Very Inspiring Blogger Award: Woohoo!

Nominated for this award!

When I was informed by Usha Menon, a sweet elderly Indian woman who happens to be a prolofic blog writer, I was thrilled! Not just because this prestigious award (though a different look) was bestowed upon me last year (by her then too), but because it's great to know that people appreciate my blog writings.

Usha affectionately terms herself as "eccentric grandmum" as her blog site demonstrates. Her blog is named 'Kuch Khatta Kuch Meetha' seemingly after an Indian movie. She writes delightful haiku and imparts compassionate wisdom on her other blog posts.

I am grateful to have met her online - she is like a grandmother, to me too! - and, of course, to be honoured with such an award.

According to the guidelines (rules), you are supposed to write seven things about yourself. Here are mine:

1. I'm Dutch Canadian having been born in The Netherlands (also known as or nicknamed 'Holland' for short) and becoming a Canadian citizen as a young girl.
2. I was born a twin and am a surviving one, and middle child.
3. I consider myself a survivor having been close to death a few times in my life.
4. Apparently, I was left-handed as a child and was 'forced' to change to my right (wonder what would have happened if my left hand was my dominant one?)
5. Music has always been an important part of my life, though as I get older I love silence more (since we live in a relatively noisy world). I love a variety though I especially appreciate electronic for dancing, instrumental for relaxation, and devotional music for chanting.
6. I love to read non-fiction though I love to read great fiction - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon is my favourite book or at least one of them. IF you read it, you will understand why!) and I wish I had more time or ahem, need to make more time.
7. I love to look at the sky, day and night, though especially the moon and stars...don't ask me why, I just do! ;)

And now, I am supposed to nominate bloggers whose blogs deserve the award. Usha already mentioned names, some of which I would have listed below otherwise. I will name those who are part of BAR (Blog-A-Rhythm) as I belong to two blogging groups, this one more actively than the other.

In no particular order then, actually I changed to alphabetically, I choose the following bloggers to receive this award. Drum roll please....

1. Cat Graham
2. Kathy Combs
3. Hema Anavatti
4. Nabanita Dhar
5. Nisha Sanjeev
6. Sanch LivingLife
7. Shailaja Vishwanath

Add the badge in your post.

And inform each one whom you have nominated for the award.

Thank you again dear Usha for this award nomination. I truly appreciate it. Namaste.

Guest Blog Posts

Photo courtesy of Roberto Kaplan

Sometimes it's fun to write posts for other blogger known as guest blogging or more commonly as being a guest blogger. ;)

I have two written two guest blogs thus far, one as of a few days ago for Asma Ferdoes' (AKA Asiya Fathima), a blogging friend I met via a blogging challenge a number of months ago. The post:

Similarly, I wrote my first blogging fiction piece - I was new to being a guest writer - on another blog of a friend of mine, Vinodini Iyer (who also happens to hail from India) at the end of August last year. I had neglected to link it up to my blog - silly me!

I would love to hear what you think as it is my first blogging fiction piece as I normally write non-fiction. Thanks! :)

Soulful Sunday: 3rd NaBloPoMo Favourite Blog Posts: Mine and Yours

Photo by Roberto Kaplan

Wow! There were A LOT of wonderful posts this past week; however, I think I may have read more than the usual number of posts - I think! - so quite a challenge to name only a few.

I will categorize them so you can pick and choose if you prefer; however, I will start with mine: My favoured post this past week was Books Inside Me? not surprisingly as those who responded are all writers! ;) http://xpressyouressence.blogspot.ca/2014/11/books-inside-me.html ... with From the Kindness of Strangers following second (http://xpressyouressence.blogspot.ca/2014/11/from-kindness-of-strangers.html).

On the topic of realism including posts for a good cause are the following (in date order from oldest to most recent chronologically):

I had read Vinodini Iyer's post first, A plateful of compassion to help feed starving children in India (http://vinodinii.blogspot.ca/2014/11/a-plateful-of-compassion.html?showComment=1416201120196#c7058932907373383942) before I read a few others on the same theme.

