Award!

Oh boy! It's been awhile since I've received a blogging award!  I was nominated by Smaller Places for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award,  Thank you soooo much!  It's always nice to be appreciated. 

1. How did you decide to collect whatever you collect?   I think my first collection was probably marbles.  I was obsessed with them when I was a kid and never played for keepsies.  An aunt and uncle gifted me with a huge collection on the occasion of my first communion when I was about 7. There were at least 400 or more marbles of all kinds in it.  I continue to purchase them off ebay from time to time and have amassed a nice, but modest, collection.  I also collect shot glasses and fridge magnets from places I've been.  And postcards, bits of American pop culture from my era (60's-80's). My husband and I were collecting dragons from the local Renaissance Fair, but we've decided to switch to beautiful goblets instead.  Records...I have lots and lots of records.  Coloured glass....glass of all kinds really.  And Wacky Packs when I was in 3rd and 4th grade in the 70s.

2. Why did you start blogging?    My blog started out as a fan site for Vincent D'Onofrio but my other VDO friends were doing a better job with their slide shows and videos so I switched to posting about my life, crafts and photos.

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?   Since I'm afraid to fly, I really just want to take an RV around North America.  Still want to do Rte 66, and I am dying to see Atlantic Canada, and go back to visit Alberta and see the rest of BC.  And I desperately want to see Harry Potter World at Universal.  That will probably be our first trip if we can ever manage to get away.

4. What toy from your childhood do you wish you could find again?    I've ended up buying quite a few of old toys off ebay.  My mom loved to purge my stuff when I was at school and couldn't object so as a result, unless I managed to squirrel stuff away, it was gone.  I've repurchased my Wacky Packs from the 70s, Whizzer tops, a Christmas Putz house set among other things.  I sure wish I still had my old metal lunchboxes, and some of the old craft kits from those days like Dip It, things made with beads/pins stuck into styrofoam (easter eggs, doll dresses, etc), Makit Bakit (there are only a few small ones in the stores anymore), wooden Christmas ornaments you paint and assemble, there was a big red map of the USA that had stickers of all the state flowers, exports, birds with flags you stuck into the state capitals.  

5. Do you know the size of your biggest collection?    I don't....I have quite a few marbles but I'm not counting them.  Several hundred vinyl records - 45s and albums - plus CDs and tapes.  I have over 600 hours of live Grateful Dead tapes alone that take up 4 cases which hold 120 tapes each.

6. What toy now in stores (or now-ish, you don't have to check that it's still in stock) tantalizes you?   None really but there are a lot of cool craft kits for kids that I'd love to buy and do!

7. What music do you like?    I like just about everything except rap, that new kind of heavy metal and new country.  My fave though is the Grateful Dead.  

8. What crafting or collecting skill do you wish you had?    Drawing, painting, knitting, crochet, macrame, woodworking, lampwork bead making, glass blowing.

9. What was your most exciting moment in collecting or crafting?    Several years ago I won a marble collection off eBay on Christmas Day for $50 and it contained some extremely rare and old marbles.  That was just one of the biggest thrills ever.  And also when a project I see in my head actually comes out the way I pictured it.  That seems to happen mostly with altered art projects. Here are some examples of ones that came out exactly the way I'd imagined. 

A 3D version of Magritte's 'Time Transfixed' painting, which is my fave painting ever.  I bought the mini fireplace which I painted, and train engine to which I added cotton smoke, then built the room from half of a small cardboard box.  I used wood 'paper' for the floor and reflective paper for the mirror.  I had to make the clock from a piece of wood and clock face charm, and the candle sticks are made from gold beads and bead caps.

Just for reference, this is what the painting looks like:

A Christmas shelf which was really fun to make and which I was bummed when I finished.

The wardrobe from The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe....

Which opens to a snowy Lantern Waste in Narnia with a working lamp post and picture of Aslan.

Looking out of a porthole at fish and a treasure chest.

10. Have you ever given up on collecting something? If so, what, and did you regret it?    I've pretty much had to give up, or at least cut back, on collecting stuff because I just don't have the room. My fridge is so full of magnets that there's not a single space for something new.  Our house is crammed full of knick knacks (dusting is a real pain).

