One Lovely Blog Award

Posted on by S. J. Paige

A huge THANK YOU to Ally for the One Lovely Blog nomination. (I am an INFJ, too! I hear we are such a small percent of the overall population.)

The award works like this:

The One Lovely Blog Award nominations are chosen by fellow bloggers for newer and up-and-coming bloggers. The goal is to help give recognition and to help the new blogger reach more viewers. It recognizes their “lovely” blogs and those who share their story or thoughts in a beautiful manner to connect with readers and followers. In order to accept the award, the nominated blogger must follow several guidelines:

  • Thank the person who nominated you for the award
  • Add the One Lovely Blog logo to your post. (I was bad and added it to my home page instead. Teehee.)
  • Share 7 facts or things about yourself
  • Nominate 15 or more bloggers you admire and inform the nominees (I was bad again and only nominated 5. Hey, man; I’m picky, and my 5 are blogs that I REALLY love.)

My 7 facts:

  1. I recently discovered that I am of French-Canadian decent. My great-grandmother, Emily Chartrand, (aka Kitty) was born in Missouri, but her parents were from Quebec.
  2. Along with the French-Canadian, I also have German and Czechoslovakian heritage from my dad’s side. (The German is debatable. My 3rd great-grandparents were from Alsace-Lorraine, which was part of France prior to the Franco-Prussian War. It became a part of Germany in 1871, but they had immigrated to the USA before then. By that logic, I’m not German at all, but French.) My mother’s side is 100% Italian.
  3. My great-great-grandparents on my dad’s side were first cousins. (I know; that was my reaction too.)
  4. My great-grandfather — again, dad’s side — ran moonshine in Memphis, Tennessee before moving to the west coast. I’m assuming he did this to avoid arrest, but according to family stories, he still made moonshine after he moved to San Diego, California with his family. (Fuck prohibition!)
  5. I’m trying to track down birth certificates on my Italian great-grandparents so I can apply for dual USA-Italian citizenship. (If you can (or know) anyone that can help with this, I’ll promise you the blood of my first-born. But only a drop; I still want them alive and stuff, ya know?)
  6. For something non-ancestry related: I have signed copies of two different Anne Rice novels. One is The Wolf Gift and the other is the original UK edition of Merrick. Both I purchased from Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans, Louisiana. If a fire happened in my house and I could only save two books, I would save those two books. (And one by Allan Gruganus, signed by him, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Gethin Anthony. Because fuck you, fire; I can carry three books.)
  7. I love semi-colons.

My nominations:

  1. Cristian Mihai — I love reading his thoughts on the writing process. His post “You’ve got to sell your heart” is something I believe in.
  2. Sean Carswell — He was one of a few guest writers at the University of Redlands I had the pleasure of speaking to while I was a student there. His work is very “blue-collar” and his reading style is fun. I remember him acting act a few parts of his own work, actually jumping and spinning around. I would save a copy of his novel, Train Wreck Girl, from my hypothetical house fire too, because he signed it with the message, “Your boyfriend may not have a job, but at least he doesn’t live in a trailer.” Thanks for the laughs years later, Sean. I have long since broken up with that boyfriend, in case you were wondering. He did eventually did get a job, though.
  3. Ghost Cities — This blog is after my heart — tales of mystery, the supernatural, etc. Also, Oxford is such a beautiful place.
  4. The Wine Wankers — They love wine. I love wine. They know their wine. I’m still on the fence about Merlot, though…
  5. Broken Light Collective — The folks over here run a online photography gallery for people affected by mental illness. All photographs are taken by individuals who have been affected or are affect by some type of mental illness to varying degrees. Their mission statement: “Broken Light Collective’s mission is to enhance the lives of people living with or affected by mental illness through the use of therapeutic photography; to provide opportunities to share photographic work in supportive environments both online and through live exhibition; and to raise awareness and fight stigma through art, education, advocacy, and outreach.”