Liebster Award Answers, Questions and Nominees

This is my first one, and I'm a little excited. After a very busy week, I am happy to sit at the dinning table, coffee fresh, windows open and answer a few questions.

Thanks Dani

Rules of the Liebster Award

If you have been nominated for The Liebster Award and you chose to accept it, write a blog post about the Liebster Award in which you:

• Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog in your post.
• Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”.
• Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.
• Provide 11 random facts about yourself.
• Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers.
• Create a new list of 11 questions for the nominees to answer

List these rules in your post (copy and paste from here). Once you have written and published it, you then have to:

• Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster Award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

• What God or Deity from Mythology (Greek, Norse, etc) do you think represents you the best? Kali/Kali Ma/Kalika I love all her names. I actually have "Kalika" in Sanskrit tattooed on my neck. If Catholics have Patron Saints, Kali Ma is my Patron Goddess. She is a mother goddess, who has been referred to as Goddess of Time, Goddess of Creation, Goddess of Preservation and Goddess of Destruction. I feel she is greatly misunderstood. But, also, that she is a Goddess of change and I appreciate that she is not one sided. At different times in my life, I have related to her in different ways. 
• Which book character would you want to be? Elizabeth Bennet. Of course. 
• If you were to survive on your own in the wilderness, what ONE tool/weapon would you pick? I can not imagine a situation where I would survive in the wilderness for very long. However, I imagine instinct would kick in and I would give it a good try! I think a solid hunting knife would be my one tool of choice. 
• What would your Superhero name be? Somewhere around 7 or 8 years ago, I wrote an outline for a comic book. The title "Silver" about a young, female, developing super hero. Silver, was to be here Superhero name. However, her name was "Ana Cara". A play off Anam Cara. In the comic, the young woman changes paths as she grows, experiences life, learns and understands more about herself. The color silver can be reflective. We sometimes also see it as a dark stormy color, or a bright glittery color. "Silver" would be my superhero name. 
• What was your first concert? Ziggy Marley opened up for the B-52's. We had lawn tickets and it stormed while the concert continued. It was pretty epic. I was 16. 
• How would you describe yourself in one word? Wonder
• Name something from history which you would love to discover, explore or recover. The Palace Theater. I read an article about this. This poor theater from 1925 has since gone into ruin. But, even looking at the photos today and the condition it is in, I long to see it from its building, to its prime and even into its demise. 
• Which era would you like to experience? The very beginning of the 1900's. 
• If you were to be reincarnated as an animal, which would you choose? I hate this question. I am not the animal lover that many are. I don't long to fly with the freedom of a bird, or run with the speed of a cheetah, or swim into the depths of the oceans as a whale. I once joking answered, "a yeti". As it seems closest to the functions of a human I am use to. But, for this, after some mild consideration, I would say a cat. For all the obvious reasons. When I am in the mood to be an asshole, its expected. When I want to cuddle, its cute. 
• Is there a movie you would like to give an alternate ending to? What ending do you have in mind and why? The ending of the first Thor movie drives me nuts! And probably not for the reason you would expect. I have never read the comic, so I had no expectations. But, I would have liked to see Thor throw it all away and stay on Earth with Natalie Portmans character. 
• Name one thing you'd like to improve on. I was comically rude and a bitch for many years. Its how I am known. I was an unhappy person and reveled in it. Quite a few years ago, I decided to be happy and made small changes every day to change my perspective. Those around me on a daily basis see this. I love me, now. I absolutely love who I am! But, I have lately realized that those I am around much less are not use to seeing that happy person. Sadly, I revert back. As it seems easier to "play the old me" than to try and convince them how thats just not me anymore. I want to improve upon being me in any and all situations. 

11 Random Facts About Me. 

1. The first three letters of my first and last name both, spell sin. My middle name is Eve. (My parents probably thought they were funny.) 

