A little belatedly I’ve discovered that litlove and Harriet have both very kindly awarded me a Very Inspiring Blogger award. Thank you so much! I am really pleased, and touched, and surprised too. Sadly, I can’t nominate them back: both of them have been very inspirational for me.
These are the rules for the Very Inspiring Blogger awards:
- Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
- List the rules and display the award.
- Share seven facts about yourself.
- Nominate fifteen other amazing blogs and comment on their posts to let them know they have been.
- Optional: display the award logo on your blog and follow the blogger who nominated you.
Nominating fifteen weblogs was impossible. There are so many inspiring ones to choose from and I should hate any blogger not listed here to suppose that I don’t find his or hers also inspiring (this anxiety about missing someone out and upsetting them is behind my decision not to have a blogroll here, although I’m not always sure it’s a good decision). To try and limit the insane length of my list, I decided not to include anyone whom I believe has already received the award – so no Stefanie, Tom, Hayley, Kaggsy, Annabel, Simon, Dolce Bellezza, Alex, Jenny, Mary, Vicky, Ana, Danielle, Caroline or Richard. Some people might be surprised to find themselves here since I have never commented on their weblogs, I naturally incline towards lurkerdom, but they are inspiring nonetheless.
And here are nine marvellous and intriguing blogs in no particular order, and if you feel that your weblog should be here too, then you are right, it should be, and I’m very sorry it isn’t.
- Pieces – Not only has Michelle introduced me to many, many new writers (as so many of you do) but she demonstrates the virtues of slow reading and close reading. She writes as if she’s really marinated in a text; she pays attention at sentence level and remarks on details and textures which can so easily be missed in a single post about a book.
- Still Life with Books – Violet was a blogger I discovered through the Angela Carter Reading Week. She has an amazing ability to get right to the heart of a book and I aspire to writing the sort of thoughtful and well-structured reviews she seems to dash off effortlessly.
- Miss Pickering – How can anyone failed to be inspired by the lush flowers and dry wit of Miss Pickering? She brightens up the greyest of Belgian days.
- Jackie Morris Artist – Jackie Morris is an artist, illustrator and writer and I find her posts about how she works endlessly absorbing and beautiful too.
- Obooki’s Obloquy – I think of Obooki as the Starship Enterprise of book bloggers, boldly going to some of literature’s furthest and least-trod reaches. Although, truth be told, I’d be scared to bump into him on a dark night...
- The Age of Uncertainty – Steerforth is a second-hand bookseller, discoverer of oddities and explorer of the world, well I can’t explain the immense charm and addictiveness of his weblog, it is just lovely, go and read it.
- Into the Hermitage – It’s not just Rima Staines’ art which draws me here time and time again although I love to look at it; what really fascinates me is the life she has created and chronicles. She depicts all the magic and wonder in the world around her, and it encourages me to seek the same around me.
- Kiss a Cloud – Claire! Start posting again! We miss you!
- Discarding Images – A day begun with a dash of mediaeval insanity can only be a good day.
And now seven facts about myself. Friends, there are many facts but most of them are stupendously dull. No birthmarks shaped like Jesus, hidden musical talents or detachable limbs. So this has been tricky.
- When I was a child, I wanted to be a witch when I grew up; some might say that I have achieved that ambition but my whole adult life has been lived with the faint disappointment that turning people into toads and flying around on broomsticks isn’t actually a valid career option.
- My mother taught me to read when I was four and instilled in me a slavish addiction to fiction and poetry.
- I have lived in Ipswich, Florence, Cambridge, London, Makurdi (Nigeria), Dover and Geel (Belgium). I am still in Geel.
- One morning I encountered a rat looking up out of the loo at me. That was an odd moment.
- I cannot help believing that everything is alive really. I mean, I know that a pot or a chair or even a book doesn’t really have feelings, but yet... It makes throwing things away really difficult because how will they cope with the rejection?
- I can load, clean and fire a rifle. My aim is quite good.
- Cows terrify me.
I am off on a surprise camping trip to the Ardennes tomorrow morning, but will be back later this week. If I haven’t disappeared into a big pit of mud and Pot Noodles and wailing.