Oh, What a Lovely Blog…Award!

First time Anatomy of Perceval has been nominated for a blog award!  Thank you to Steph P. Bianchini at the Earthian Hivemind for the nomination and the recognition.  I read Earthian Hivemind fairly regularly for its science and its love of speculative fiction.  Please check it out if you share those interests.

According to the rules of participation, I need to write about seven interesting facts about myself.  My first reaction was that I’m actually a pretty boring person!  But there are certainly facts about me that I’d be quite willing to share, in the hope that they are interesting enough to qualify….

1.  I have lived in Vienna, Austria and speak German.  My German is a bit rusty now, especially since I haven’t been going on a regular basis to the German conversation group I joined 8 years ago.  Vienna is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I wish I could return. In Vienna, I especially loved cafes, Stadtpark, trams, and the Vienna Philharmonic.
2. In 1987, I fulfilled a life-long dream to go to Russia.  The tour included Moscow, St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), and the Russian Orthodoxy’s “Golden Circle.”  It was in the autumn in all its glorious colors, and I fell in love with the Russian forests as well as St. Petersburg.
3. Deju Vu, I believe, can be connected with possible past lives. Yes, I believe in reincarnation! I’ve experienced powerful deja vu in places I’d never been before in this life. It’s a very odd sensation to know a place so well I didn’t need a map to get around…but I’d not been there before!
4. In addition to writing fiction, I also write nonfiction, and I’ve been published online at ClassicalMPR.org., among other places.  An ongoing nonfiction project is a memoir entitled The Successful Patient.  I’ve given a couple talks on how to be a successful patient and communication with medical professionals.
5. Classical music is my heart, while writing is the breath of my soul. I’ve loved classical music since I was very young.  I have sung in choirs, played the French horn in orchestras and bands, played the piano as a soloist, in chamber groups and as an accompanist.  Now I write about music.
6. The first book I ever read on my own was Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit, a book my father had read to me on a regular basis.  My mother read Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow to be before bed. I love Russian literature, mysteries, science fiction, thrillers (especially espionage thrillers), biographies, and I’m open to other nonfiction. As I don’t have a favorite composer, I also do not have a favorite author, but there are some I return to often.
7. After seeing Bernardo Bertulucci’s movie Little Buddha, I was so deeply moved that I began studying Buddhism on my own. It led me to deepen my spiritual beliefs, as well as to be inclusive regarding others.  I also studied the Koran at about the same time, and learned about Hinduism from which Buddhism had emerged. Now I practice Falun gong whenever I can, and am looking forward to finally starting a yoga practice.

And now, for my nomination of 15 bloggers for the One Lovely Blog Award. This is difficult because there are so many out there and I hope that my 15 will also nominate each another 15 to capture even more lovely blogs on the Web.  I encourage all my readers to check out the blogs that Earthian Hivemind nominated, too.

• Ordinary Canary
• Lindsey Gendke
• Leona’s Blog of Shadows
• The Schleicher Spin
• Adaptistration
• Weekly Sift
• Daily (w)rite
• Mask of the Flower Prince
• Song of the Lark
• Progressive Rubber Boots
• Daughter Number Three
• I Write the Music
• Charles Ray’s Ramblings
• That’s So Jacob
• A Writer’s Caravan

In conclusion, to all my blogger nominees, here is the list of rules to participate:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link to her/his blog.
2. List 7 interesting facts about yourself.
3. Nominate 15 other bloggers and inform them by posting on their site.
4. List the rules and display the award.

Thank you!  I look forward to hearing from other bloggers and learning about new blogs to read.