Adita Kaushiva's Food Over Education, or Both? #BlogToFeedAChild at
http://www.makeitbeayoutiful.blogspot.in/2014/11/food-over-education-or-both.html was also contributing to this noteworthy cause (as stated above).

Inderpreet Kaur Uppal's brilliant idea to feed children in India in #DonateYourParty & #BlogToFeedAChild can be applied anywhere else in the world, I think!: http://inderpreetkaur.blogspot.in/2014/11/donateyourparty-blogtofeedachild.html

Another important issue effecting many people in India is noted by Nabanita Dhar on her post from nothingness to I've Got Something Important to Say... (http://nabanita-blacknwhite.blogspot.in/2014/11/ive-got-something-important-to-say.html#.VGxAd2eVZac). And with the click of your computer mouse, you can make a big impact on the lives of others, similar to the two posts above.

Vidya Sury's witty titled post, Do you #giveashit @worldtoiletday #ToiletForBabli @DomexIndia @UN_Water was an eye-opener for me as I wasn't aware of this. It makes perfect sense though and I hope her blogging will contribute to spreading awareness, hope, and money and the means to build toilets for those in need, especially women, children and the like: http://vidyasury.com/2014/11/world-toilet-day-2014.html

Contrast Nabanita and Vidya's posts above to Francene Stanley's theme. France wrote a very important, must-read post, How clean are you really? http://511580395457358476.weebly.com/blog/how-clean-are-you-really. If you wish to keep healthy, this is one way to do it! ;)

On a much lighter note and with a great sense of fun and joy, I particularly enjoyed the second video in Shilpa Garg's post to make a case on Staying Healthy Can Be Fun, http://shilpaagarg.com/2014/11/staying-healthy-can-fun.html Do watch: it's a riot!

Carol Graham's post, 6 Ways to Turn a Blogger Off is a practical post with important tips essential as a must-read for all current or potential bloggers: http://batteredhope.blogspot.ca/2014/11/6-ways-to-turn-this-blogger-off.html.
(I know I used to be guilty of two or three of these blogging 'sins' as I was still learning...wished I had known way back then, right at the beginning!)

Usha Menon penned a lovely poem on the way of being a parent, i.e., mother in My Home, http://eccentricgrandmum.blogspot.in/2014/11/my-home.html.

Never say never at http://www.livingmyimperfectlife.com/never-say-never/#comment-110247 was SanchLivingLife's post on the amusing power of this word. Like Sanch, I too came to learn the true meaning of saying "never!" That is I should say "never" IF I want something to come true! ;)

Now, onto some fiction (though some could be non-fiction...sometimes I can't tell!) - and rather short posts:

Kathy Combs, Destiny within the Jaws of Death, a powerful read (which I don't want to give away): http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.ca/2014/11/destiny-within-jaws-of-death.html

Cold Haiku was another powerful post by Kathy, this one of lost love, http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.ca/2014/11/cold-haiku.html

And yet another by Kathy Combs, The Money Pit - realistic and what a predicament: http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.ca/2014/11/the-money-pit.html

Cat Graham's post, Ten things you would tell your 16 year old self if you could was 'motherly advice,' ahem 'wisdom' to a growing teen - yourself - at that age: http://cattitudeandgratitude.blogspot.ca/2013/01/ten-things-you-would-tell-your-16-year.html Who could resist that!?

And Cat's unusual take on a prompt, Dinner Invitation: http://cattitudeandgratitude.blogspot.ca/2014/11/dinner-invitation.html?showComment=1416532434745#c1894527543306388884

Usha Menon's delightful and amusing post of photos, smile a while of sleeping animals and babies at http://eccentricgrandmum.blogspot.in/2012/12/smile-while.html

A longer, though extremely amusing, even hilarious and witty post, this one by Nabanita Dhar on When Writers chat on WeChat brought a huge upward curve to my lips: http://nabanita-blacknwhite.blogspot.in/2013/05/when-writers-chat-on-wechat.html#.VG1CScno430. A brilliant post! Don't you think she's a writer? I keep telling her, "Nabanita, you ARE a writer!" :)

Nabanita Dhar's more serious and true-to-life version of A Missed Touch http://nabanita-blacknwhite.blogspot.in/2014/11/a-missed-touch.html#.VG6Tz8no430 was extremely sweet and tender. I was definitely moved! (Even though it featured an appropriate commercial, I wish that video was in English or had English subtitles!)

