Kreativ? Me?

Not only did Elizabeth Twist bestow the Kreativ Blogger Award on me, but she also gave me the option of answering questions other than the usual ones. Talk about Kreativ!

Rules
1. Link back to the awarding blog. (Check.)
2. Answer the following seven questions. (Will do.)
3. Provide ten random factoids about yourself. (Random OR interesting? Not sure I can do both.)
4. Last but not at all least, hand this on to seven deserving others. (We'll see.)

1. What's your favorite song?

Um, I don't have one. It sort of depends on my mood. But, if I had to, I'd pick our wedding song, "All My Roads" by Collin Raye.


2. What's your favorite dessert?

It's called "chocolate stuff" and it's like eating gooey chocolate cake with chocolate syrup pudding stuff in the middle.

3. ALTERNATIVE QUESTION: Describe the last time you were bored

I don't really get bored. I can usually find something to do - not always something useful but something nevertheless.


4. Which is your favorite pet?

I love the tortoises equally but they each think they're my favorite.


5. ALTERNATIVE QUESTION: Which do you prefer? White or whole wheat?

I can't even remember the last time I ate white bread.   


6. ALTERNATIVE QUESTION: Name one of your strong points or special skills.

Um . . . I can recognize that I don't really have any strong points or special skills? Does that count? 


7. What is your attitude mostly? 

Questioning. I always want to know "why"  - why something is, why it happened, why someone did what they did or said what they said. It drives me crazy that I don't always get to know why, that I don't always get the answer to my questions.


Ten Random Things About Me

1. I got to pet and play with black-footed penguins native to South Africa.

2. I went zip lining (once!) in Belize.

3. The first time I ate escargot I was about 12 years old. 

4. I always cry during the part of "The Sound of Music" when Capt. Von Trapp sings "Edelweiss."

5. I could spend hours at the aquarium/Sea World just watching manatees, sea turtles and dolphins.

6. I have the hardest time peeling potatoes. 

7. I wish I was a better cook than I am.

8. I don't like peas. Never have, never will.

9. I like Thai food, the hotter the better.

10. I swim in pools but I rarely go in any other body of water. Too many things lurking that I can't see . . .

Since I already feel like a rebel by answering some of the alternative questions, I'm breaking Rule 4. If you'd like to answer any of the questions or drop a random fact about yourself in the comments, please do! If you're feeling particularly Kreativ, go ahead and write a whole post proclaiming it to the blog-o-sphere. (Hopefully, your random facts will be more interesting than mine.)  

Story A Day in May: Progress Report

I learned about Story A Day from new blogging buddy, Elizabeth Twist. (For The Blogging A-Z Challenge April 2012, Elizabeth posted bits of research she planned on using for stories written for Story A Day in May.)

Knowing my creativity needed a boost, I signed up. Two days before it started. Two days. I had no plan, no prompts, no list, no nothing. While my husband wondered what had happened to his real wife, I banged my head on my desk a few times, hoping to shake some sense loose. 

And, as usual, I worried for nothing. I am loving this challenge! I modified it a bit - as The Rules say you're free to do - and that helped me feel less, um, stressed. Instead of writing a story every day, I write one story every weekday. So, by the end of May, I'll have 23 new stories, some of which I'll revise and sub, some of which I won't. (As of today, I have seven stories written and I plan on going back to three of them.)

For me, it's become about focused creativity. My muse knows that Monday thru Friday we need to come up with . . . something. It needs a beginning, a middle, and end. It can be based on the prompts from Story A Day or not. It can be long or short or micro.

It's become more about the craft, more about story itself. And isn't that really what it's all about anyway?