Thanks to follower .breaking into blossom., I’ve been nominated for something called a liebster award: a sort of  blog-based chain letter which encourages small bloggers to give a shout-out to/for other small bloggers.

a) it was sweet of blossom to think of me (thank you!),
b) I just got back from vacation and I’m bored,
c) I like that the Liebster Award shares the same first letter as Lesbian.

So here goes.

It seems there are multiple versions of this “award” going around, but the one blossom is following instructs me to:

a) nominate eleven blogs with under 200 followers (I honestly don’t know how you’d determine that, so I’m just gonna take a stab at it by choosing from the “smallish personal blog” category in my Feedly list)
b) notify said bloggers they’ve been nominated (hey bloggers! thanks for existing!)
c) provide answers to the eleven questions blossom posed in her own Liebster post, and
d) ask eleven questions of my own nominees, to answer if they so choose, along with posting their own eleven nominees (excluding the blogger who nominated you).

My Nominees in Alphabetical Order are…. (drumroll) … 

1. The Dirty Normal
2. Eat the Damn Cake
3. Fannie’s Room
4. First the Egg
5. I’m Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write
6. The Lesbrary
7. New Porn By Women
8. Radical Doula
9. The Thang Blog
10. Undercover in the Suburbs
11. Walk the Ridgepole

My responses to blossom’s questions…

1. What comforts you most when you’re sad? Touch, particularly from my wife (doesn’t have to be sexual). And reading familiar books.
2. What would you do on a dream day where money and travel time were no object? Enjoy leisurely meals in the good company of friends and family (who are scattered across the continent), go walking in Cumbria in ideal weather, read intellectually engaging things in books, and enjoy unhurried sexytimes with my wife.
3. Favorite drink (with or without alcohol)? Summer: Elderflower gin & tonic, Winter: Goat’s milk hot cocoa made with belgian chocolate.
4. What character trait (of yours) do you most struggle to accept about yourself? The fact that physical activity and exercise are not second nature to me.
5. How much water do you drink in a day? Typically not as much as I should.
6. If you’re a parent, what has surprised you the most about the gig? If you’re not, what do you like best about not having kids (right now or at all)? I feel uncomfortable framing non-parenting in terms of what’s “best” about that aspect of our family life. In part, we’re non-parents because we can’t picture having enough hours in the day (around work) or emotional resources to parent adequately. So I guess I’d say, “it’s good having enough sleep and down-time that we can function”? But I’d rather say that what’s surprised me about non-parenting is that I’m okay with it. Growing up, I assumed I would be a mother. Life hasn’t turned out that way, and it’s surprising me that I’m as comfortable with that as I am.
7. What (if anything) makes you feel insecure about either being a parent or not being a parent? Insecurity may not be the right term…but I worry about how to maintain cross-generational connections in the absence of parenting, as that is the clearest model I know.
8. Top three four television shows of all time? Firefly. Mr. Rogers. Torchwood. The West Wing.
9. Specialty dish (or baked indulgence)? Something you’ve made time and again. Moosewood brownies.
10. Favorite thing about the person you’ve grown into? That I can always find something to be interested in and ask questions about.
11. One simple, happy memory. Stepping off the plane in Redmond, Oregon, en route to visiting my grandparents and smelling the scent of juniper and lava rock dust.