A category on its own is a hand-drawn picture entitled Wanderlust - Zentangle from Rajlakshmi at http://destinychildosheen.blogspot.ca/2014/11/wanderlust-zentangle.html?showComment=1416621827406#c1606822430409268189.

I'm stopping there, only Monday to Friday as there are a ton of favourable blog posts. Except for the first few posts, most are quick or relatively quick reads.

I sure do hope you get a moment to enjoy these posts! Or rather, did you get a chance to read any of these them? ;) And did you find them as enjoyable as I did?

Have a great blogging and/or reading week!

Another Award?! WOW! Woohoo!

I have been awarded yet another award by Usha Menon - my first Liebster Award - thank you Usha! ;) Check out her website for fun and entertaining clips including haiku at eccentricgrandmum (in case this link doesn't work: http://eccentricgrandmum.blogspot.ca/

I wanted to know more about this particular award as it wasn't self-explanatory to me. I discovered this website, http://wordingwell.com/the-liebster-award-the-official-rules-my-first-blog-award-and-a-few-personal-secrets-revealed/ in the process.

The Liebster Award - isn't it pretty? - was created to recognize and/or discover new bloggers and welcome them to the blogosphere.

According to Lorraine Reguly's reearch of this award, this award exists only on the internet, and is given to bloggers by other bloggers. It has German origins – the word “liebster” has several definitions: dearest, sweetest, kindest, nicest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, welcome, sweetheart. and apparently boyfriend(!).

It follows similar principles as a chain letter, in the sense that it should be passed forward to a certain number of people. It can be misconstrued, depending upon your personal views, as either something wonderful (who doesn’t like awards?) or as an annoyance (a chain letter that involves work).

The choice lies within each of us to ACCEPT it, and continue PAYING IT FORWARD or to refuse to accept it, thereby STOPPING or INTERRUPTING the chain. However, if you stop the chain, you are only hurting yourself (keep reading for benefits you will have)!

Personal views play an important part in our choice to participate. Some people have refused to accept it and have made attempts to “break the chain”. There have been many people who have been nominated, yet refused to accept it, and now their blogs have been abandoned.

Variations have been made over time to the 'rules'. Marketing plays a role in accepting this award, as other bloggers are promoted. (This is not a bad thing, however, since people should help others!)

Other awards are a part of the whole meme. These include "One Lovely Blog Award," the "Sunshine Blog Award" (which by the way I was awarded last week by Usha as well), and the "Versatile Writer Award."

1. Post 11 facts about myself'
2. Answer the 11 questions given by you.
3. Tell them that they have been tagged by you.
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11 Facts of Myself
1. Born in Europe and moved to Canada with my family when I was six.
2. Born a premature twin, am a surviving twin.
3. Have two older sisters and two younger brothers.
4. Work for a nonprofit agency full-time.
5. Am an ideas person, sometimes creating inventions in my life.
6. Have an eye for detail, good for editing at my day job and other things...
7. Am great at memorizing faces, voices, and numbers.
8. Especially love trees, mountains, and water from my European heritage.
9. Live in North Vancouver, British Columbia (BC), Canada - north of Vancouver.
10.Used to have a cat as my 'baby.' Pets are family members too! ;)
11.See and collect heart-shaped objects. ;)

11 Questions for My Nominees:
1. Where were you born?
2. What city/town, country do you live in now?
3. What languages do you speak?
4. What is your favourite food?
5. Do you like to cook? If so, what is your specialty, i.e., favourite dish?
6. Do you prefer tea or coffee? If so, what kind?
7. What are your top three to five activities you like/love to do?
8. Do you sing or play an instrument? If so, what kind of music?
9. Have you ever performed in a school play or on stage?
10.When did you start writing?
11.What do you love to write about: favourite topic(s)?