2. I own three dinning tables. I just can't quite find the right one. 

3. I collect post cards. 

4. Spider-Man is my favorite Superhero. But, Mary Jane Watson is my favorite comic book character. 

5. I only buy wedding magazines and travel magazines. 

6. One day I visited Gettysburg for a few hours and fell so in love with it, it broke my heart to leave. 

7. I'm taking my first vacation this summer. 

8. I spelled "grateful" wrong for YEARS! And thought everyone else was spelling it wrong. 

9. Designing and sewing quilts is my stress relief. 

10. I love living alone. 

11. Periwinkle is my favorite color. I think the word is pretty great, too. 

Nominations (Oh no. Do I know 5 people with a blog?!): 

In Somnis Veritas  - @jennykacz

Prep You Very Much  - @one_rainydae

Sadly all my other followers have either been tagged already or have not blogged in over a year. I am a sad little beginner blogger with no friends. LOL. 

Here are your 11 questions (All two of you): 

• Who is your favorite reindeer of Santas?
• If you had to view everything through a single color filter, for the rest of your life, what color would you choose?
• If you had to give up one of todays electronic devices which would it be? (Cell phone, computer, television, eat.) 
• (This was a question for Dani, but I thought it was too great not to use.) If you could save the human race from extinction, hypothetically, would you do it and why or why not?
• If you could go back to high school graduation and choose a new career path, what would i be?
• What is your favorite quote and how did you discover it?
• You have to move, where would you go?
• What is your favorite memory with a grandparent?
• Who would be your celebrity "husband"?
• Out of all of the issues right now fighting for fruition within our countries government, which ONE would you choose to succeed and why?
• Which quote do you relate to more:

“It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.” - Hugh Laurie 

OR

"Don't rush things. If something is going to happen, it'll happen at the right time, with the right person and for the right reason." -Unknown

To Ring or Not To Ring

    I have previous experience with the dating site I am currently using. I very successfully used the same site for three months in another city. At the time, I remember, it took me a good week to realize that to get the most out of it, I was going to have to treat it, like a part time job. That was exhausting. Especially since, at the time, my full time job was around 55 hours a week or more.
    Therefore, I went into this year commitment with the understanding, to a degree, you get out what you put into online dating. Unfortunately, that has proven true so far. A very busy week, or has it been two, has kept me off the site. Not only that, but I did connect with one man for the last two weeks. Our schedules were both impossible. Two working adults, him also going to school and still having children at home with multi sport games to attend and my out of town travel plans, daughter in college visits and the like, made it impossible for us to go on a date. After two weeks, I put the kibosh on it. Not, however, for the reason you would think.
    Simply because my life is not fun enough already, which of course it isn't! My guy BFF (if you're coming from  Bouquet of Books this is the BFF that helped with comic book covers) has professed his feelings for me. This isn't out of nowhere, we dated years ago. Although, I wasn't immediately interested, something is changing every day.
    But, I have yet to turn my back on my one year of online dating project. (See how it has gone from a "commitment" to a "project"?) I'm already preparing an excuse for myself. Just like every day that I did not take the time to log in, I kept telling myself, I have a year.
    All of that aside, which trust me, could lead into a very juicy story, the topic of the day is....... wedding bands. Here are two little stories about wedding bands and what they mean to a single girl.

    When I worked in retail, I had this hot male assistant. Not just attractive, but full package kind of guy. Great guy, talent, hard worker, responsible, his girl friend was one lucky girl. We became best friends, working together for many years and I watched his girl friend become his fiancé, his wife, and than the mother of his child. And if I thought he was hot before........... Well, just put a wedding band on the man. Ladies, you all know what I am talking about. An attractive man is even more so, when he is idling fiddling with that gold band around his left ring finger. Something about it. Yum!

    Yesterday was my sister and brother-in-laws anniversary. They are the couple you want to be. The perfect couple thats realistically perfect in all their imperfections. In all their imperfect perfectness, my sister does not wear her wedding ring. A few years back, it broke needing repair and conversations about replacement versus repair, plus costs and her job isn't easy on her hands, the decision is continually delayed. My sister is, however, one of those women who does not need a wedding ring. She is so obviously in love and married. They both are. And though, I love that people are so committed to their spouse and oblivious of others that they don't even need a ring, theres a flip side.

    I was in one of my stores the other day talking with a customer. An attractive, nice, personality for days kind of guy. The conversation was related to why he ventured into one of my stores, so it was never inappropriate and although he was friendly and charismatic, I couldn't quite tell if he was flirty or not. He wore no ring, so I began pushing the envelope just a little. And than he drops the "w" word. "Wife." Really? As I said, the conversation never turned to anything I would deem inappropriate by a married man, however, his personality had me hoping that a little flirting is the direction it would head. But, he is apparently, one of those guys that simply doesn't need a wedding ring. He conducts himself in that easy going, but obvious of other women way.
    As a single girl out and about, how I am suppose to know, without some continued conversation, that you are wedding ringless, but married? Guys, help us single ladies out and put a ring on your taken finger. Please!

