I was so excited today to see that sillisoup has nominated me for a Liebster award. Apparently this is an award for new or small bloggers (200 followers or less) and as a recipient, I am to answer ten questions about myself, propose ten new questions for the next nominees and nominate ten other bloggers whom I know you will love as much as I do.  So, without further ado, here are my answers.

1) If you could have dinner with a famous person, living or dead, who would it be? What would you ask her or him?

Robert Heinlein. I love his stories and his writings shaped my thought processes in all that he taught me about the dignity of man as an individual, thinking creature, with the right to be secure in and of himself. I think I’d just let him talk, I’d probably learn more that way than by steering him down some rabbit hole of my own. I suppose I could ask how many times he rolled over in his grave when the film version of Starship Troopers came out, but that might be a bit rude.

2) Do you cook?  Why or why not?

I love to cook, though I don’t always find the time to do it as much as I’d like. There’s something about seeing a bunch of disparate ingredients come together to make something that’s more than the sum of its parts. It’s also tied in to my love of travel; cooking, for me, is a way to recreate places that I’ve loved, or to experience a bit of one I hope to see some day.

3) What’s your favorite hobby?

Um, as is probably obvious by now, B-Movies.  I love them, not only for their entertainment value, but also for how much I’ve learned about filmmaking from watching and over-analysing them. Don’t get me wrong, I love big-budget movies too, but I feel like I learn more from watching how people have tried to pull off big ideas on small dollars. B doesn’t necessarily mean a movie is bad, just that it was shot quickly, on a low budget (originally ‘B-Picture’ simply meant the less expensive movie that filled out the second half of a double-bill, as opposed to the headliner or ‘A-Picture’). Many of them are simply dreadful though, and often I learn more from the failures than the successes.  Also they’re generally just pretty darn funny.

4) What are you learning about now?

I am getting ready to take my PA (Physician Assistant/Associate) re-certification exam this summer. As it’s a generalist exam and I work in a narrow sub-specialty (Occupational Medicine), I am having to go back and restudy everything I’ve ever forgotten about cardiology and primary care.

5) What’s the most interesting place you’ve ever visited?

I once ended up in a whorehouse in Tajikistan.  That story will definitely make it on here some day.

6) If you could have a talent you don’t currently possess what would it be?

I’d love to be able to play the piano with both hands at the same time. I can manage one or the other just fine, try to put them together and I turn into a cack-handed chimpanzee. With epilepsy.

7) Dance or sit it out?

Right now, I’d sit it out, I hate crowds and have all the natural grace of a cross-eyed water buffalo, but I plan to change that by taking some swing dance lessons this summer.  We will see how that goes. I’m sure you’ll hear about it one way or the other.

8) What have you read lately?  Was it good?

I am finishing Carrie Vaughan’s Golden Age novels now, about a normal woman in a family of superheroes.  Honestly, they are only about OK. Her stuff is light fiction regardless, and that’s about all I can handle right now, but these aren’t as good as her Kitty the Werewolf books by a long shot. Not so bad that I won’t finish them, but I don’t see re-reading them either.

9) Tell me about a really good book you’ve read.

Good heavens, I don’t even know where to start, my life has been full of good books. It depends on what the purpose was. C.S. Lewis has fed me spiritually more than any other author, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe helped make the Easter story more graspable for me as a child and Mere Chrstianity is my go-to as an adult, whenever I need a refresher in the basics of my faith. Robert Heinlein was a huge influence and Starship Troopers opened my mind to the ideas that citizenship comes with responsibilities and that oftentimes it is the Soldier (or Sailor, or Airman, or Marine) who gives us the privilege of sitting in our snug complacent living rooms arguing over the moral necessity of the very concept of war. Those are probably the ones I come back to most often in my life, but there are so many more that I love, I can’t fairly pick and choose only one. I love Elizabeth Moon when I’m looking for straight military SF and Harry Turtledove when I’m playing “What If?”. And I think the Harry Potter books are actually a great exploration of loyalty and love and the fact that evil must be opposed at any cost, even that of one’s own life.

10) Post a picture of someone or something you really like.

I’m too private to post identifiable pictures of family here, but if I weren’t I assure you it would be the kids and husband doing something incredibly geeky, like dressing up for a Doctor Who tea, or wearing matching pirate garb at a Renaissance Faire.  Since that isn’t going to happen, I present Magpie (so named because she is black and white and steals everything that isn’t nailed down).  When I went to PA school in Texas, I had to leave my family behind due to jobs and schools back home.  Maggie adopted me as soon as I walked into the shelter and, while she frequently drives me crazy, she also kept me sane during a very lonely time.

The official rules are as follows:

Rules:

• Each nominee must have under 200 followers
• Thank and link to the nominating blog
• Answer their 10 questions and propose 10 new ones for your nominees
• Nominate 10 blogs and tell them that they’ve been nominated
• Write a post containing the questions
• Include these rules in the post

And my ten questions:

1. What is your favorite “guilty pleasure” band or musical group?
2. Grits or Home Fries?
3. What is your favorite way to travel? Why?
4. If you were declared Dictator for a Day, what would be the first law you would pass/repeal?
5. What book or movie has had the most influence on your personal philosophy and beliefs?
6. What is the stupidest argument you have ever had with a spouse or significant other?
7. If you could be any Muppet, which one would you be and why?
8. Monster movies, yes or no?
9. What was the worst vacation you have ever taken?
10. Do you have a favorite bad movie?

OK, clearly I am not real deep, but I think the answers should be fun and that is what my blogging is about

Here are my new favorite bloggers/nominees:

https://mathemagicalsite.wordpress.com/

http://cultfaction.com/

http://zakslayback.com/

https://theadiposealternative.wordpress.com/

http://katiez.me/

https://hksounds.wordpress.com/

https://themoderntheologian.wordpress.com/

https://americanoflondon.wordpress.com/

http://jubileeandacupoftea.com/

I know, I know, that’s only nine, but I am having such a good time reading blogs that we will be here all day if I don’t pick an arbitrary place to stop. Also, I need to go to work, so I can get paid, so I can support my blogging habit.  Y’all are all wonderful and I can’t wait to see what each of you is up to next.

Thanks again to sillisoup for the nomination. Now go forth and check out these great bloggers!