Usha's 11 questions to the recipients of this award, including me:
1. Where were you born? A: The Netherlands also known as Holland for short.
2. Do you like to read? A: No, I don't like to read. I actually LOVE to read and wish I had more time! ;)
3. Which is your favorite book? A: ONLY one?! The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, written by Mark Haddon, a brilliant rollercoaster ride of emotions etc.
4. Do you believe in superstitions? A: No, I am not superstitious.
5. Do you like to have Burgers and Pizzas? A: Yes, if organic and I LOVE pizza!
6. Given a choice, which country you will like to visit? A: ONLY one?! Alaska to experience the pristine wilderness and see the Northern Lights
7. Which season of the year do you like and why? A: I LOVE spring for so many reasons: milder temperatures, longer days, flowers, trees blossoming...
8. Which newspaper do you read? A: I browse through several at work, though I prefer my local community newspaper for news and events.
9. What is the first thing you like to read in the newspaper (i) Politics (ii) movies (iii) Gossip (iv) Fashion A: None of the above! I like to read - I follow - one comic strip and read my horoscope for the day just for fun.
10. How many languages do you know? Name them. A: English fluently, a few words in Dutch, and a bit of Spanish and French.
11. Do you believe in reincarnation? A: Yes, I never did before until I had certain incidents that made me a believer.

The Official Rules Of The Liebster Award

If you have been nominated for The Liebster Award AND you choose to accept it, write a blog post about Liebster award in which you:

1. thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on yours.
2. display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a 'widget' or a 'gadget.' (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)
3. answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.
4. provide 11 random facts about yourself.
5. nominate 5 to 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)
6. create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.
7. list these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here.) Once you have written and published it, you then have to:
8. 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 (as they might not have ever heard of it).
**************************************************************************************
Though I would love to nominate both Vinodini Iyer and Shailaja Vishwanath, I know you two have already received the award and, no offense, I would like to nominate a few people who may not have received it thus far.

I would like to nominate the following bloggers for the Liebster Award:

1. Judy Yaron
2. Asiya Fathima
3. Nisha Sanjeev
4. Candess M Campbell
5. Penny McDaniel

Ok, now your turn. Have fun! ;)

Soulful Sunday: Fave Posts - Mine and Yours

Photo I took of smarties (candies): see the heart-shaped one? ;)

It seems that the top favourite post of 'mine' was....drum roll please...

"No, I do NOT Speak Indian!" by my guest blogger and friend, Vinodini Iyer! Woohoo! It's no wonder as her writing is brilliant. With replies from both myself and Vinodini to the people who commented, it added up to a lot of comments. And it seemed a bit heated. It made for an interesting post, just with the responses themselves! ;) So thank you Vinodini Iyer for provoking controversial discussion.

Here is a video entitled, "I M Indian" - thanks to Corinne Rodriges - that perfectly illustrates the point Vinodini was attempting to make in her guest post, though I do suggest you read that as well.

Post by Manisha Chaubal-Menon.

I have met quite a number of other brilliant Indian writers through my blogging challenges. They amaze me with their language and some of the words they use. Their writing is so captivating! I find quite a number of them who have twisted storylines. Please understand that this is a compliment. You all surprise me with your superb writing...yes, that includes some of you male bloggers too: Anmol Rawat, Shashank Tiwari or Shanx, etc. (I don't have your names memorized yet, though actually I have with a number of Indian bloggers which rather amazes me. Must be my chanting in Sanskrit! ;))

The second most favourite post was World Gratitude Day: Part 2 (#MicroblogMonday) inspired by the writing of another blogger, Nabanita Dhar - thanks again dear! The post featured remarks that were uplifting, positive, joyful, and well happy, just like the song! I highly recommend listening to the video at http://xpressyouressence.blogspot.ca/2014/09/world-gratitude-day-part-2.html. ;)

Though the In Honour of National Tree Day post didn't receive as many replies, it did however bring forth rather unusual and intriguing ones. For that in and of itself is worth a read! (http://xpressyouressence.blogspot.ca/2014/09/in-honour-of-national-tree-day.html)

My own writing favourites were World Gratitude Day: Part 2 because I love that song: Read the post! (http://xpressyouressence.blogspot.ca/2014/09/world-gratitude-day-part-2.html) ;) Also, though I loved receiving two awards that I wrote about last Friday, it was fun to figure out what I wanted to write about in terms of 17 points about myself.

