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Hello, my dear strangers!
I’ve recently found out that I’ve been nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award. Big thanks to Olga over at Middle-earth Reflections for nominating me and explaining to me what the whole thing means. If you are a Tolkien nerd (which I believe most of us are), then head over to her blog and be amazed by her essays.
Now, let’s go over the rules, shall we?
- Thank the person who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
- Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
- Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
- List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.
Now, onto the questions!
- What is your favourite book ever?
This is a tough one to answer. It is, I believe, an impossible question, one that we still cannot restrain ourselves from asking fellow literature aficionados. I will try to answer it without listing fifty different titles.
- The Green Mile/The Stand – Stephen King
- Parce Que Je T’aime (Because I Love You) – Guillaume Musso
- Les Miserables – Victor Hugo
- Anything by Khaled Hosseini
- The Bridge on the Drina – Ivo Andric
- Anything by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Kokoro – Soseki Natsume
- Wonder – R.J. Palacio
- 1984 – George Orwell
- A Personal Matter – Kenzaburo Oe
- March Family Saga – Louisa M. Alcott
- Between Shades of Gray – Ruta Sepetys
- The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
- Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami
2. How did you get into reading?
As a child, I was never really “pushed” into reading. I think it’s safe to say I’m the only reader in our house, at least, the only frequent reader. I found the world of literature to be a very boring and dry one (what was I thinking, right?) and skipped many of the books we had to read in school. That’s why, even today, I’m still picking up the pieces along the way, going back to my elementary school bookshelves and catching up on reading I should have done ages ago. I really loathed books. Then, one day, my dad took me with him to visit his friend. While they were talking, I wandered off into his daughter’s room. And, there she was, lying on her bed, reading the first tome of Harry Potter. I thought she looked amazing, so serene and “cool”. She was so immersed into it that she didn’t even notice me. I asked her what book she was reading and the next thing I remember was begging my dad to buy me a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. My reading addiction began and slowly transcended into a livelong obsession.
3. What was the first book you read?
I really cannot remember. It was probably something we had to read for school. But, once my interest in literature got sparked, I began paying closer attention to the books I was reading and even began cataloguing them (this was back in the dark ages, before Goodreads). So, I’d say it was probably either Heidi or Pippi Longstocking. Maybe even Harry Potter.
4. What is your favourite quote?
Same with books, an impossible question. There’s a whole bunch of quotes I love and admire. I’ll try not to drown you in them.
We each owe a death, there are no exceptions, I know that, but sometimes, oh God, the Green Mile is so long.
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.
‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo.
‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’
It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime…
Inside the snow globe on my father’s desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf. When I was little my father would pull me into his lap and reach for the snow globe. He would turn it over, letting all the snow collect on the top, then quickly invert it. The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin. The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and I worried for him. When I told my father this, he said, ‘Don’t worry, Susie; he has a nice life. He’s trapped in a perfect world.’
Reality doesn’t impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls.
You’re alive only once, as far as we know, and what could be worse than getting to the end of your life and realizing you hadn’t lived it?
Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
Memories are bullets. Some whiz by and only spook you. Others tear you open and leave you in pieces.
To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other’s hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time.
Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.
I suspect the truth is that we are waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us.
To love is good, too: love being difficult. For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.
Sorrow for a wrong was better than nothing…but no amount of after-the-fact sorrow could ever atone for joy taken in destruction…
She wanted something to happen – something, anything: she did not know what.
We are not all born at once, but by bits. The body first, and the spirit later… Our mothers are racked with the pains of our physical birth; we ourselves suffer the longer pains of our spiritual growth.
Between the fear that something would happen and the hope that still it wouldn’t, there is much more space than one thinks. On that narrow, hard, bare and dark space a lot of us spend their lives.
For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.
People die all the time. Life is a lot more fragile than we think. So you should treat others in a way that leaves no regrets. Fairly, and if possible, sincerely. It’s too easy not to make the effort, then weep and wring your hands after the person dies.
It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.
Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
When his life was ruined, his family killed, his farm destroyed, Job knelt down on the ground and yelled up to the heavens, ‘Why god? Why me?’ and the thundering voice of God answered, There’s just something about you that pisses me off.
5. What is your favourite atmosphere for reading?
Any time, any place, any way. But, preferably, on a windy autumn afternoon.
6. How do you prefer discovering new books to read?
Well, I generally like to stick with “proven” authors, the ones whose works I’ve already read, though I do not shy away from delving into new territories. Goodreads is a pretty good place for this.
7. Do you prefer physical books or ebooks?
Physical, definitely. However, my room’s become too crowded with paperbacks and, until I acquire a Beauty and the Beast library, I’m stuck with e-books.
8. What inspired you to start your blog?
I love writing. There are certain topics I could never grow bored of writing about and I wanted to share some of my thoughts. If people took an interest in them, great. If not, I’d least I’d have a place where all of my thoughts, interests, reviews and such could be found.
9. What’s the story behind your blog’s name?
Wayward: adj. Deviating from what is desired, expected or required, especially in being disobedient or in gratifying one’s own inclinations; difficult or impossible to manage, control or keep in order; unpredictable
When I was younger, everybody used to call me “wayward child”. They still do sometimes. And since I have neither changed in any drastic ways nor reached full adulthood, I decided to go with that phrase which I’ve been hearing since my earliest childhood and which still describes me well.
10. What are the things that inspire you?
The smell of roasted hazelnuts. A terrific book. A kind gesture or a reassuring word. A brave deed. Seeing someone who “has understandable and excusable reasons to hate” be a bigger person and not succumb to hatred. Tolerance and open-mindedness. Listening to my brother compose music. Seeing underdogs reach new heights. Seeing progress in myself and others. Living.
11. When you write something, do you prefer to do it by hand or type straight away into your blog?
When I’m writing a blog entry, I type. Everything else is written down in the old-fashioned way.
Now that I’ve answered these questions, it’s time to nominate fewer than 11 blogs that I like. Fewer than eleven, because I am terrible at keeping up with other people’s entries and these are the about the only blogs I’ve ever read. So, here they are:
And these are the eleven questions for you:
- What do you like most about yourself?
- If you could change anything about the way you were brought up, what would it be?
- What is your least favourite book and why?
- What special power would you like to have?
- If given an opportunity to glimpse your future, would you take it or walk away?
- What country would you like to move to?
- What inspires you?
- If you could go back in time, which historical event would you like to participate in?
- Do you think you could survive a zombie apocalypse?
- What is the one thing that immediately brings tears to your eyes?
- Are you happy?
Well, that’s all for now. Hope you have a wonderful day, my dear strangers 🙂