The family reunion was wonderful — while I’m treasuring the silence this morning and feeling a bit tired, I have so many great memories to savour. I’ll write more about the weekend, and post more photos, later in the week. For now, here’s an idea of how crowded the house was — above is my family, with two sisters and their families missing and a family member or partner missing from one or two others. My mom was also away. Quite a crowd, eh? (The photo is taken from my BIL’s facebook page — hope you don’t mind, Pete).
Below is my favourite image of the whole weekend, of my granddaughter Nola puzzling out her great-uncle Joel.
I’m afraid I’m going to go all introspective and analytical (see below) on you later this week and write about why I love this photo so much. Meanwhile, though . . .
My latest blog crush, as I mentioned the other day, is Privilege: A High Wasp Stops to Consider — High Wasp gives us observant, honest, witty, often wry, often ironic, but also often unabashedly enamoured-of-life prose that not only illuminates mid-life but also those issues surrounding to class from a “High Wasp” perspective. I love it, and besides happily anticipating each new post, I’ve been working my way through the archives. There’s a comment that echoes through these archives that I like very much: “Everything I say is as true as I can make it. Who knows if it matters?” That’s a commitment I try to honour here as well, trying to get to the truth without attempting to decide its immediate relevance or significance, and I’m impressed with where this commitment takes High Wasp.
So imagine how delighted I was the other day when High Wasp passed along to me the Premium Meme Award. The guidelines of this meme are to “list 7 of your personality traits, as evidenced on your blog, and then pass the award on to 7 other blogs with notable personality.” I debated, this weekend with so many of my family members around, asking them to play a game whereby they would list my personality traits and I could take the seven that appeared most often. But that sounds very dangerous, doesn’t it?
Anyway, I realized that these are 7 of my personality traits, as evidenced on my blog, and really, you people would do as well as family in coming up with those. So I could have asked you to jump in and volunteer, but again, dangerous territory. Yikes!
So I’m just going to give you a list. Here it is:
2. I’m going to borrow from High Wasp for this one, and as evidence, you could choose any post over five paragraphs, and there are many on my blog: Loquacious.
3. Superficial
4. Resilient
5. Capable of Deeper Thoughts than #3 suggests.
7. Analytical and self-reflexive (occasionally to the extreme!)
So there you have it. I’ll admit that I thought of including “Fun” in there, but I wasn’t convinced that any of the posts I chose were clear evidence. I always feel it’s better to let other people offer flattering terms to describe one than to try to claim them for oneself. Not fishing. Really.
Now I’ll pass this award on to some blogs I’ve come to love, but there’ll be room for anyone who feels inspired to jump in and complete the required seven. Should you take on the challenge, please let me know and I’ll link to you here.
For now, I’m asking Tiffany, whose well-written blog about the quotidian events of family life is so far from dull that you’ll ask how/why she came up with its title. And I’m hoping thatMardelwill summarize her lovely personality over at Dooney’s World — she’s so honest and observant, and I admire the way she probes to figure out the link between various phenomena and her emotional and intellectual responses. Karen, at Of a Certain Age, has been posting less often lately and I suspect her style-consulting business is, deservedly, taking off, and she’s very busy with it (not to mention with her family). Still, I’d love to hear her weigh in — I hope she’ll include her own undeniable sweet helpfulness and stylish sassiness as personality traits. And poor Pseu over at Une Femme has had my memes passed on to her before, but I admit to being curious about how she’d summarize her blog personality. She comes across so clearly as being analytical, fun, supportive, sensitive, committed yet conciliatory — and I was not disappointed when meeting her in person. Similarly, I think that Duchesse at Passage des Perles represents herself very honestly on her blog and meeting her confirmed why I read her blog: integrity, wisdom, enthusiasm, practicality, and discernment are among the traits I’d cite if I were her, but I’d love to see her take. Since I’ve mentioned two of the three bloggers I’ve met in person, I think I’ll also includeIndigoAlison — I hope she includes self-deprecating in her list. She is so talented, so knowledgeable about art, so creative, but she seldom gives herself much credit. In person she’s delightfully entertaining and fun, no surprise to anyone who has read her.
Okay, that’s 6 out of 7, so I almost made it after all. If you’d like to be our seventh (or eighth or ninth) let me know, as I’ve said, and I’ll link to you. And there’s absolutely no need to link to posts, as I’ve done, for each personality trait, so it can be quick, as well as fun, to join in.
The five you picked for me are consistent with my own choices, and I'd add blunt (so I will say I do not enjoy "Privilege") and picky (which is why I no longer read one aspiring writer's blog, with its writing samples larded with grammar errors.)
