Very Inspiring

I’ve been nominated for a very inspiring blogger award. I don’t know what that means. I’m sure my blog has never inspired anyone. Has any blog ever inspired anyone? But as they say, it’s an honor just to be nominated.

Rule #1 – Post the award logo. No problem. I can do that.
Rule #2 – Link back to the person who nominated me. Ok – http://housewifedownunder.wordpress.com
Rule #3 – List seven things about me. Oy vey.

My resume says dancer/singer if I’m trying out for a mostly dancing part and singer/dancer if I’m trying out for a mostly singing part. I consider myself more a dancer than anything else. I also do a little acting, but that’s usually in conjunction with singing and/or dancing. I have studied lyrical, jazz, tap, contemporary, ballet, Baroque, Flamenco, and Gaelic and First Nations folk dances enough to put them on my resume. Vocally, I am a coloratura mezzo-soprano and have been working on my lower register.

Drums were my first instrument and I learned scales on piano so I could practice singing without an accompanist. I never did anything organized in jr high, but played quads and alto sax in my high school marching band, drums and soprano sax in the jazz band, and tenor and alto sax in the concert band.

I took French in high school. Or j’ai pris le français au lycée. What I don’t remember would make my teacher say mon dieu.

I love cheese. I grew up in Minnesota, which may not officially be the cheese capital of America, but we tell ourselves it is. So naturally, I moved to Hong Kong, where cheese is never the first thing on the menu. I got a big box of American cheese for Christmas last year. It was one of the best Christmas gifts ever.

My family tree can be traced back to 12th century Scotland. I’ve never been to Scotland, but I know about our clan, coat of arms, tartans, motto and family history. One of my ancestors helped form the Chattan Confederation. We were big shots a very long time ago, but lost most of it by taking the wrong sides in a few wars. My grandfather was really into all of that and taught me everything he knew about it. I don’t like to talk about my family, but I have great memories of my grandfather. He was a professional jazz drummer and before that, was an army sergeant with the 1st Infantry Division and part of the first wave that landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day.

I was born near and raised in Minnesota, but I don’t have the stereotypical accent that people who know nothing about Minnesota expect me to have. Most of us don’t. It’s only some people in small towns up north and in movies. Though inaccurate for the sake of comedy, Fargo was still a great movie. But I do sometimes say “oh yah”, “boughten” and “what the hockey sticks”, as in H-E-double hockey sticks. I also know what a popple is and always wore Sorels, choppers and a toque to climb them.

I used to own three pairs of choppers. Now I have none. It’s never cold enough here anyway. This isn’t interesting or inspirational, but I guess I’m not interesting enough to come up with seven things.

Rule #4 – Nominate 15 other blogs. That’s the hardest part. I don’t read 15 other blogs. I don’t even know about 15 other blogs. So here are a few I’ve read and a few I just found at random. I don’t think randomly listing blogs is in the true spirit of this thing, but 15 is a lot of blogs.

http://thisgirlsaysow.blogspot.com – American girl in Denmark
http://reykjavikharbor.blogspot.com – American girl in Iceland
http://www.americangirlinjordan.blogspot.com – American girl in Jordan
http://jordanasimone7.blogspot.com – American girl in Israel
http://meirabaterachaim.blogspot.com – Israeli girl who’s a soldier in the air force
http://architart.blogspot.com – American in Hong Kong
http://www.mywanderinglife.com – American in Shanghai
http://meigourenadventures.blogspot.com – I think this guy is a famous writer, but he doesn’t give his name
http://www.landofnocheese.com – Hong Kong photo blog with a lot of pictures
http://www.hongkongblong.com – Weird things about Hong Kong
http://thehungryegghead.com – I don’t know anything about this one, but it’s got a lot of Hong Kong pictures

Rule #5 – Notify these bloggers. I can do that.

That’s enough inspiration for now.