Real Neat Blog Award

The awesome social justice warrior petrel41 of Dear Kitty. Some blog nominated me for the Real Neat Blog Award!

(I probably don’t technically need to link back to the original nomination post itself after linking to the blog. All the relevant information and my answers, new questions and nominees are below. The bully-in-my-brain feels that if I don’t provide proof someone actually liked something I wrote, people will just think I made it up!)

The ‘rules’ of the Real Neat Blog Award are: (feel free not to act upon them if you don’t have time; or don’t accept awards; etc.):

1. Put the award logo on your blog.

2. Answer 7 questions asked by the person who nominated you.

3. Thank the people who nominated you, linking to their blogs.

4. Nominate any number of bloggers you like, linking to their blogs.

5. Let them know you nominated them (by commenting on their blog etc.)

My seven questions were the following:

1. Where do most visits to your blog come from?

My top five (in order): The U.S., The U.K., Canada, Australia, Singapore.

Hmm, Singapore? Okay, that’s cool!

2. What is your favourite sport?

Baseball. I attempted to play in a league once in grad school. I was atrocious, but I am a great spectator for my teams! I’d mention exactly where my top three teams are standing in their respective divisions, but I’m trying to maintain a thin veil of anonymity! I’ll just say that none are in first place (boo), and none are below third.

3. What has been a special moment for you so far in 2017?

My partner learned how to make gluten-free Eggs Benedict, one of my go-to comfort foods, at home for when I’m too exhausted to go out to brunch. He even added fancy, expensive lox to it!

4. What is your favourite quote?

“I do my thing and you do your thing.
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you, and I am I,
and if by chance we find each other, it’s beautiful.
If not, it can’t be helped.”
(Fritz Perls, “Gestalt Therapy Verbatim”, 1969)

I have always loved this quote, even when I’ve been terrible at living its core message. When I read about Fritz Perls himself, there were things I really liked and things about him I didn’t agree with. I briefly hesitated in listing this quote, but then I realized the irony. The quote speaks to me, so who cares if some things about the author himself didn’t live up to my “expectations!”

5. What was your favourite class when still at school?

Oddly, for a girl who later became a data scientist, neither math nor science. Undiagnosed ADHD basically meant throughout my entire K-12 experience I was repeatedly told that I was terrible at math because I couldn’t connect to standard teaching styles. I never took statistics before college, so I never realized that there was a type of math at which I was naturally adept. Math to me meant only calculus, and I earned those As over the loud voices of my teachers saying I didn’t really deserve them. I hated math until I discovered that statistics were a type of math! My favorite class was actually history, but I think that has served me well in my data science career. Econometrics is as much art as science. My models are only as good as the assumptions that go into them, and history really helps with social context.

6. Anything you had wished to have learned earlier?

My story above probably makes my answers of “statistics” and “that I had ADHD” obvious! I’ll add an additional answer so this question isn’t repetitive. I wish I’d learned to ski. I live near ski slopes now, but I feel like skiing is one of those hobbies that must be started early in life to ever be good enough for my RSD to allow me to participate publicly at a slope.

7. What musical instrument have you tried to play?

Piano. I had no rhythm, and it didn’t last. I still love classical music, though, and opera!

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to make up seven new questions, or if I should keep the original seven. I like the idea of making up new questions, so I’m going to pick that option! My seven questions for my nominees are as follows:

1. What natural disaster best represents you?

2.  If you had to pick one of the two, would you rather be too hot or too cold?

3.  If you won a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?

4.  If you could only have one of the following in your dream home, which would you choose: a housekeeper, a personal chef, a personal assistant or a landscaper/gardener?

5.  What’s your favorite drink?

6.  You should have been in bed an hour ago, but you are still on the Internet. What non-blog webpage is open on your browser?

7.  Why do you think you were nominated? (Hint: it was because I felt there were good things about your blog, so positive answers only! I want you to humble brag!)

My 11 nominees:

1) Most people call me the f*cking Doctor.

2) Learning to Be Whole

3) Fibronacci

4) Inside of Jen’s Head

5) Grace, Maybe?

6) We’re all special nerds!

7) Worn Out Phoenix

8) Heather Needs a Nap

9) My Bipolar-PTSD Life

10) WriteMeWell

11) Crafts, Chronic Illness, and Adulting

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Need a recap of anything I’m talking about in any post? Check out the Glossary of Terms.