I'm supposed to nominate more bloggers for this award but you are all awesome.  So please feel free to snag the badge for yourselves and feel free to play along with these questions. 

You Like Me!

Very honoured that Dawn at Big Girl Panties awarded me a Liebster Blog Award!  Thank you Dawn!

I really don't know what 11 factoids to share about me that haven't already been shared. I'm stumped on that  one.  Y'all already know so much about me from prior posts!  

1.  The smell of curry makes me instantly nauseous and gives me a headache.

2.  Ditto for honey, except for the headache.

3.  Ditto for perfume including the headache.

4.  I have a large collection of 45 rpm records, purchased during & right after college, in the hopes that one day I'd own a Wurlitzer bubbler jukebox. 

5.  I haven't been on a bicycle in over 20 years.

6.  Ditto for ice skating.

7.  I wish I had gone into forensic psychology.  Unfortunately I'd never heard of that field when I went to college and I just don't feel like going back to school now.

8.  I. Hate. Crickets.  And grasshoppers too.  *shudder*

9.  I've never eaten venison or any big game meat, except for bison burgers.  

10.  I get a wicked bad headache if I skip my morning coffee.

11.  I never got used to the taste of beer and despite brewing it, belonging to a brewclub in CA and going on scores of events and field trips with them, I still can't stand the stuff.  Blech.  I don't like the taste of wine either.  

These are the questions that Dawn proposed for her award winners:

1. What do you value most in life?

Friendship & loyalty.

2. If you had to pick up and leave now, to move to another country, where would you go?

OMG that's a no-brainer:  CANADA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Preferably BC, but I'd live in one of the Maritimes. 

3. How do you deal with someone you don't like?

Avoid them as much as humanly possible.  If I have to be in their presence, I remain cordial, but I also won't take any shit either.  Meanwhile I have a running commentary going on in my head of all the things I'd really like to say.  lol

4. Name one Television character that you simply adore?

Just one??? Det. Robert Goren, Det. Elliot Stabler, Pete Hutter, Cast of Big Bang Theory, Cast of Friends.

5. What would you chose, love or money and why?

Love.  Because money doesn't buy happiness.

6. If given a choice, what animal would you like to be and why?

Orca whale, cause I'd get to swim around the Salish Sea.

7. If you were stranded on a lonely beach, what 5 things would you hope you had with you?

My fiance', my dogs, shelter, craft supplies (hey that counts as one!) and camera.  

8. If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you meet?

John Pyper Ferguson, Vincent D'Onofrio, James Dean, John Muir, Dorothea Lange, Laura Ingalls Wilder

9. What do you miss most about being a kid?

Lack of responsibilities.

10. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to?

I almost did change it, in the 1990s, to Cheyenne.  But maybe Angelina, which was my great great grandmother's name.

11. If you could know the answer to any question, besides “What is the meaning of life?”, what would it be?

Again, just one question?  I want to know who killed Kennedy, if Sasquatch exists and if aliens are really visiting earth.


I'm supposed to nominate a bunch of you guys and ask some questions of you but as is my usual M.O., I am inviting everyone who reads to claim the award for yourselves, share facts about yourself and answer these questions here.  I love all the blogs that I follow and to single out a certain amount doesn't seem fair.  You ALL deserve it! 

An Award, Gearing up for A-Z, Life and a Giveaway!

An Award

All of my other blog posts were scheduled to publish so I am a few weeks behind in thanking Tina from the Life is Good blog for presenting me and the other Tina's Terrific Team Members with the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  Please feel free to take it and use it on your own blogs, as I'd just end up nominating all my friends for it anyway.  I'm supposed to list a few things about myself but I have really run out of stuff that I haven't already shared, so sorry if these are repeats.   Let's see...

1.  I'm very non-competitive and I think that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  I am thrilled if my friends decide to try a craft idea because they saw that I tried it first.  We need more crafting and hand made stuff!!!!  I never liked board games, esp. ones like Trouble, that require a certain killer instinct.  Trivial Pursuit is the only game I really like.  I never joined any teams.  I don't compete with anyone with the games I play on Facebook.   I do, however, enter contests but I don't get upset or in a twist if I don't win.  And if I do win, I will back off on entering on the same site so as to give others a chance to win.