And some of my favourite posts that I read this past week:

Shailaja Vishwanath wrote a brilliant piece that I just love as sometimes it can be a challenge to always be happy. It reminded me of a poem I "should" have written when upset about an incident that I experienced this past week. The phrase, "Plastic Voices, Plastic Faces" came to mind and I knew intuitively that that was the title of a poem (the one I should have written)! Maybe I will, later. ;) See http://shailajav.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/unreasonable-amwriting/.

I loved Nabanita Dhar's theory on gratitude which inspired my post early in the week (see above). Check our her blog at http://nabanita-blacknwhite.blogspot.in/2014/09/a-theory-and-some-gratitude.html#.VB-37ldGiQE.

Judy Yaron's posts usually make me laugh. These two are guaranteed to do the same for you: http://www.cutthecrapsolutions.com/#!Actually-I-wanted-to-write-about-SEX-/clxq/B71C3993-506C-40C7-949C-3DE4BAD7127B as well as http://www.cutthecrapsolutions.com/#!I-used-to-be-a-maleperson/clxq/D50DE852-4FDC-4505-8DDD-C1933E83AEF8.

What post would you most favour of mine this past week (other than Vinodini's which we know you all love)? And why? (The feedback is good for me to learn to improve my writing and/or blog!) ;)

"No, I do NOT speak Indian!"

Photo of Taj Mahal from Wikipedia

In lieu of my recent Talented Thursday theme, I have a surprise, a special surprise for you! I have a guest blogger who is writing on my behalf, in place of me! Woohoo! :)

This female blogger has become a dear soul 'sista' (sister) of mine since meeting her in the blogging world through another blog challenge. We met through her stories - I was SO fascinated by them - the way she wrote with sharply curved storylines that reminded me so much of Agatha Christie's writing style - a mystery writer - in particular Murder on the Orient Express, the first book of hers that I read: you never knew 'whodunit.' (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whodunit).

Vinodini Iyer is a blogger, writer, poet, design professional, and a 'lost' painter based out of India. She calls herself a lost painter because, although she was academically trained in the Fine Arts, somewhere along the way she lost her touch with painting. Writing is a childhood passion she reconnected with a few years back and there's been no looking back for her ever since. She blogs at http://vinodinii.blogspot.in/.

As a child she would haphazardly scribble amateur poetry on the last page of her school notebooks, in particularly boring classes. Her mother would in turn find those pieces of writings and compile them in a file and send some of them to the local newspapers to be published in the kiddies column.

She started blogging about six years ago, but has turned into an active blogger only a few months back after participating in a few blogging challenges. One of these challenges is where she met me.

She writes about her random experiences in life. She is fascinated by the unknown mystical and pursues the same with a childlike wonder. She considers herself a gypsy at heart, a gypsy who loves writing about her journey of life through various voices, sometimes her own, sometimes of her characters! They could be in the form of essays, poetry, or short stories. Of late though, she has been veering more towards short stories. One of her short stories is about to be published in an anthology.

I'll let my blogging sista take over from here ...

Elly and I have known each other for about two months now. While she enjoys reading my stories with twisted endings, I’m in awe of the tremendously informative blog posts she writes with careful research to back her write-ups with. Since we had decided to do a guest post on each other’s blog, after she obliged me with a wonderful story on my blog on August 1, 2014 (http://vinodinii.blogspot.in/2014/08/my-newfound-friend.html), it is time for me to invade Elly’s blog space. I chose to talk about India in this post for Elly’s apparent interest in the topic.

