The Mystery Blogger Award <3

Blogging is kind of like teaching.  For those of you out there who are educators, you’re probably all-too-familiar with that about which I’m about to speak.  You share your information from your heart, putting it out there for the recipients to absorb, assimilate, incorporate, and utilize.  Once you release it, it’s out there in the ether, out of your hands and beyond your control.  It’s theirs now, to do with what they wish.  You hope to make your mark and touch their lives.  You want desperately to make a difference.  That’s most likely why you became a teacher, after all.  You may or may not receive much feedback, at least early on.  But perhaps later (possibly many years later), those recipients may make a pleasant surprise appearance, to tell you how much they value and appreciate your information and you as a teacher, how much they think of you and hear your voice in their heads while conducting their day-to-day lives, and what an influence you’ve unknowingly been in their lives all these years.

Blogging is backdropped with a similar theme; you never concretely know exactly how many peoples’ lives you’ve touched or nudged, or in what way.  You may never know the significance of your impact.  You may never know the extent of your reach.  I know that in the early days and weeks of my own Asperger’s self-discovery, and for a surprising length of time afterward, I devoured all I could–every informational tidbit and FunFact, every perspective, every powerful one-liner, every piece of insight, every ounce of awareness.  Those early blogs that I had found (Anonymously Autistic, Seventh Voice, Everyday Asperger’s, Musings of an Aspie, Art of Autism, and several others) were extremely instrumental in the metamorphosis of my life, helping me transform from a simple crawly caterpillar to a fuller-fledged butterfly, with a full wingspan.  And yet, it would be a few more months before I would think to go back and actually reach out to them and let them know what a miraculous impact they’d had.

I’m extremely blessed in that many of “my” readers reach out to me (if you haven’t perused the comment sections yet, I highly recommend doing so, especially the Top 10 most popular posts listed at the bottom; the comments and the thoughts/ideas/concepts/support expressed in them are amazing, and the discussions are refreshingly thought-provoking!).  Hats off to all of “my” readers, whether they “like”, comment, or simply lurk!  You all rock!  I’ve met so many cool and incredible people this way, and my life wouldn’t be the same without any one of you.

One such blog-writing friend gave me a pleasant morning surprise!  She nominated me for the Mystery Blogger Award, originally created by Okoto Enigma (link to their blog)!  I feel totally honored; it gave me a big, wide smile (yes, physically). 🙂

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So what is the Mystery Blogger Award, anyway?

According to Marisa Ulrich, who graciously nominated me (huge heartfelt thank-you to you, girl!), the blog-writer of Broken Cookies Taste Just As Sweet (a beautifully-written blog that discusses the autism spectrum fairly regularly, with plenty of positivity and insightful realism) and also the author of several books (!!), the Mystery Blogger Award is:

“an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts.  Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging; and they do it with so much love and passion.”

There are a few Rules:

1. Put the award logo/image on your blog
2. List the rules.
3. Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
4. Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well
5. Tell your readers 3 things about yourself
6. You have to nominate people
7. Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog
8. Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question
9. Share a link to your best post(s)

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3 Things About Myself….

I have strange “phobias” – things like satellite dishes, large rings around the moon (not small ones–those are okay), bright strobe lights at night (such as the ones that sit high up on the tops of towers and antennae) and being up high at night (I’m not very afraid of heights during the day).  I’m also an emetophobe.  I do not, however, have fears of death or public speaking. 🙂

I’ve downloaded so many MP3 files I could’ve doubled my mortgage (had I actually purchased them) or served hard time (whoops).

I have belched the entire alphabet.  In one burp.  Don’t ask.  (My “Overshare App” on by brain’s Aspie OS probably struck again; it has random auto-pop-up sometimes) 😉

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Marisa Ulrich/Broken Cookies has some really cool questions!  (I love the way your brain works, girl!) 🙂

Question #1 – What would you do if someone left you a great inheritance- say, $10 million dollars?

First I’d get a bunch of brilliant Aspergian/autistic people together to see how we’d pull off the following, and then we’d indeed attempt to pull off the following:

I’d use some of it to buy a big-ol’ plot of land (like maybe a nearby island or some beachfront or something) and create a Spectrum City, kind of like the utopia some of us wrote about in the summer–yes, a world built for us.  The only requirement is that the residents are on the spectrum, in a partnership with someone who is, or have an immediate family member (parent, child, etc) who is.