2.  I love having my back scratched and drawn on (with fingertips) and my hair played with.  When we were little, Sharon, Diane & I used to sit one in front of the other and draw on each other's backs, taking turns at regular intervals because one of us would be in the front and not have anything to do while one was in the rear not getting their back drawn on.

3.  Jobs I have held:  Chambermaid/hotel laundryroom (Cape Cod), part time/summer relief radio station engineer (Cape Cod), answering WZOU Boston's Hot Hits request line, switchboard operator in Boston (lasted 1 day), McDonalds cashier in Hyannis (lasted 2 weeks during high school), TV production engineer in Hyannis & Boston, secretary to the owner of a construction company (San Francisco), receptionist/office manager (SF), legal assistant/paralegal (California & Washington), fill-in school lunch lady (current).

4.  Major league pet peeve is that very few people ever, ever, EVER pronounce or spell my last name right.   They always leave out the second 'N', even when I have just said and often spelled the name for them.  It pisses me off to no end and was a source of great frustration growing up.  However, it was important to Russell that I take my name back when I divorced Brian, even though my life was so much easier when my last name was Wolf.

5.  I loooooooooove being a stay at home wife.  I love to spoil Russell when he's home, and believe me, he's spoiled rotten, to the point where I'll dish out the food and bring his plate to him so that he can kick back in his recliner.  I love to cook & bake for him & have all his fave foods when he comes home.  I enjoy the domesticity of cleaning & cooking, taking care of the dogs, being flexible enough to do lunch with Marsha on the weekdays and see mom & my cousin.  I love being a stepmother, especially getting to know my stepdaughter, and being there for her if she needs something during the week.

Gearing Up for A-Z

A-Z starts on Monday, April 1.  I'd like to wish all the participants the best of luck and hope that everyone sticks with it to the end.  And please, for the love of all that is holy, TURN OFF THE CAPTCHA!!!!!  I will not be leaving comments on blogs that have this annoying feature.  I have already backed off on commenting regularly on blogs that have CAPTCHA.  Dump it.  It's only pissing people off and will decrease the amount of traffic and comments you receive.  

That said, I had to make one small change in the comments on my blog. It's so minor that no one's probably even noticed, but I disabled the ability to leave anonymous comments.  I went into my blogger spam folder and was surprised to see the hundreds of comments that landed in there.  Just for the heck of it, I also checked all the comments left on my blog since Day 1 in 2006 and was shocked to see how many anonymous spam comments had accumulated, especially since January of this year.  One of my old posts from 2007 had 247 comments on it, 240 of which were links to garbage!!!  It took me hours and hours to delete all that crap.

Where is this increased spam coming from?  There's a work-at-home thing that's apparently making people money; it was written about in a few reputable sources but said sources failed to give the details of what it entailed.  I had started the sign up process several months ago, but I stopped at the part that stated that you had to "share links to products and services with people".  Reading between the lines, I realized that meant spamming blogs and Facebook pages with said links.  I refuse to do that so I never went through with the sign up.  I can only guess that is what has contributed to the increase in anonymous comments.

I left the ability to email me, although I'm not terribly comfortable with it because I'm getting way more spam on my email since I turned on that feature.  I hardly ever got spam before that.  I will leave it on for the time being because some of my bloggy buddies like to respond via email.  I have also had a problem with a former classmate of mine who got in such a twist over my unfriending her on Facebook (then I had to block her), that she's tried stalking me on Pinterest (I had to block here there too), and she made a FB account in her dead mother's name in order to send me a super nasty message.  If she finds this blog, I will have to disable the email and possibly have to take it private for awhile.  So far she hasn't *knocking wood*.