Comic Romance

    Hello everyone! Hopefully, some of you are coming over from Bouquet of Books, my dear sisters blog. She is MUCH better at this than I am. However, here, we have recently talked about comics and the last post was an introduction to my new online dating experience, which is still in full swing. But, today, I thought I would mesh the two. Comics and Dating. 

    If you are coming from reading Jackie's post today, she is showing the letter "M". The coordinating cover is for Midnight Nation. In a previous post, I mentioned that Midnight Nation was one of the first storylines I read as an adult reading comics. It holds a real special place in my heart. My ex, who is still my very best friend introduced me to this comic. (If you want to know what its about, please click on the previous link, or you can check out this one.) After reading Midnight Nation, J. Michael Straczynski became my favorite writer. I will pick up a title I don't normally read, or even care for, if he is the writer. (See Superman Grounded) You have likely watched many a movie or TV show written by Straczynski, and don't even know it. 

     Enough about that. Lets move on to the romance part of this blog. 

    So, a few years ago I met a guy. A really great guy. It just so happened he had a basement full of comics. We had much to talk about on our first date to a little restaurant tucked into a corner not far from the water in Covington, KY. It was a great evening and I definitely wanted to see him again. 

    A couple days after our date, I was at work and with the mail delivery was a manilla envelope with my name on it. I opened it and out slid the individual issues of Midnight Nation. With a note that read simply, "Lottsa Luv". My snide co-worker said, "Thats like flowers to you, isn't it?" But, I didn't care, I was on cloud nine. From the gesture and the issues! 

    Fast forward to after our second date, where at the end, after the good night kiss, Bobby presented me with a trade of the series, so I wouldn't be tempted to open the individual issues. Unfortunately, I lent someone my trade to read, two years ago. The trade cover, is the cover I really wanted to share with Jackie for her A to Z Challenge. But, you can see it for yourself here. 

    I know Jackie shared the cover of the first issue. But, here is a pic of the first issue still with the note. 

<3 

Until next Time.....

438 People Get Married Everyday As A Result.....

    I have been single (unmarried) for 12 years. I have very much enjoyed the single life. I could write a blog about how to enjoy being single. But, I am not. Instead, I am going to commit myself to writing (on a regular basis) about the commitment I made today. I think this will prove a much more entertaining subject.
    After a particularly unfortunate first date this last week and a spotty dating life over the last year, I decided to stop the off again on again relationship I have with online dating and give it a real chance. I signed up for a year on a subscription site today. A very bold move for someone like me. I didn't even keep an address more than 16 months until five years ago. But, I believe if you want something to work, you need to commit to making it work.  I'll spare you all of the statistics about online dating. Like many things in life, we choose the convenient route. We can peruse singles from the comfort of our home, much like a delivery menu. I am not one to baulk at convenance.

    So, for todays entry.......Signing Up!
    Admittedly, this was not a lot of work, as I revived an old profile that had been very successful for me when I lived in Indianapolis. There wasn't much to it, other than a few updates and to start shopping!
    Lets face it. Online dating starts with looks. The picture, as well as a few key stats is what convinces you to click the profile or keep going. I don't really have a type, in this arena, I just want a guy that turns me on when I catch his eye across the room. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about. This is probably 50% physical and 50% emotional. And depends on how horny I am at the time.
    So, today, I clicked on a few profiles and sent a few messages. Why not. If I am going to pay for the privilege of communication, might as well use it.
    Now, I am right in the middle of new and seasoned when it comes to this subject. But, I will say, all the hoops you have to go through to get to know someone before the site allows you to talk unaided like real adults, usually takes a few hours or even a day, depending. Well, I just completed the process with Bachelor #1 in a quick two hours. That might be a record for me. Pros to Bachelor #1.... He's hot. He has a similar sense of humor to me. He's a musician. His children are grown. Cons? He lives two hours away. He a musician.