I’d take some more of it and fortify this city with the beginning seed money for animal safe-sanctuaries, basic healthcare and wellness, spectrum-engineered schools, spectrum-engineered businesses and infrastructure, education/training/apprenticeships/career/trade support, entrepreneurial education/support, libraries, labs and other facilities for “special interests”, mental wellbeing and stress relief supports, spectrum-friendly environments and accommodations for any physical/cognitive need, affordable diagnostic/assessment services, and seed money/grants for us to start our own businesses/schools/service firms/etc, organic gardens and farms, mental/physical wellbeing days off, city-wide wi-fi (free), excellent public transportation, etc, to support fellow spectrum peeps in every way I can think of.

Question #2 – Who was your favorite teacher and why?

Somehow, Marisa can read my mind!  I actually have several favorite teachers.  My mom is my first favorite teacher because she did indeed teach me.  Not only did she teach me “mom stuff”, but she also taught me “academic/school stuff”, and a lot of it.  I got my joy from, thirst/hunger for, and appreciation of learning from her.  Mr Peterson, my Grade 4 teacher, rocked my world because he was the first teacher in the public school system who was nice to me and actually stood up for me when he saw what was going on.  He also expressed his concern to my parents, so that they would be made aware of what I was up against every day just by going to school.  And then there’s Sra (Ms) Patterson, my Grades 9 and 10 Spanish teacher, with whom I maintain a deep in-person friendship to this day, despite the 1200 miles that separate us.  In fact, I’m going to see her tomorrow!  Despite her self-confessed “trust issues”, she happily gave me a key to her house and said, “stay here any time you’re in town, whether I’m here or not.”  Wow!!

Question #3 – If you could go to any time in history, where would you go and why?

Oh man, I’ve thought about this one a lot, and I’d have to say that I’d try to find out which of the three times the Great Library of Alexandria, Egypt burned the worst, and go back in time to stop that fire from being set (it was arson, all three times).  I’d pick whichever fire caused the most damage and the greatest loss of information and I’d behead the would-be arsonist with my sword on their way up to the Library.  I actually feel a deep sense of personal loss about the Library’s fires and all that was lost; it’s saddening and tragic to me, and I’d do everything in my power to prevent it.

Question #4 – What’s your favorite food?

I’m a sucker for chocolate, guacamole, California Basmati rice, juicy Texas brisket…whoops, better stop now LOL. 🙂

Question #5 – Which would you rather have as a pet – a gorilla or a giraffe?

Although I love giraffes, I think I’d actually choose the gorilla.  We could interact more and foster a deeper friendship because of our alikeness. ❤

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Nominations:

This is really tough because I can think of close to 100 people to nominate! (LOL)  There’s a huge variety and they’re all amazing and thoughtful souls.  Here are just a handful:

• VisualVox – AKA Happy, Healthy Autist
• Flojo Easy Detox
• Rhi – AKA Autism & Expectations
• Lady Ananas – AKA The Misadventures of Mama Pineapple
• Neurodivergent Nicole

If you don’t see your name listed here, please consider yourself nominated anyway, and please feel free to participate! 🙂  Please don’t consider yourself excluded; I’d love to hear your thoughts, too! ❤

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Questions for my lovely Nominees:

1. If you could bring anyone back from the dead and talk to them over lunch or coffee, who would it be?
2. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?  How long would you stay?
3. If you could design your life before you were born (such as picking your geographic location, gender, ethnicity, family, occupation if any, etc), what kind of life would you design?
4. What’s the most fascinating subject for you?
5. How do you think Grumpy Cat actually feels?  Is she actually grumpy?  (That’s the funny question) 😉

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Best Posts:

I’ll approach this from two angles.  The first is what other people thought…

• “They thought I was lazy…when I was just ActuallyAutistic“
• “About that ‘security blanket’ ~ a shout-out to the ActuallyAutistic bloggers“

And the second angle consists of the two posts I had the most fun writing…

• “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To Neurotypicality: a handbook on the rest of the world for Asperger’s/autistic people“
• “ActuallyAutistic vs Neurotypical (NT)/allistic, illustrated in a Mac vs PC analogy“

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Another head-bow in utmost appreciation to my awesome soul-sister Marisa Ulrich, over at Broken Cookies Taste Just as Sweet!  I feel overwhelmingly-in-a-good-way touched and grateful!! ❤

Merry Christmas, Happy All-the-Holidays, and Peace on Earth to you, y’all, and all y’all!  I hope everyone gets to smile and laugh and enjoy ❤