Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Versatile Blogger Award


My blog received the Versatile Blogger award recently from two other potter/bloggers, Julia of Henhouse Pottery and Suzi at The Smart Cat. Thanks ever so much, your award means a lot to me, especially now. In my Etsy Shop for pottery I recently listed the mesmerizing floating blue green pools bowl above. This bowl was hand formed in a loose flower shape and glass was slumped in the interior which created the blue green pools which are wonderful to gaze upon. There are so many colors in this dish I can't describe them all. Below is a celadon green leaf serving platter which is approximately ten inched across.


Unbeknownst to myself I am gathering quite a few collectors of my pottery from all over the globe. Folks from Canada, Brazil, Viet Nam, Europe, and many more locations. These folks are perusing my Etsy shop, my blog, and our local flea market looking for unique handmade pieces of pottery. Of course you all know my pottery fits that bill. Yesterday a businessman flew into town in his Beach Baron from Brazil (I am sure there is a story in that title) and raved about my pottery. He's coming back today. He was telling Gary he flew over our home this morning. And judging from the engine melody early this morning, I am sure he was correct in that assumption. Gary is definitely my marketing representative extraordinaire. Oh, here's one more dish I listed a shimmery gold and blue green leaf dish also in my Etsy pottery shop.


Anyway back to the seven things you may not know about me: My first job was at Kentucky Fried Chicken while I was in high school. To this day I cannot eat at that establishment or even go in there, something about the smell of the frying chicken. Maybe it was the colonel's special spices which he never revealed to me..

At nineteen I started out with $389 in my pocket, a bicycle, and one suitcase full of clothes. I rented a furnished (luckily) house which included utilities (luckily), bought a few household items at goodwill, got a job at a theater selling tickets, and later paid my junior college tuition. Two weeks later I started college.

I put myself through four years of college working mostly as a waitress, a couple of places being Bob's Big Boy and Dennys. I usually worked the swing shift and went to school during the day. I graduated with a bachelors degree in English and Psychology four years later. My last semester I took a student loan and later regretted it. It took me seven years to pay off that loan, remaining a waitress would have been easier. I've been back to various other colleges over the years for other reasons like landscape, horticulture, art, and pottery.

I lived in ten different states during my childhood and attended as many, if not more, schools. I took ballet and tap dance in kindergarten and art classes in summer school in every other grade just for fun.

I was raised a Catholic and attended Catholic schools from kindergarten to 10th grade. My last two years of high school were in a public school. At 19 years of age I quit going to church and have never been back since. About the only thing I miss is singing in the choir and church architecture. But I am a spiritual person. Now that I think of it maybe listening to a Latin mass might not be bad, something about the chanting of the phrases reminds me of a peaceful feeling - In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Dominous vobiscom.

I smoked occasionally my first year in college, maybe two or three cigarettes a week. One day a friend picked me up for college and I hadn't had breakfast. He said, do you want a cigarette? I started to say yes. Then I said,  no I've given up smoking today. I was thinking to myself, if I have a cigarette before breakfast I may never quit. So I quit and have never had another cigarette since.

Sometimes people misunderstand me or they think I am an extrovert. Little do they know, I am really shy and sensitive. Sometimes I clam up and don't know what to say especially in groups of people or I say the wrong thing. I do much better one on one, and I'm comfortable with my writing here on the blog. In the past I have pushed myself to do public speaking engagements just to improve. I can talk about horticulture or my pottery once I get started. I guess it's easy to talk about what I love.

Now on to my nominations for the versatile blogger award. This week I've been reflecting on kindness, inspiration, encouragement, and the human spirit, so I nominated the following blogs in no particular order: There are so many others I would nominate but either they prefer no awards, are on hiatus, have already been nominated, or I've run out memory space in my brain for the day.