~*~*~*~
While India boasts of a rich and vibrant culture, there are a few misconceptions the world has about India. This observation has been made on certain generalized assumptions one comes across while interacting with people outside India.

India has also been ridiculously and falsely perceived as a poverty-stricken nation. Ridiculous assumption, specifically because the world is well aware of the royal heritage and background that this country originates from. Our historical monuments, rich cultural resources, and lifestyle are a testimony to the wealth of culture and riches this nation boasts of. So, the documentaries and photographs depicting the dreary poverty in India that you might have chanced upon are only one side of the story. This is the land of the aristocratic Tatas, Birlas, and Ambanis. Go on, Google them if you haven’t heard about them.

People visiting India for the first time, at times are pleasantly surprised or rather disappointed to see Indians commuting by cars and buses as opposed to elephants. Fortunately technology spared the elephants long back, sent them back to the jungles, where they belonged, and gave us vehicles that ran on fuel. Also, a few people come to India with the hopes of seeing snake charmers on the streets, but, well, the snake charmer has probably become redundant long back and has switched to selling cheap cellphone covers outside the railway station.

At times, it is the fair-skinned Indian baby born in a foreign land that evokes awe, for the color of its skin. Especially, since it is another general assumption that Indians have either black- or brown-toned skin. Well we sure are proud of our honey-colored complexion, but just as there are different hair colors like red-heads, brunettes, and blondes elsewhere in the world; in the same manner Indians also have a wide variety of skin colors and facial features. And hence, we do have fair-skinned people around along with a wide assortment of wheatish, honey, and black skin. The best part is that our sharp features blend beautifully with almost all skin tones. I say this at the risk of sounding vain and immodest, but the fact remains.

Photo from students.ou.edu

A few months back, I met a lady from Sweden who was confused when I told her that not all Indians speak Hindi or Sanskrit. We have 29 states and 7 union territories in India which speak 18 different languages! And yes, for people who thought there was a language called ‘Indian’ (yes, I’ve heard that too!), you got it wrong. There’s no such language. Just as there is no language called ‘American.’ Hindi is our national language. Also, ‘Hindi’ is not a religion and ‘Hindu’ is not a language. Also not all Indians are Hindus; there are Indians who follow other faiths like Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism. Most of the educated Indians these days are well versed in English.

~*~*~*~

My whole intention of writing this post for Elly’s blog is to enlighten the ones who are genuinely interested in knowing more about India, but have been thriving on half-baked information that the media feeds them with. There are many more such myths and illusions that people outside India carry that I have not delved into here, or else this post would have gone much longer than acceptable limits of maintaining the interest of the reader.

Elly, thank you so much for inviting me to ramble on your blog space. For once, I did not write a thought-out story, but just went with the flow of words to come up with a blog post that I thought would hopefully add some value to your blog.

~*~*~*~
I am particularly honoured that Vinodini is gracing my blog, zesting it up with a bit of spice and writing about a topic that has always intrigued me. Thank you Vinodini for sharing this enlightening post on India. Namaste.

I encourage you readers to share your thoughts in the comments below to support my wonderful friend in her attempt to write in my style.

World Gratitude Day (Part 1): Fave Posts of Mine and Others

It seems that the two favoured of my blog posts I wrote this past week were the video on Frolicking Fun Friday: Painting with Fire Part 2, though Talented Thursday: Walkie-talkie You! brought in a lot of "Oh no. That's me" type of remarks. I wasn't judging anyone, only sharing information, educating others if you will.

However, I also received some rather creative captions for my picture that I posted on Wordless Wednesday: Caption Wanted. I was rather surprised and somewhat disappointed that the Michael Jackson impersonator didn't garner more views and/or comments in Tantalizing Tuesday: Child MJ Impersonator. (By the way, if anyone finds the video from 'China's Got Talent' with Canadian subtitles, please DO let me know so I can post it!) One of my shortest posts this week, "100 Words: Write to Change the World" brought more comments than I expected.

What post(s) would you most favour of mine this past week (Monday to Friday)? And why?

