Grad has kindly and graciously given me the Beautiful Blogger and the Honest Scrap awards. Along with the awards I am to tell you ten things about myself. I’ve been blogging so long though I can’t imagine what I could say that I haven’t already and that anyone would actually want to know. So if you have heard any of these before, my apologies.

1. When I was a kid we had a big book of all of the Wizard of Oz stories that someone had gifted me and my sister for Christmas or something. It had the original illustrations in it. I never read a single story in it because I found the illustrations terrifying for some reason. But then I found the movie terrifying too. I was very afraid of the flying monkeys and would sometimes have bad dreams about them.
2. I also never read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because I had seen the movie first and both Gene Wilder and the Oompa Loompas scared me. The Oompas creep me out to this day and my husband is not allowed to mention them in any context whatsoever.
3. My first job other than babysitting was at a pet store cleaning out the dog and cat kennels. I liked the animals and would sometimes get to bathe the new kittens and puppies, but overall I hated the job. I was relieved when they fired me for not being able to work enough hours. I was in high school and playing soccer and doing other high school things. But while I was relieved I was also mortified and angry at being fired. How dare they!
4. Some of the things I wanted to be when I grew up: ballerina, horse racing jockey, forest ranger, zookeeper, field zoologist for the National Geographic Society researching African wildlife, large animal veterinarian. Not once did I ever think of becoming a librarian, there were no animals or adventures involved. Now I know better.
5. I have been vegan so long I have trouble remembering how long it has been. 16 years, maybe 17? When trying to explain my choice to people, usually over a meal because that’s when people notice and ask, I get really annoyed when someone, and there is always someone, tries to make themselves feel better by saying they don’t eat red meat/ a lot of meat/ are vegetarian but eat chicken and fish. Once, many years ago, I worked at a retail job that had morning pre-opening meetings. Management was going through a teambuilding phase and once we all had to say one thing we wished we could change about the world. I said I wished that everyone would be vegan. Mouths dropped open and there was a long pause of silence before the manager on duty recovered enough to look at her watch and decide it was time to break up the meeting and open the store.
6. When I was a kid my mom had to take me to the doctor to have Kleenex removed from my nose. I had a cold and my nose wouldn’t stop running so I kept shoving tissues up into it. Eventually my nose did stop running but then breathing became a bit difficult.
7. I have read Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby three times and still have no idea why people think it’s such a good book.
8. My idea of a comfort read is a book about books or reading. Said book can be fiction or nonfiction. An example of a good comfort read is Alberto Manguel’s History of Reading.
9. If money were no object, my personal dream library would be housed in a converted barn. There would be a fireplace and lots of cozy chairs and sofas to stretch out on. There would also be a huge old library table. I’ve always wanted a library table.
10. I love sweets, particularly baked goods and especially ones that involve chocolate, and I love to have sweets with a strong cup of coffee (organic fair trade, soymilk no sugar). I love to enjoy such things in the afternoon while reading a book. It is, therefore, a good thing that I have a full time job and a tenuous thread of self-moderation or I’d be gorging daily. But perhaps because I can’t and don’t, when I am able to indulge it makes it that much better.

I am supposed to pass the award along but I am a bad blogger because I don’t like leaving anyone out. Therefore, if you are reading this, consider yourself awarded. The book blog community is one of the most wonderful things about the internet. Thank you Grad and thank you everyone for creating such a marvel.