Boom! I have been selected for the Reader Appreciation Award by fellow blogger Jo of thoughtsfromthekitchensink. A fan of The Mostyn-Thomas Journal it seems, Jo mentions us on Twitter regularly, often comments here, and is a great role model herself, being a mom of six at age 35 including a teenage girl with CP called Paige (who, by Jo’s account, has a wonderful acerbic sense of humor – atta girl!) plus she gets to glam up, chair a local charity and write a heartfelt blog. Amazing woman. Thankyou thoughtsfromthekitchensink.
When you nominate a blog for The Reader Appreciation Award, you are stating you admire the person’s blog and recommend people check it out. Once you receive a nomination you must follow these rules.
1. Include the award logo somewhere in your blog.
2. Answer 10 questions (detailed below) about yourself, if you want to.
3. Nominate 10-12 blogs that you love. Or you pick the number.
4. Contact the nominated bloggers to let them know.
5. Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you with a link in your blog.
So – without further ado – here are the questions and my answers.
1. Favourite colour? A blue so blue it hums like another colour, usually violet. I blame Yves Klein.
2. Favourite animal? Can I be subversive? Animal, from the Muppets. At his best when letting rip on the drums.
3. Favourite non-alcoholic drink? A Chai Steamer from AMT.
4. Facebook or Twitter? Facebook – although I do love the ad-hoc talking points that sometimes pop up on Twitter.
5. Favourite Pattern? Stripes – especially on a T-shirt. Can’t get enough of them.
6. Do you prefer giving or getting presents? Giving. I love getting the children new books or toys, particularly those that I know they will treasure as learning tools. When I can I also love treating Miles to a great dish that I improvised on, or taking him out to dinner (on those oh-too-rare occasions when we can go out alone).
7. Favourite number? Seven. I don’t know what it is – I just keep coming back to that number for some reason.
8. Favourite day of the week? Wednesday, when the chaos of Monday has long since gone, and I can feel happy and secure that Isobel will be enjoying dressing up, messy play or some painting and glitter at the local children’s center for three hours. This is her best chance to mingle properly with other children of her age.
9. Favourite flower? I have seen some stunning red-and-yellow chrysanthemums.
10. What is your passion? A more pertinent question would be ‘What ARE my passions?’ I am passionate about freedom of expression and that informs my love of the arts – particularly contemporary visual art in its many forms – Deaf Culture, films and, most importantly, writing/journalism. In empowering me to articulate my views, there is nothing quite like the language of description – be it English or BSL. And last but not least, I am passionate about my husband and two beautiful children, all of whom I love to bits.
Now that I’ve answered the questions these are my nominated bloggers – and they are a fairly eclectic (and sometimes arty) bunch that probably goes to show that I’m a mom who refuses to let my life get too small:
Insanity of Motherhood – a succinct and wickedly funny blog that casts a look at life’s little irks through the eyes of a 40-something mother barely keeping her composure throughout. To quote blogger Nate, ‘It’s not midlife crisis – but it’s midlife something.’
Ministry of Mum – if the tone you’re after is reluctant motherhood, this is the blog you need. One of the most hilarious I’ve ever come across, and it chimes with me too. Go on, you know you want to.
Ashton Jean-Pierre BLOG – we had the pleasure of having our pictures taken by cool snapper Ashton recently, and I’d recommend him to anyone seeking a stress-free lifestyle shoot with beautiful results. Once you start browsing his blog, you’ll know why.
Our statures touch the skies - love, love, love this blog from Tom Shakespeare. His objective is simple: profile a single leading figure with a disability through the ages every month. Highly recommended.
DeafFirefly - written by Donna Williams, a freelance writer, BSL poet, postgrad student and occasional performer. As someone writing about Deaf issues that affect me personally, this is a woman after my own heart.
Stageandsign – this is a gem. Blogger Sami Thorpe is a great hard-to-find advocate of Deaf/BSL Culture and inclusive arts practice who reviews the kind of plays you want to see, and she’s not even deaf or disabled. Check her out.
Rockinpaddy hasn’t updated his blog for a while – which is a shame, because it’s a hugely entertaining anecdote by a performer with a disability who writes with a strong flavor of the East End in the ’70s.
So there we go again. Boom!
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