************************************************************************************

In terms of other blog posts I read this past week which were many, these are a few that I really liked:

Usha (as in Usha Menon) whose name I love as well as her nickname 'eccentricgrandmum' posted Haiku and Humour which I found quite amusing! :) (http://eccentricgrandmum.blogspot.ca/2014/09/carpe-diem-ghot-writer-27-haiku-and.html

Penny McDaniel again wrote a lovely post, Bee Here Now. I appreciated the creativity and colourfulness of the words and images: (http://pennymcdaniel.com/bee-here-now/#comment-1471)

Has there ever been a Mrs. B in Your Life? by Judy Yaron as she shares story with wit and humour: a delightful read (http://www.cutthecrapsolutions.com/#!Has-there-ever-been-a-Mrs-B-in-your-life/clxq/450AA109-FAC8-46DB-BED7-1419661EAA9B).

I could say this one is in a league of its own: The Creep by Vinodini Iyer as her posts are, well, read them and you'll find out! ;) (http://vinodinii.blogspot.in/2014/09/the-creep.html)

Other posts of a serious and courageous kind were Francene Stanley's - can't seem to find it - and Amy Bovaird's Climbing Mountains: My Passion - Pursuing a “Can Do” Mindset (http://amybovaird.com/pursuing-a-can-do-mindset/), the latter about her dogged determination to climb a mountain no matter what, that is, with a lack of night vision!

As today is World Gratitude Day, what are you most grateful for? For me today: blogging community of friends around the world! :)

Soulful Sunday: Favourite Weekly Posts - Mine and Others!

Photo by Roberto Kaplan

It seems that the two favoured of my blog posts I wrote this past week were the following: my Tuesday posting about the Supermoon (http://www.xpressyouressence.blogspot.ca/2014/09/tantalizing-tuesday-supermoon-no-5-in.html) which garnered some interesting commentary as well as the last in a series on Robin William's death (http://www.xpressyouressence.blogspot.ca/2014/09/part-3-aftermath-of-brilliant-comics.html), the latter on the stigma of mental illness and how I overcome it.

Friday's post, "LOA: Suicide, Homicide, and Me," was somewhat unusual in that I reversed Thursday's and Friday's posts and also I had forgotten to ask a question on both days. I did so later. Thus, the remarks on Friday's post reflected around my courage for telling my tale online (http://xpressyouressence.blogspot.ca/2014/09/part-3-suicide-prevention-week.html).

Was I justified initially in feeling upset and angry about not receiving comments hours after posting? This in response to my raw exposure of my soul and in observation that some fiction writers received lots of replies on their themes of suicide? That is, they didn't pour their heart out like me, leaving it raw, open, exposed, and vulnerable. However, I later realized that it was Friday night, the start of a weekend here and a Saturday on the side of the globe. Maybe that was the reason?!

All but one of my postings this past week ended up being on the topic of suicide. And I read some great posts too, though I didn't have as much time nor record them with an exceptionally busy week:

Vinodini Iyer’s scintillating writing on the theme of 'darkness' –
http://vinodinii.blogspot.ca/2014/09/the-power-of-black.html. Her blog post inspired me to want to write on that about the circles under my eyes - LOL - which could be a due to a lack of sleep and/or allergies. ;)

Penny McDaniel’s post on water which sounded so poetic. I wished she had written poetry instead to counter the photos she posted (http://pennymcdaniel.com/lessons-we-can-learn-from-water/#comment-1435).

What post would you most favour of mine this past week, Monday to Friday? And why?

An Ultra Blog Challenge?

At the end of July, the Ultimate Blog Challenge - daily blog posting - I wrote that I would probably not reconsider - why not? - participating in a daily blog post challenge (except that I do love the pretty blue badge my blog got to embellish, don't you? Didn't know about that till just recently!).

Read that post now to find out and some reasons for reconsidering joining a similar venture, the Ultra Blog Challenge (UBC): http://www.xpressyouressence.blogspot.ca/2014/07/last-day-whew-july-31st.html, reasons you may wish to join.