Life

Not much going on, life-wise.  I continue to look for work but there's not much around here.  I'm on the sub list for cafeteria work in the Wareham School District.  But that pays minimum wage and I figured out that at $8.00 per hour, for a 2.5 hour shift, it's a whopping $20.  Deducting the small amount of taxes and social security, I'll come home with like $15.  Hardly worth it.  That, in no way, helps my dire financial situation, especially when you factor in the high cost of gas and wear/tear on my car.  Not that it's a far drive (7 miles one way).  Almost everything I've applied for on Craigs List has been a big fat scam.  One place was based in Wisconsin and the email I got from them mentioned 'multi level marketing' (aka Pyramid Scheme), and said that I'd be acting as a bill collector for their local accounts, deposit the money into my account and transfer it to their account after deducting my fee/cut.  Um, no. I think not.  Another one said there were court jobs in this area and I applied for it and it turned out to be an ad for paralegal school.  WTF?!?!?!?!  All the other jobs are located way too far away; farther than when I commuted from Bonney Lake to Tacoma.  I'm not going through that grind again, esp. with summer coming up.  I'm getting pretty close to 'would you like fries with that?'  If I could score a M-F morning job at a fast food restaurant that'd be fine, but I don't do nights or weekends.  I applied for a part time data entry job and they emailed me to say they were interested in talking to me but wanted to make sure I knew it was part time and $12 an hour, and was I still interested.  I emailed back that yes, I was interested and part time was what I was looking for.  Have I heard back?  Of course not.

Then we woke up to this on Friday, March 22.....I was NOT amused.  Winter's got a stranglehold on us and won't go away.

At least it melted fast.

So I've been spending my time crafting as you know, spring cleaning which with dogs in the house is like brushing your teeth with oreos.  I haven't done much photography since I quit 365.  I need more memory cards and haven't had the cash to purchase them.  My camera's sensor is dirty again and that's a source of great frustration.  I paid $50 to have it professionally cleaned last fall and it was dirty within 2 days.  I continue to try and clean it myself with limited success.  One of my high school friends is a builder and has offered me a paying gig shooting pics of a remodel he's working on so that will be good.

Here are a few more projects I've done over the past week or so:

Glitter magnets

2 Artist Trading Cards...on the back of this one I put sticker letters that say 'Tempest Fugit'.  The ATCs are about 2.5" x 3.5", so pretty small.

And one that's beach-related.  I added the glitter to her bra and scales.

And here are a couple of colour book pages I did recently as well.

A Giveaway

Finally I want to promote a crafty giveaway at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.  If you enter, please mention that I sent you there so that I get more entries!  I know I don't have a snowball's chance in hell to win anything because of their huge following, but I keep entering anyway.

I'll see you all Monday, April 1 for the beginning of A to Z!! 

Award!!

Anne at Is Anyone There? surprised me with the Addictive Blog Award the other day!! As always, I am very appreciative and humbled that I not only have regular readers/commenters, but they like my blog enough to give me these awards.  

The meme for this award is that I share why I began blogging:  Vincent D'Onofrio.  That's why.  I was a fan of his work and thought he was adorable, so I started looking online for info about and pictures of him.  

During my surfing, I stumbled on what will always be known to the original 'Vincent Vixens' as 'The Molly Blog'.  It was like a chatroom/message board and that's where I met Val, Eliza, Ann, Madi, Diane, Tess and other ladies who were also fans of Vincent.  The board would bog down frequently because we chatted so much.  It was during this time period that everyone decided to start their own fan blogs in Vincent's honour.  I started my blog in June of 2006 and just posted pictures.  But my fellow Vixens were doing cool slide shows and photo effects, rendering my static shots quite boring.  lol  :-)  It was at that time that I decided to leave the fan stuff to the pros and started posting pictures of stuff I liked, and eventually photos I shot.  Every now and then I'd rant about things that were bugging me....it kind of morphed into a diary from time to time too.  This was before Facebook, and I didn't have time to keep up w/ emailing people, so I sent out an email blast with my blog address and said that was the best way to find out how I was and what I was up to.  I still have a few friends and relatives who aren't on FB but read my blog.  

I chose the name 'JoJo' as my signature name, in part because it's actually one of my nicknames (although most people call me Jo), but it was also the name of Lili Taylor's character in "Mystic Pizza", who was the girlfriend/fiancee' to Vincent's 'Bill'.  It was after viewing "Mystic Pizza" one afternoon that I realized the wicked cute fisherman was 'that weird Detective Goren' from "Law & Order: Criminal Intent".

