The Liebster Award!

Hello!

I’m back and, while away, I was happily surprised to discover that I had been nominated for the Liebster Award! I thank catalinasaurus for nominating me for this prestigious award. Without further ado, here’s mine; enjoy! 🙂

– The Finicky Cynic

Rules:

• 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 less than 200 followers.
• Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter and ask your nominees 11 questions.

Randoms:

1. I am a Francophile. For those who don’t know, I love everything French-related: the language, the culture, the food. I’m currently studying it at my university, and even spent this past summer abroad in Paris; it was an amaaazing time. Paris, je l’adore! ❤
2. My favorite animal is the penguin; it’s a long story, but this particular bird holds a dear place in my childhood heart. Over the years, I’ve built up an extensive collection of penguin items: figurines, T-shirts, buttons, you name it. Really, I’m obsessed.
3. I am tri-lingual: I speak English, Chinese, and French.
4. Although I love to travel and see new places, I hate the process of getting there, aka airplanes. Rarely do I make it out of the airplane unscathed; there’s something about its inside that makes me feel sick and awful: the smell? The stale, air-conditioned environment? The screaming babies during red-eyed flights? Perhaps all of the above.
5. I used to hate cheese, but now I appreciate it more (spending a month in France, the cheese capital of the world, also helped). It’s also a blessing that I’m not lactose-intolerant, too, considering that I am Asian (notorious for being lactose-intolerant).
6. If I were in Harry Potter, I would most likely be sorted either into Ravenclaw or Slytherin; Gryffindor is over-rated, anyway. 😛
7. While I have no piercings, I do have a tattoo: I got it when I was twenty, and although it hurt like hell, I have no regrets.
8. While I wouldn’t mind falling in love and getting married, I do not want to have children, nor adopt them. After observing children interacting with their parents, I can tell that it’s going to be a long, eighteen-plus years…
9. My hair is naturally curly/wavy/frizzy and requires a considerable amount of effort to tame it. Which is bizarre, considering that, again, I am Asian (predominantly straight-haired, by my account).
10. Although I love food, and am willing to try most things, I do not prefer eating 1) corn and 2) soup. Don’t ask me why, it’s just me.
11. A (relatively) weird obsession is that I like to collect notebooks. All kinds. Especially nicely, patterned ones. Some even smell good, that new paper-y kind of scent, if you know what I mean. I use them for journal-writing, and I have several blank ones in queue, waiting to be scribbled on.

Nominees: (some of you have probably been nominated for the Liebster Award before. You don’t have to do it, but if you do so, please Pingback your post to me so I know you’ve done it; thanks!)

• jazzyoutoo
• ccchanel41
• stephsgrn
• Linn
• Ciara
• alesbianspeaks
• eliaprincess
• meredithwyatt1990
• Shawn L. Bird
• Damyanti
• Opinionated Man

Questions for Me:

1. Favorite band. Ooh, that’s tough…I guess the Backstreet Boys is a good one to fall back on.
2. What’s your favorite Pixar movie? Ratatouille. Hands down. It blends two things that I love– French culture and food–into a wonderful, cute film. 🙂
3. How do you feel about Oreos? They’re good, but I don’t eat them on the daily.
4. What’s your favorite color? Green.
5. What’s your favorite tag to search? Poetry; I write poems as well, and I’m always interested in checking out others’ works.
6. Favorite food. I love almost all food, but if I had to pick, it would be pasta. Difficult to mess up, and always delicious. 😛
7. What has been the best year of your life so far? 2010 was pretty good.
8. Favorite book. A close tie between Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes and Good Enough.
9. Favorite place to just exist. Outdoors in my neighborhood. Nothing beats a good walk to “just exist!”
10. What’s your biggest fear? Getting infected with anything: rabies, dirty needles, you name it.
11. How often do you floss? Once every day! I do my best to take care of my teeth! 😀

Questions for You:

1. Current favorite song?
2. Your academic field/study in college.
3. Do you like pasta?
4. Favorite drink, alcoholic and/or non-alcoholic?
5. If you could be in any house in Harry Potter, which one and why?
6. What do you think about “selfies?”
7. What do you look for in a romantic partner?
8. Best pick-up line?
9. Poetry or short story?
10. Have you any cats?
11. Do you typically wear a watch?