechanics when I was younger, but that was when cars still had proper engines that you could fiddle around with instead of that plastic covering crap.
I’d love to try my hand at farming – any sort, just to learn how to sow seeds and crops, at what times, when etc., harvest etc… working with a few smaller animals too (having cows and horses etc. would probably too much work for me, lol). I want to learn how to make fresh water – I mean, how to do desalination and irrigation systems properly, using minimal resources, including only salt water.
I would love to do the International Mountain Leader (IML) course – climbing mountains, survival, that sort of thing – but then I would also love to be a guide of some sort, maybe on a bike, such as on rough terrain in Scandinavia, sorting out camping and boating trips etc. for adults who need to just learn to let go and have some fun.
I would have loved to have been accepted for the volunteer job that I applied for with Kiva.org – being a representative, flying to different developing countries, meeting micro finance entrepreneurs and helping them with their business plans, listening to their stories and writing them up for the kiva.org website and all social media channels. I would have hoped that doing volunteer work for a year – and doing it well – with this particular non-profit would have eventually led to something more full time, and paid also. I don’t need loads of money, just enough to get me to the next destination, and the next adventure. I would be motivating people and seeing their lives change, because they helped themselves. That is such a beautiful thing to see!
People say when they meet me that I would make a good mentor, or coach, that maybe I should consider a career in training or teaching, especially with children.
I’m not envious when I hear about people’s jobs – I just want to try doing it too!
- What are some of your happiest childhood memories?
Swimming – lots of swimming – at the Sheikh’s Beach or in the Olympic sized swimming pool to which we had access; and playing Thundercats with my sister and friends all over the huge rocks in the desert just outside the university compound, not to mention exploring the entire compound, skateboarding with my best buddy Nabeel, and climbing what trees there were. I really don’t recall many happy childhood memories after we left the Middle East in 1990 – even though I now understand the reasons for such a massive change in lifestyle, my childhood died that summer.
- What song best describes your life?
Really?! Hmmm… hmmmmmmmmm… https://youtu.be/Oo4OnQpwjkc
And https://youtu.be/9ckv6-yhnIY
- What is the most confusing movie that you have ever watched?
I have been wracking my brain all week to try and come up with an answer to this… there was one movie and I’m suffering “tip of the tongue syndrome” with it… Tell you what, let’s go with Inception. The idea was pretty good, but frankly can’t stand movies where it’s all about Leo… such as Titanic, yuk…
- If you can choose any category on a quiz show, which category would you choose?
Anything to do with weird general knowledge – spiritual, religious, myth, magic, supernatural, that sort of thing… I think. They all go together, don’t they?!
My nominees (in alphabetical order, and they’ll probably be slightly perturbed by being nominated in the first place) are the following 10 blogs with under 200 followers – that was a really tough cookie to crack!
Abhijan http://fluxcomb.com/
Annette http://annette.pink/
Anonymous 20th Century Poet https://anonymous20thcenturypoet.wordpress.com/
Kit https://kit001.wordpress.com/
Masqued https://howmanymasques.wordpress.com/
Nicole Marie https://runbartenderun.wordpress.com/
Onyinye http://onyinyemusic.com/
Passemuraille https://sand1974.wordpress.com/
Stewart Innes http://stewartinnes.com/
The Military Spouse Book Review http://militaryspousebookreview.com/
And here are your 10 questions to answer – you can choose whether to pay this nomination forward or not… it is completely up to you!
- What are the top 3 things on your bucket list? Do, see, go to – whatever!
- How far would you go for love, and have you already done so? Give a short summary.
- What do you believe is the meaning of “a/the good life”? Choose one, and explain.
- What was the last dream that you can remember having, whether asleep or awake?
- Are you happy, or content, or both? Explain.
- How do you decide whether or not to read that book, or that blog?
- You can never be anyone else – you are too original – but if you could, just for one day, who would you be?
- Do you follow any teachings? If so, which ones, and why?
- Give me the top 3 songs you’ve heard that make you absolutely love your life.
- Your actions can inspire others to dream, do and become more – give me an example of when you have achieved this.
Good luck!
Peace, love and light xx
no filter, no edit 
Congrats Jojo! AbyssBrain is a good sort and very intelligent. I also happen to think he has good taste. And I’m not just saying that because he nominated me not so long ago either. But to be honest I barely keep up now. But I felt honored as should you. :O)
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