Awards 8, 9 and 10: Semper tres

This was an old Latin adage from my school years at an all boys school: Raro solus, nunquam duo, semper tres – Rarely one, never two, always three. I have been nominated for three awards by Oscar Alejandro Plascencia of In So Many Words. Oscar’s site is a NOH8 scene where he posts poetry and thoughts often with a same gender leitmotif. He has honoured me with three awards all on top of one another.

The award images are posted below and include the Dragon’s Loyalty Award, the Liebster Award and the Beautiful Bloggers Award. The latter two have been gratefully received by me before. Getting all three at once is like having tuna nicoise crostini, roast pork, and amandes caramélisées au chocolat et au piment d’Espelette all on the same plate washed down with a few pickled anchovies and a splash of Egon Muller-Scharzhof Scharzhofberger Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese. Thank you, Oscar, for this delightful banquet.

Award 8: Dragon’s Loyalty Award

This award is given to loyal followers, commenters, or fans of your blog. The recipient can be a fellow blogger or a blog-free person who comments regularly.

Award 9: Liebster Award

This award is named with a word of Germanic origin meaning: dearest, sweetest, kindest, nicest, lovely, pleasant, valued, endearing… (Aha! I know it sounds like you!)

Award 10: Beautiful Bloggers Award

This award is presented to recognize some of the beautiful bloggers we read for their hard work and inspiration.

Rules, Regulations, Rubrics

Rules for all three are rolled into one.
1. Thank your nominator and link back to their blog.
2. Post your acceptance with images of awards and regulations.
3. Answer questions posed by your nominator.
4. State 5 interesting things about yourself.
5. Nominate 5 award-worthy bloggers.

Five interesting things about myself

1. In the car on the way to be born, at 3 in the morning, my parents had to stop and ask the milkman for directions. The milkman became a standard joke in my childhood.

Whanganui, New Zealand

2. My birthday has always been celebrated the day after the actual date. No one – not even my parents – have a clue why.

3. I wet my pants while running a race at my primary school’s annual sports day. I was wearing light grey shorts.

4. I am a raging introvert. I will amiably attend social gatherings but will spend the entire time wanting it to be over.

5. Years ago now, I was teaching secondary school full-time, running a large boarding boys’ dormitory, coaching rugby and javelin, directing plays and musicals, and trying to finish my double degree at university. The night before the final university exam on British Commonwealth Literature I had not read a single required text all year. I went into the dormitory and asked for two volunteers. They sat on the floor until 3 a.m. in their pyjamas reading each book and telling me what each was about. One of the students is now the country’s Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister. I passed with an A+! Thanks Bill!

Five questions asked by my nominator:

1. Which celebrity do you get mistaken for?
When I taught secondary school back in the 1970s my nickname was “Jagger”. Apparently I didn’t look dissimilar to Mick Jagger, which was a shame because I always thought he was rather ugly. It didn’t greatly matter because I frequently had the light off. These days I look more like James Dean. Well, I look like what James Dean would have looked like if he was still alive. Or maybe Zsa Zsa Gabor. Yes! Zsa Zsa! I can see why some mistakenly take me for Zsa Zsa – especially when it comes to brains.

2. What story does your family always tell about you?
They “always” (often) (sometimes) tell how when milking cows in my teens, if one of my brothers got kicked by a cow they’d shout and swear profusely; whereas I was stoical. I would sweat pain and carry on milking. Oh to re-gather today some of that patient forbearance!

View through my bedroom window. I know I’m sexy, but…

3. How do you relax when stress gets the better of you?
I go out into my garden and pull weeds. Such is the stress, my garden is weedless. Speaking of which, my first iris of spring came into flower yesterday. In the autumn I had bought a bag of 100 iris bulbs for $20. I had to get cash out and pay with that, else my spendthrift ways would be noted in the Bank Statement by others in my household. Now that the irises are all about to bloom, and the fact that they are so in-your-face, they will be noticed. Where did they come from? I’m getting stressed about it. I must go out and weed around the watsonias. Oh shucks! I’d bought a surreptitious bag of them too.

4. What would you name the autobiography of your life?
The first volume – from conception to 18 years – would be called Bits of a Boyhood. The subtitle would be Growing up in rural New Zealand. Oh! Dear me! I think it’s already written. Why! Here it is! Bits of a Boyhood.

As to a second volume, I wouldn’t have a clue, but am trying to get to 1001 stories on my Story a Day–Weave a Web blog. I call them Cabbages. There’s a reason why they’re called Cabbages, and it’s explained here! When 1001 are written I’d like to tie the stories together with some loose plot in the manner of The Decameron or Canterbury Tales or Arabian Nights. Not that my stories are on a par with them, but you get the drift…

5. What songs are included on the soundtrack to your life?
My all-time favourite song is the Skye Boat Song:

Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that’s born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.

 Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,
Thunderclouds rend the air;
Baffled, our foes stand by the shore,
Follow they will not dare.

It’s the tune that gets to me. I sang it as a kid and still sing it today when no one’s listening.

My mother was an opera singer so I grew up with a lot of coloratura singing going on in the background. Sort of

Val-deri,Val-dera,
Val-deri,
Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Val-deri,Val-dera
My knapsack on my back

but by Verdi.

My father sang in the car:

 If it ain’t gonna rain no more no more,
If it ain’t gonna rain no more,
How in the heck can I wash my neck
If it ain’t gonna rain no more?

Music-wise – songs included or not – the soundtrack of my life is Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. I was obsessed by it as a kid, and I still am today.

Dancing the “Rite of Spring”

Loyal, Liebster, and Beautiful Nominees

Because three awards in fact are rolled into one, which is a little unfair, I’m not going to further the confusion by nominating others. Let each single award echo down its own corridor. This is a slight copout on my behalf, but…

… although I’m not going to nominate, I’m going to recommend five from a great list of my favourite bloggers. I think they’re worth visiting. Please don’t be offended if I haven’t recommended you! It’s not that I hate your guts; it’s just that … whatever…

1. Harvesting Hecate:
Andrea writes the best prose this side of the black stump. It not only contains seeds of wisdom, but it is lyrical, evocative, breath-taking, and (dare I say it) spell-binding.

2. Wolfberryknits: Adventures in Creativity:
I never thought I’d be interested in selecting wool and knitting and stuff. Try and see if you don’t get hooked. And life is lived in an old train!

3. Yvonne at Hello World  writes: Come along with me, an ordinary person, to see what I see, to go where I go. As always, the ordinary when well-written can be charming, captivating, delightful.

4. Arlingwoman at arlingwords writes about Arlington and Washington surrounds. It’s all at once homely, lovely, and fascinating.

5. Noelle at Saylingaway writes about various things from various perspectives, but I especially enjoy her Plymouth (USA) postings. Plymouth rocks!!

Thank you again, dear Oscar, for the triple nomination. Don’t hesitate to visit the five blogs I recommended. They are worth the visit I reckon.