Amy - Amy Huacani Pottery
Anna - Anna's Ceramics
Barbara - The Inquisitive Magpie
Janice - Ms Sparrow
Kittie - Kittie's Stories with a Dash of Insight
Mary - Play Off the Page
Michele - Meesh's Pottery
Patti - The New Sixty
Teresa - Teresa Evangeline
Turquoisemoon - Daily Om -  (I finally sent your package today)

Don't forget to tell us seven things about yourself and spread the love. Thanks for reading and for all your comments and encouragement. I read on Ms. Sparrow's side bar this quote which is so true: "Always be kinder than necessary, everyone's fighting some type of battle".

11 comments:

  1. Thank you for the award Linda!
    I am always amazed at the places you have traveled in life, you are rich with memories and knowledge.

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  2. Thank you so much for the award Linda. I am very flattered.
    I really enjoyed learning the seven things about you.
    Seems you have always been a determined person.
    How neat that your work is going world wide. That must be so satisfying.
    Also, it is nice that you have a marketing representative who will work for food and affection. Can't beat that.

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  3. Congratulations on the award and on the collectors.

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  4. Congratulations on your award. How exciting that someone would fly in to see your work!

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  5. This was fun to read. I spent 12 years in Catholic school too as well as waited tables during collecge at a popular local diner that after 23 years, I still can't visit today either. The smell of those hash browns....ick :)

    Congrats on your artwork traveling so far and wide!

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  6. Congratulations on the award! I loved reading those little snippets about you - you are definitely a hard worker! Most of all, I am thrilled that your beautiful work is being so widely collected - well deserved!

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  7. Thank you for the kind recognition! I'm really flattered, especially since I often feel like my posts are pretty lame. My mind is busily trying to think of seven things about myself to do my next post. I loved all the details of your long journey to being an accomplished blogger. Good going!

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  8. Congratulations on your award. I thank you for passing it on to me. But a huge congratulations on your pottery successes. You can't imagine how happy I am for you. How exciting that someone would fly in for your pottery. Wow!

    I really enjoyed learning more about you, Linda. You've got a dynamite resume that truly inspires. It's really nice that your hard work is paying off.

    (And I, too, totally cringe when I see that two-step verification. Sometimes I can't figure out what the wiggly, blurred letter is and hope for the best. Grrr.)

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  9. Hi Linda, thanks so much for including me on your list, I'm really chuffed. I'll have to give the sharing some thought :^) like you I'm a bit shy at times.
    Congratulations on your selling successes. Wish I had a super salesman in the house- my guy is very supportive but not a salesman :^)

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  10. Hi Michele, thanks, I seem to never get enough traveling done, I am longing for more, soon I hope.

    Hi Patti, thanks, at least the world wide is coming to me. Ha. Yeah Gary loves talking with people and has a real knack for selling.

    Hi Lori, thanks so much.

    Hi Melissa, thanks, I think he was already coming here anyway, not like he came just to see my work, fun to think so though; and he didn't show up the second day, probably flew somewhere else. Ha.

    Hi Barbara, thanks, yeah those smells bring back the memories don't they. I really enjoyed waitressing, a lot of hard work though.

    Hi Elaine, thanks, Florida has travelers from everywhere around the world it seems, so cool to meet all these folks.

    Hi Ms. Sparrow, thanks, I think folks like reading about the everyday happenings in people's lives, makes them more real via the computer screen.

    Hi Kittie, thanks, yeah those two word verifications, perhaps someone has written a program to read the easy ones to get around the verifications, still in all, if a person can't read them. One blog I had to try four times to post.

    Hi Anna, thanks, I had to think for a week about seven things to say. My Gary is just a natural at talking with people, he says the items sell themselves, he just engages the people. Ha. easy for him to say.

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  11. Congratulations on the award! I just discovered your blog today, and I wanted to compliment your beautiful work. I especially like the picture of the tomatoes on the celadon leaf dish. The subtle green of that glaze may not be heart-stopping on its own, but it sure makes the tomatoes look delicious! I think that's a sign of a well designed dish, that it make the food it holds look tasty.

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