ECLECTIC BLOGGERS UNITE!

The other day lovely, gracious, talented Lori Degman honored me with a "Versatile Blogger Award."

Thank you, Lori! (sweeping bow here) I'm honored. and I'm so pleased to know you. Readers, you'll want to know her too. She's awesome. And she too wrote a zoo book! That's right: the award-wining picture book 1 ZANY ZOO.

And the whole thing got me pondering that word "versatile." According to the Free Online Dictionary, it means  
"1. Capable of doing many things competently. 2. Having varied uses or serving many functions"

I like it. It's about what one is able to offer the world.

It seems closely related to another word I like even better: ECLECTIC.

Again, according to the Free Online dictionary, it means
 "Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles"

 I don't know why I like this word better. Maybe because it's more artsy, less utilitarian-sounding? Eclectic, to me, feels like getting to the source of things.

Eclectic feels like a centerpiece whereas versatile feels like something you store in the kitchen drawer and pull out from time to time.

 And as I was having this conversation with myself about the difference between the two words, I thought, hmmm. Lori is exactly the kind of person who would appreciate the difference. And there are a number of other bloggers I can think of who would too.

So in honor of that, I hereby take the liberty of altering this award. I'm giving it a new name and altering the "rules" ever so slightly. Because that's what we versatile/eclectic bloggers do!

The new rules:


 Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.  Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.   Next, select 5 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.   Nominate those 5 bloggers for the Eclectic Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.  Finally, tell the person who nominated you 5 things about yourself.   For those of you who care about such things: the original rules said to select "15" bloggers and tell "7" things about yourself. Ummmm, I'm introverted, okay? Even "5" (of either thing) is a bit of a challenge for me.

So. Here's the five bloggers I would like to recognize for their amazing eclectic-ness:

Pat Weaver at Writer on a Horse: Pat writes about gardening and getting older and horses and chicken hawks and you just never know what! She makes me laugh and cry.

Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference: Tabatha's blog is an artsy feast of music and visuals and written words. I always leave inspired.

Linda Baie at Teacher Dance: Linda has got to be one of the most gracious, generous spirits in the blogosphere. I love the real-life things she chooses to write about... teaching, living, saying goodbyes, bullying... really good stuff.

Team Swagger: Okay, to be fair, it's easier to be eclectic when you're a team. I love all the voices here and suspect you will too!

Another blog I want to mention even though it's food-centric, so not exactly eclectic, but the person who's writing it certainly seems to be and I have enjoyed the heck out of it since discovering a short while ago:

So Delushious!: Here's the tagline: "personal random ramblings from a girl who loves bacon and can't be fat." This blog is written by model Chrissy Teigen. There's something about that contradiction: model who loves to eat and also love spicy language and Pilates and taking up-close pics of food that really appeals to me. Warning: SPICY LANGUAGE.And try the chipotle marinade. Yum!

And now: FIVE THINGS ABOUT ME YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW

1. Once upon a time I gardened. Not anymore.That's because I realized I don't really like it. I don't like the sun, the heat, the weeds, chiggers.... so if you've got extra veggies, I am happy to give them a plate to momentarily rest upon!

2.  I'm thinking about taking a comedy/improv class. It scares me. Which is the biggest reason I want to take it.

3. I'm also thinking about taking an iron casting class at Sloss Furnace.

4. I dream about a country road like this one:


5. I love to rearrange the furniture.

.