Another Liebster Award!

I’d like to thank Chloe for nominating me for the Liebster award. You’ll like her blog! Chloe’s writing is clear and methodical without being clinical or lacking emotion; simply put, she is a great writer and I would highly recommend her blog. I guarantee you will enjoy her posts. So go, click on the link!

 I’ve been wanting to do a post recommending my favourite bloggers for a long time, so this is a great opportunity to link to them, especially since now I can give them an award! I’d really love it if people could check them out 🙂 They’re totally worth it.

The Liebster award is a way to recognize and promote awesome bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. This is the second time I’ve received it (probably because I possess DOUBLE awesomeness.) I wouldn’t mind being nominated a third time (>.<)

Here are the rules for accepting the award:

– Post the award on your blog.

– Thank the blogger who presented this award and link back to their blog.

– Write 11 random facts about yourself.

– Nominate 11 bloggers who you feel deserve this award and who have fewer than 200 followers.

– Answer the 11 questions posted by your nominator and ask your nominees 11 questions.And here are my 11 facts about myself, in no particular order!

1. Sometimes when I’m only a little bit thirsty, I drink directly from the tap because I’m too lazy to get down a glass.

2. I’m passionate about music. Which is just a really pretentious way of saying that I’m unhealthily obsessed with it. I’m learning drum kit, djembe and guitar. Finding guitar really hard. My favourite band is Nirvana, and I like almost every type of rock music. I love listening to metal. The black metal band that I listen to the most is Behemoth (IT IS JUST… JUST SO COMMANDING AND ATMOSPHERIC AND SIMPLY SPLENDID) and I also listen to Mayhem and Botanist. Regarding more traditional metal, I usually stick with the classics: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Judas Priest etc. I also like Godsmack and I occasionally listen to Slayer and Rainbow. I’m fond of the Japanese power metal band Balflare too. No, I do not know ALL these band member’s names, nor do I know tons of useless trivia about them, or how old they are, or what their favourite colours are (though I would opt with black in most cases to be safe.) Also, these are not the only metal bands that I listen to. There are others but if I listed them all, along with my favourite tracks and albums, I’d fill up a book! I also occasionally listen to grunge, and I’ve recently discovered the genre Industrial EBM. If you’re also a fan of Industrial EBM, I would suggest you check out Ludovico Technique. Another recent discovery of mine is 80’s post-punk/new wave. I think Sisters Of Mercy belongs to this genre, but I know they don’t like being categorised, so I daren’t risk pissing off Andrew Eldritch by presuming anything. Oh dear. Imagine looking those angry sunglasses in the face. There are plenty more genres and bands that I like, and there really isn’t space to discuss them all here.

3. I’m vegan.

4. I like cutting holes and slits in my clothes (I hope you didn’t think I was going to say throat) and tearing them, a style that I personally like the look of. I think a lot of other people disagree, though… Oh well!

5. Once when I was younger I made myself cry because I thought it would make me see fairies. Long story short, my mother had told me that fae show themselves to people who are at times of deep sadness in their lives. It didn’t work. Especially since the trigger I used was the fact that I wasn’t allowed to watch Madagascar because it was too late at night.

6. I’m learning shorthand.

7. One of my earliest memories is of sprinkling flower petals onto my grandmother’s grave at her funeral when I was two.

8.The top layer of my hair is coloured bright red and the rest is dark brown.

9. When I was about six I suggested to my female friend that we marry each other when we grew up. We haven’t been in touch in years.

10. My family frequently hosts Airbnb guests and Couchsurfers, so we have foreign guests in the house pretty much all the time.

11. I really wish I were male.

Here are the 11 questions asked by Chloe, and my answers:

1. Do you keep your blog secret from people you know in real life? Or do you actively encourage people to read it? That’s a good question because it’s something I’ve wondered about in the past. I think I tried to keep my old blog secret from people that I knew in real life, because I wanted to be able to complain about them on there. I also didn’t like the idea of my mum’s friends “spying” on me. Not that they’d give a damn about the fact that I had a blog, but it was just the idea that they’d be seeing what I was up to. Now that I think about it, no-one really followed my old blog except for my godmother (I always appreciated the fact that she read it) and family members. No friends or strangers. I think that now, I actively encourage everyone to read Thisizapen because I love the fact that my ideas and thoughts are out there for people to see. I’m happy when people I know tell me they’ve been reading it. I do not complain much about particular people, so I don’t really run the risk of offending anyone. If I did moan about certain people, though, there would be a good reason for it so I wouldn’t mind them seeing my post, haha!
2. What is your favourite film and book genres? When I was little my father read me The Odyssey. We started from the middle of the book, since that was where we knew the action happened, and alternated between reading from there, the beginning and the end. It didn’t mess up my interpretation of the story too much because each chapter was a separate adventure. We did, however, save the last chapter for last! But that was where my love of reading, and adventure stories, started. Books where the characters are on a quest or a physical journey with action have always captured my attention. The first novel I read by myself was “Gobbolino The Witch’s Cat.” I spotted it in a charity shop when I was about six, noticing that the letters were big and the writing understandable. Also, it had a picture of a really cute kitten on the cover, and I LOVED CATS. Still do. The book became a favourite of mine, especially since the cat went on an adventure. Since then, some other adventure/journey books with action that I’ve enjoyed have been Watership Down and The Chrysalids. Oh, and my favourite book is “Monsters Of Men” by Patrick Ness. It is honestly the most amazing book I have ever read in my entire life. It’s part of a sci-fi adventure trilogy called “Chaos Walking,” written in a very unusual style… well, the books are very un-typical. Oh, and I like Dracula. I don’t like it when books or films are set in one place. I don’t watch many films, but the ones I’ve liked have been “The Gods Must Be Crazy” (1, 2 and 3), both Percy Jackson films, Dark City (even though it’s set in one place) and – should I admit this or not?-  Mean Girls. LAWL. Even though I like action/adventure stories, I don’t exclusively stick to that genre. I LOVE the graphic novel “Salem Brownstone: All Along The Watchtowers” and I had fun reading “I Capture The Castle” which is another example of a different genre I enjoyed. Oh, and did I mention “A Clockwork Orange”? The language it’s written in is beautiful and fascinating. Finally, Maggot Moon is a book I found utterly chilling. The suspense in the last chapter is something I’ll never forget. Jeez. This paragraph probably reads really badly because I didn’t break it up. But I wanted to keep the writing in one clump because I like the format.
3. What are some of your biggest ambitions for the future? I REALLY, REALLY BADLY WANT TO BE IN A BAND. It doesn’t have to be famous – in fact, I’d rather it stayed away from the charts, but I would like it to achieve some sort of success within the genre. A mass, cult following would be gladly appreciated but is not compulsory. It’s the recognition and respect that I want. Even if it’s just a tiny handful of people. I want to be proud of my music and have others enjoy it as well. Ideally, it would somehow influence other bands in its genre. But I can see how that is unlikely to happen. I’ll probably be in a few different bands before the one that makes it. By “makes it” I don’t mean “achieves worldwide fame,” I mean fulfills my idea of success – which I’ve just stated.
4. Do you believe in the concept of New Year Resolutions? If so, what are yours and have you stuck to them? Unless you’re particularly dedicated, it’s unlikely that you’ll stick to them. I reckon for most people, especially me, they’re more like a list of things I’d like to achieve, than goals that I’ll review and work on throughout the year, you know what I mean? I only made one resolution this year, and that is to get better at shorthand!
5. If you could choose for any character from a book/film to be developed more, who would it be? Why? I’m sure I could think of a ton if I had the time! Katniss from The Hunger Games became really horrible towards the end of the series. That was disappointing. I also have an issue with the fact that characters in books are rarely Muslim or black unless that plays a major part in the story, or in their identity. So a lot of Muslim characters spend a disproportionate amount of time talking about their religion (which is unrealistic), and black characters are hardly ever just people who happen to be black. And I’ve noticed it isn’t usually mentioned when a character is white, because it’s assumed they would be anyway, whereas it’s always mentioned when someone isn’t white.
6. Do you have any role models, or idols? If so, why do you look up to them? Someone I look up to is Kurt Cobain, though he’s certainly not a role model. I admire him for his apparent… empathy and sensitivity? I don’t think he purposefully tried to be cool or fit in either, which is one of the best qualities that a person can have. He was also incredibly talented, as you can see from his music and art work.
7. What is your worst habit? Getting distracted and losing motivation.
8. Are you happy with your life at the moment? Erm…… Good question *laughs awkwardly*… It would be dishonest to say yes…
9. What is/was your favourite subject at school? Why? My favourite subjects are writing and music. Writing because it enables you to play god, and music because it’s beautiful.
10. What trait do you most look for and admire in a person? Empathy! With that, fairness comes naturally.
11. If you could change just one thing about the world, what would be top on your list? I would say stop global warming, but I think I can be cleverer than that 🙂 If I said “make people more empathetic” then I think that would handle global warming anyway, as well as clearing up other issues… But then, I could say “make people care more” and that would take care of even more issues, like sexism, carnivorism, RACISM, homophobia etc. I think to finalize it, I’ll say,”Make all human beings expand to their full potential, becoming as ambitious and caring as possible, while thinking for themselves.” That’s a pretty big ask.

Now here are my nominees:

https://justhollyblog.wordpress.com/

https://thedarkdelights.wordpress.com/

http://lifeinluciesshoes.com/

https://fallenfuries.wordpress.com/om/

https://weethingsblog.wordpress.com/

https://americansoustannie.wordpress.com/

https://elfibis.wordpress.com/

https://talesfromtheseventhgrade.wordpress.com/

https://gothmusings.wordpress.com/

https://concentrationmoon.wordpress.com/

https://cupcakes0adventures.wordpress.com/

Plus four more, because last time I was given the Liebster Award I only nominated like seven people 😉

https://dotedon.wordpress.com/

https://fakeittillimakeit.wordpress.com/

https://lizziebethlives.wordpress.com/

https://spiranttardus.wordpress.com/

And here are my 11 questions for them:

-What music do you like?

-Do you believe in ghosts, extra terrestrials, Nessie, fae, trolls, vampires, shape-shifters or anything that people commonly regard as being “Supernatural”? Please excuse my poor use of terminology!

-What are the things you are interested in and love doing or talking about?

-What qualities do you most despise in others?

-What is something other people don’t like about you?

-List five reasons why I’m epic? Just kidding. Real question: What is your earliest memory?

-How long have you been on this planet for?

-What are some things that make you different from other people?

-When you die, what would you like to be remembered for?

-What is something that you don’t like about yourself, or that you are embarrassed about?

-What assumptions are you tired of people making about you?

Thank you so much to my nominees for answering these questions! You don’t have to respond to all of them if you don’t feel comfortable doing so. Can’t wait to read the Liebster posts *Squeals excitedly*

And thank you for reading this post. I’m really grateful to people who look at the writing on my blog, so my greetings and thanks to you 🙂 Come and say hi! And remember to stop by at Chloe’s WordPress if you feel like reading a good blog!

If YOU could change one thing about the world, what would it be?