My avatar photo of Vincent, angelically gazing heavenward, has remained the same from the day I opened my blog.  I thought about changing it, but I keep it for sentimental reasons and to remind me of how this all started.  I still love Vincent as a performer and person, although my crush has waned, especially since I only have eyes for my sweet Bear.  But I just feel like to get rid of the avatar would be forgetting how this all got started.  I was taught that you should never forget where you came from.

Now to name 5 bloggers for this award, which was pretty hard to narrow down to be honest:

Wendy at The Crafter's Apprentice.  Wendy is a very prolific and talented crafter from the UK.

Lucy at The Trans-Gentle Wife.  I've only recently stumbled on this blog but I'm glad I did.  She's quite a lady.

Elsie at Mock Turtle's Musings.  Another amazing woman whose blog you need to check out.

Cathy at Life On The Muskoka River.  By far one of the funniest writers ever, and a Canadian to boot.

Kathy at The Giggling Trucker's Wife.  Love the stories of her life, past and present!

(Hmm....Cathy with a C and Kathy with a K.  Reminds me of a classic "Kids in the Hall" skit.)

The Booker Award!

Woot!  Thank you so much to Kathy at Giggling Trucker's Wife for the above award! Your support of my humble little bloggy means the world to me.  

I have to narrow down my list of 5 fave books and award this to 5 bloggers, except I chose 6.  

1.  To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee.  Best. Book. Ever.

2.  All the Harry Potters.

3.  The Shipping News - Annie Proulx

4.  All Creatures Great & Small - James Herriot

5.  Chronicles of Narnia

My bloggers are:

Cathy at Life on the Muskoka River
Val at Life and Vincent
Sonnia at A Ladybug's Life
Meredith at The Southern Northerner
Tracy at Pull Up a Toadstool
Mina at Some Dark Romantic

Enjoy!!!  

Wheee!!! Another Award!!

I was just presented with another award!! Thank you Kathy over at The Giggling Trucker's Wife, whose blog is very entertaining and interesting, and has been helpful to me now that I am a trucker's "wife" too.  Now I have to share 5 fabulous moments in my life, 5 things I love, 5 things I hate and pass the award onto 5 more bloggers.

5 Fabulous Moments in My Life

1.  Russell finding me on Facebook.  The grin-face added to the wall post shows just how delighted I was that he remembered me.  I know this is hard to see but making it bigger cut it off. 

2.  Meeting Bob Weir & Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead in 1990.

3.  My AWESOME trip to Vancouver Island in 2007 (all trips were great but 07 was da bomb).

4.  Getting Sagan back.

5.  Getting to live on the west coast.

5 Things I Love

1.  The Canal/Coast.

2.  Craft supplies.

3.  Dogs.

4.  Rain.

5.  The Interwebs.

5 Things I Hate


1.  Weird food, esp. Indian & Thai (curry = BARF).
2.  Sun/heat/humidity.
3.  Traffic.
4.  Conflict/fighting.
5.  When my camera sensor needs to be cleaned.

5 Bloggers


1.  Cathy at Life on the Muskoka River.
2.  Ady at Crafty Ady.
3.  Mina at Some Dark Romantic.
4.  Dina at Dina Thanki.
5.  C.L. at The Curvy Lady.

Chick Pea Salad & More Awards!

I saw a wonderful looking chick pea (aka garbanzo beans) salad on Pinterest and decided to alter it to suit my own personal taste.  It's perfect for the summer months!

Chick peas
Black olives
Sliced grape tomatoes
Chopped scallions, green part
Cucumbers sliced then quartered
Sunflower seeds
Croutons
Feta cheese

I prefer Italian dressing and nothing beats Good Seasons mix, so I drizzled that on all the veggies, but you can use a vinaigrette or some such dressing.

Enjoy!

On a different note, I'd like to thank Nikki at Inspire Nordic for the Stylish Blogger Award and One Lovely Blog Award!!

And Meredith at The Southern Northerner put the Reader Appreciation Award up for grabs as well!

AND Anne over at Is Anyone There? gave me the Inspirational Blogger Award!  Thank you sooo much Anne! 

The support and love mean a lot to me.  THANK YOU!!!!  Please feel free to grab these for yourselves, because I would end up listing everyone on my blog roll again!!   Also, I don't have any more factoids to share about myself, that I haven't already shared.