Stay tuned, we shall see how it goes.
In the meantime, I'm going to go and reply to Bachelor #2, #3 & #4.

My Comic History

     It takes you a thirty second visit on my blog to see I do not post often. Oh, I have all the intent in the world to give this regular attention. To share my ideas, thoughts, hopes and dreams on an internet blog. Who doesn't want their ramblings to be inspiration for others. Alas, in the mix of adulthood that makes up my life, I just do not give any time to a blog.
    Here we are more than a year since my last post and my sweet sister has given a nod in my direction, for the photos of comic covers I offered her. The resulting traffic has obliged me to post something new. So, if you are reading her A to Z Blogging Challenge for the month of April on Comic Book/Graphic Novel Covers, here is my little behind the scenes for you (without spoiler pictures).

    In high school, while rummaging through boxes in my parents musty and damp basement I ran across an issue of Uncanny X-Men. Like most kids in the 70's and 80's, I watched a good amount of super hero cartoons. X-Men included. So, I read the comic. I'd love to tell you the issue. Or at least the storyline, but it honestly didn't stick with me.
    Fast forward to my very earlier thirties and I still hadn't picked up another comic book. But, my boyfriend at the time, was an avid reader. A few months into the relationship he took me with him to the comic book store. Wednesdays are big days in the comic book world, its new release day.
    Ten years ago, before comics had gained the mainstream popularity they have now, a fairly attractive girl walking into a comic book shop was a big deal. Silence and stares is what I got. I quietly followed behind my guy as he looked through all the titles displayed on the wall. After a time he hands me the three issues he has decided to buy, while he leans down to rifle through some others. I had been prepped on comic book handling. Its like coin handling. As little as possible and very gently. So, I held these three issues, stacked, with a thumb and two fingers. Within a few minutes, I can feel that middle issue slipping. Internally, I start to panic! What do I do?! If I grab the slipping book, I could risk wrinkling it or worse BENDING the cover in my efforts to save it! If I move it from hand to hand, I'll be touching it more! What do I do, what do I do??? Maybe, if I just let it fall, it will glide gently to the floor, landing on the back cover and lay flat. No folding, bending or damage of any kind. And so, it happens. In the split second of panic in my head, the comic slips from between the two I am holding, changing my light grasp of the other two and all three comics FALL TO THE FLOOR!
    Here is the proof that everyone was watching me with every step, as we walked around the store, because the moment those books touched the floor, the entire store gasped! Collectively. I could not have timed something like that had I wanted! My companion turned on me, betrayal in his eyes, "What did you do?!"
    Despite this dramatic first visit, I was invited back. As comics obviously played a big part in my guys life, I decided to sew him a Spider-Man quilt, his favorite character. But, as I knew so little about the webbed crusader, I had to do some research. With movies and mainstream media, we are now all aware that super hero costumes change, frequently. I needed to know what costume I was going to design onto the top of this quit. So, I went to the internet and started my research. The more I read about Spider-man, the more interested I became. And thus began my relationship with comics.
    I started off reading Midnight Nation. Next, was House Of M. And if you plan on going to see Civil War, you might want to read this first. After that, I was hooked. I was at the comic book store every Wednesday picking up the issues from my pull list, buying variant covers and looking at all the new stuff I hadn't previously known existed. A female in my thirties, for the first time in my life, I was reading comics on the regular. I loved it! I devoured certain story lines. Reading as many back issues as I could in one setting. Spider-Man The Other was a favorite and became a pivotal point in my current relationship. But, thats another story for another time.
    Fast forward another ten years and I don't read comics with the enthusiasm as I was before. Although, I will, when prompted get out my many boxes filled, pop them open and start rifling through, as I did recently for my sister. It was like a stroll down memory lane. Pulling out the variant Michael Turner covers from Civil War was heartbreaking. My favorite cover by my favorite artist, which I won't share, just in case Jackie does later in the month. Along with titles I had forgotten about  and set aside with the intent to read again. There were titles, like The Other that marked milestones in previous relationships. I even have the individual issues of Midnight Nation, still bagged boarded and one of them graded, that were sent to me from a date, in lieu of flowers.
    My small, personal comic book archives are somewhat of a scrapbook to me. I just love that in the simplest form, you will be able to see snippets of this at Bouquet of Books this month. And thank you to my sister, for prompting me to read again. <3

I Am Not A Rainbow Sharer, And That Is Why My Friends Hate My Boyfriend.