Due to signing up for Kathy Hadley's UBC program and that I enjoy - no, love to write - creative writing that is, and that I was featured as a guest blogger on one of my newfound friend's blog - truly exciting! - were reasons for compelling me to do so.

Take a few moments to read my fictional story at http://vinodinii.blogspot.in/2014/08/my-newfound-friend.html and tell me what you think.

Writing a bio - I had expected a shortened version - for Vinodini Iyer's blog (whose fictional story writing is catchy and compelling) actually motivated me to change my profile, to the right of this posting. ;)

What motivates you to write? I'd love to know!

Last Day: Whew! (July 31st)

Photo credit: Roberto Kaplan, Roberts Creek (Sunshine Coast), BC

WOWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Finally! It's the last day of the Ultimate Blog/ging Challenge (UBC) and I am home free - thank goodness! - at last, in more ways than one! ;) (Imagine me wiping the sweat from my brow due to not only hot weather, but also finishing the UBC of blogging every day this month, for 31 days: WOW! I can't believe I did it!)

You see, even though I enjoy, actually love creative writing and reading and researching affiliated with it, I think it highly impractical, at least for me, to blog on a daily basis.

For one, it's challenging on my body. My body is meant to move, not sit or stand while typing, reading/researching online for hours on end at times. It's also not a great idea for the eyes: my eyes seem to dry out even though I attempt to blink consciously, never seemingly enough. And my body. I have been avoiding eating decent meals or eating late sometimes due to this...am I crazy or what? Don't answer that: that's a rhetorical question!

And secondly, it's summer! What am I doing spending time indoors (except keeping cool on hot days)?

Am I or was I rather crazy then to participate in this? Yes for the reasons above and no.

No 'cause I challenged my mind, my writing, and in the process, met and gained some wonderful international bloggers and friendships, not to mention read a lot of great blog posts. There are a lot of good bloggers out there! :)

Now, question is: what will I (or you if you are a UBC blogger) do with all that free time? You know, the time you used to spend reading/researching/typing/looking for and downloading pictures? I know what I will be doing based in part on my blogging and that of my fellow UBC bloggers:

*enjoy summer what's left of it(!) including in no particular order:
*attend my favourite Harmony Arts Festival by the ocean
*finish reading a fascinating (spiritually-based) book, Michael Jackson: Man Behind the Mirror by a man I know named Raamayan Ananda
*"catch up" (st least some) on reading blogs including UBC bloggers with honourable mentions to some of my newfound friends in India: Vinodini Iyer who deserves an award for her compelling and brilliant story writing/telling - love it! - and sweet Asma Ferdoes (aka Asiya)with her sensitivity shining through brilliantly in her delicate stories and poems (that I can so relate to it seems)
*listen to free live bands outside in the sun
*dance outdoors including salsa lessons

*go for walks and hug trees in the process
*attend free community events and festivals
*watch beautiful sunsets
*hoola hoop with my sturdy portable (and foldable) hoop
*sing and sun doing a vision therapy exercise
*look at the supermoon (maybe practicing trataka (something I learned while blogging)
*learn Zentangle (thanks to bloggers Minette Riordan and Laura Regan)
*clean my pile of dishes and cooking/preparing meals which I neglected most of this month (oops!)
*tidy/clean what has become my messy home (also neglected after so many days)

*hang out with my friends over iced tea or iced espresso drinks
*visit farmers markets and listen to the free outdoor entertainment
*AND hang out more on my patio whether eating, reading, zero gravity chairing! (now, that's poetic license!) ;)
*read and write my blog posts at my leisure (usually about every two weeks with my busy schedule, thank you very much)

Thank you to the organizers including Michelle Shaeffer and Kathy Hadley as well as all of you UBC members and readers. Know that I appreciate you whether I have (had the time to) read your blog or not. I hope to read more of your posts next month in between everything else! ;)

I look forward to keeping in touch with some of you through your blogs and/or social media. I already have some ideas brewing for future posts such as performance poetry, and a tribute to a woman who healed herself of cancer. ;)

How will you dear reader spend/enjoy your summer or free time (depending when you read this!)>