I would add for you, tolerant, diplomatic, loyal, creative.
There are a couple of traits that are yours that I don't see on the list:
1. Highly creative
2. A connector
3. Loving mother
4. An extraordinary appreciation of beauty.
Mater, were I a book I would want the description you wrote above on my dust jacket. Thank you for your generosity. I look forward to reading the blogs you have listed.
Duchesse, you are the first person I have heard say that they do not like Privilege. I am sitting here absorbing the information. I suppose this is what we take on in the endeavor to put ourselves out there. Sometimes people won't like what we say. I don't enjoy being not liked, but it's your right and in fact I'm glad you said so. I prefer knowing to not knowing. If, in fact, you'd like to tell me more about why, please email me. I will listen. I hope I put doing a good job before the need for praise. Can't always guarantee it of course.
Again, Mater, thank you very much. I would add kind to your list.
May I add "uncomfortable with discord" to my own list? While I value bluntness, in some instances, for its efficacy, my own tendency is not to share negative opinions unless I'm sure their benefits outweigh their costs. Thus I have to admit to being dismayed by your comment, Duchesse, even as I admire your ability to know and speak your own mind. Even more, I'm impressed by LPC's ability to accept the criticism graciously and endeavour to learn from it. Now, if all those feathers are smoothed down, my shoulders could leave my ears alone for a minute or two . . .
Oh, and I should add a big thank you, Duchesse, for adding those qualities which I am so pleased you see in me. Knowing you can be blunt and picky, I also know you don't fling compliments around meaninglessly so I'll treasure these.
LBR: Thank you so much as well — I do like to think of myself as able to make creative connections, but hadn't thought of that ability in terms of my blogging personality. But if you say so — after all, you're the uber-connector!
LPC: Thank you! I often think of how underrated kindness is these days and yet how essential to community. I'm pleased to think that you see that in my blogging self.
You are welcome. And I'm really OK. I like feedback. If worry for my sensibilities has attached your shoulders to your ears, please take them down right now:). However, your concern has made me even more OK. All is now right with the world…And back to reading The World As I Found It. Nothing a little Wittgenstein can't improve.
This looks like fun, the kind that requires thought. Distilling always is harder than expanding, n'est-ce pas? but I'll see if I can't throw some darts that land on the best words.
But I have some very exciting news, soon to be shared on my blog…. (hint: involves a long flight….)
Oh, and I think you've captured your essence very well with the words you've chosed. I'd also add "gracious" to that list!
Thank you, Mater! I shall now spend some (work) time thinking about this and post as soon as I can.
And I LOVE that photo of Nola with her great-uncle. You can almost see the thoughts running through her head!
Well this looks like fun and a bit of a challenge as well, as I am not so good at the "what my words say about me bit, although I am flattered at being thought honest and observant. Emotional, well yes, I am always struggling between the intellectual and the emotional and rather tripping obliviously through life. We'll see what I come up with, and if it bears any resemblance to what others see in this same blog.
I have to agree with others' comments on your many good qualities.
LPC: Good! Enjoy your Wittgenstein.
Pseu: I'm looking forward to the dart-throwing (nice analogy), but I'm really looking forward to hearing where you're flying to. I'm not going to guess out loud, altho' I have some ideas . . .
Tiffany: He's such a big but gentle guy with such an interesting face (a rugby player's lifetime of injuries recorded on it) — she's just mesmerized. Thanks, btw, for responding so quickly to the meme — fun!
Mardel: I'll look forward to reading what you say about yourself — I'd like to think you value yourself as highly as we do.
It's interesting, isn't it, what aspects of our personality become visible through our blogs? I admit to being surprised by some of the patterns I see in my own, but I am definitely surprised not to see a great big "Supportive" or "Appreciative" on yours. You are undeniably both!
Thanks, PM — something I'd like to think about is how much of my personality is screened from the blog because of behaviours, etc., that I choose not to write about here. Not sure how I could tackle that question — how to gather any kind of empirical info, or whether that would be necessary — but I wonder if personality manifests itself despite what I/we bloggers withhold — any thoughts?
Mater, I've never been memed in my whole year of blogging! I'll get to it, but it may be awhile. I had to post something for an AICI newsletter entry and I have to leave the current one up for a while.
I know why Nola is looking at Uncle Joel that way!!!! She is totally confused that this guy is so much LIKE Pater, but that something's "off". She already sees similarities in manner and physical quality. That's what that look on her face is!
Never been memed, Karen — I can't believe it! Take your time, or even ignore it if you want.
As for any similarity between Pater and my brother, I've never ever seen it — although they both have "strong" noses (my brother's been broken so many times . . . ).
Done. And cross posted to the old and the new.