    When I was little, somewhere around five years old, I remember going for Sunday drives with my grandparents. I would sit in the back seat of our powder blue station wagon and stare out the window as the country side slid by. 
    These Sunday drives were what occupied a little bit of our families time in between morning church service and evening service. We would pull onto the busy road, our farmstead was nestled against, and my Grandfather would take the exit onto the highway, and we would drive north. Up the highway and back down the back roads. Or vise versa. The scene of cornfields, farm spreads similar to ours, and small, corner towns, with small country churches, only changing with the season. 
    I remember looking out the window, the fence in-between the land and the highway, across the new cornfield with little tiny plants starting to poke up, stretching all the way to the blue, spring sky. A rainbow! The colors spelling out Roy G Biv were arched across the sky like a decorative drape. I smiled, excited to see it. I began to raise my arm to point out the window, an exclamation on my lips, and I stopped. 
    If I didn't tell anyone, if no one else saw the rainbow, than it was only mine. Everyone else's silence assured that neither of my grandparents had spotted it yet, only I had. Therefore it was my secret. My secret rainbow. All mine. 
    I lowered my arm and pursed my lips closed. I anxiously looked back and forth between my grandparents in the front seat and my rainbow out the side window. When the rainbow began to slide behind the car, I looked on unabashedly, certain, no one would see it now. 
    We took the exit off the highway and turned onto our rural, tree lined road. The rainbow gone from sight. But, I still had it, locked in my memory. My very own rainbow. 

    Thirty-five years later, I have lived a string of romances with the wrong guy. The "wrong" part, punctuated to my friends by my unwillingness to share the good stuff. As a woman and seasoned dater, you learn quickly that with the wrong guy, the positives are only an intermittent string of occasions. As these were so few and far between, like rainbows, I never wanted to share them. Keeping them locked inside, to hold onto, forever. 
    After three years with the right guy, I am still guilty of the same. Someone who was commitment phobic, like me. Who had a difficult time sharing his feelings, like me. Or showing much of any intimate, positive emotion, like me. Therefore, after a couple years in, when we both start opening up, creating those loving, positive moments, I am desperate to hang onto them. 
    Sure, I throw a tid bit or two to my closest BFF's. But, the bulk of it, I hide away like a squirrel who stashes a winters full of food. I just can't bring myself to lessen the intimacy of it, by sharing it. 
    On the flip side, when I am angry, or when, as men do, he does something stupid, I share, share, share till the cows come home! Desperate to vent. To hear my friends agree with my frustration! To get it out and shout at someone, just so I don't blow up at him. 
    And so here we are. Three years in. And my friends aren't fond of my boyfriend. Because, I am not a rainbow sharer. 

I Can Fake Kindness

(This is my first post on my new tablet. HOPEFULLY, paragraphs will be allowed. Fair warning, I still cannot seem to locate a spell check button.)

"How are you today, young lady." Her voice was gentle and kind like the grandmother she probably was. I continued with the transaction. Ringing up her purchase, bagging her item. It is almost effortless to be kind to someone kind to you.
"Do you have a larger bag I could have," she asked. Continuing to explain the item she purchased from a vendor and the inadequate bag he gave her.
"Of course I do!" I assure her reaching for a large plastic bag. Than I remember the gift with purchase reusable tote bags we have. She may not have purchased the target item, but her kind voice was enough to qualify, to me.
She was ecstatic at the brightly colored bag. She blessed me again and again and I really just enjoyed making her day.
I turned to my waiting audiance, my assistant manager, Jake and my friend, Bobby. Both standing in shock, mouths agape.
"See!I can fake kindness." I yell. Demonstrating a previous accusation.

Nice, is not a word used to describe me. I am perfectly ok with this. However, as I explore the world of online dating, men continually request women who are kind. This really put a kink in the whole thing, for me.
But, lets be serious here. If us women are known for an ability, its FAKING. We fake happiness at unexpected houseguests, we fake liking that family member, we fake being neighborly, we fake knowing whats really going on. And youre all waiting for me to say it, we fake orgasims. So, why not kindness?
But, here is my question.....isn't "fake" kindness still kindness?