This week’s topic is about the friends we make through our blogs! Or really, the fact that we don’t know too much about each other sometimes — I feel like I know some of your tastes so well and know exactly where we dovetail in terms of what we each enjoy, but I don’t know where you’re from or whether you’re married or what you do for a living or… Sometimes, it feels like I know you so well on the level of how you respond to books, it’s a shock to realise I have no idea if you have siblings or whether you live in Montana or on the moon.
So! Here is a basic profile of some things that are important about me; does any of it surprise you? What would you like to share with me in return? (Don’t feel obligated to share the same stuff — whatever you want to reveal.)
Name: Nikki
Age: 28
Birthday: 20th August
Location: Leuven, Belgium, but only for another 15 days
Living with: Wife and six bookcases
Siblings: One sister, one dude I adopted as my brother because we needed to stick together
Marital status: Thank god she reads books too
Pets: Two rabbits, Breakfast and Hulk
Job: Freelance transcription and website support; just finishing up a full time degree (my third!) in biology
Ebook or dead tree: Both, either, depends on my mood
Night owl or morning lark: Night owl
Favourite bookshop: The American Book Center in Amsterdam
Favourite animals: Hippos, giraffes, and now rabbits
Other hobbies: Doing degrees, playing video games, crocheting, buying more books to read
That’s all a bit daft and probably doesn’t help, so hey, ask me anything you want to know! I might even answer. I love our community; let’s make it a little bit closer yet (even though I feel like I know enough about you to know we’ll get along if I know your taste in books). <3
And hey, how do you feel about the whole blog thing? Do you feel like you get to know people through their books? Do you sometimes wish you knew other folks better? Or are the books enough?
I value my personal privacy but am very happy to reveal my tastes in books, my humanism and my politics (with a small ‘p’). I think you can tell a lot about somebody’s essential self from their literary preferences, their writing style and their responses. (And, if you’re wondering, Nikki, huge respect is what I have for you, based on those criteria!)
For what it’s worth, I have a partner, three kids and seven grandkids, have lived in Hong Kong and England and am now resident in Wales, am a classically-trained musician and — where catching up with limited reading in my youth is concerned — feel I’m battling with the literary equivalent of Zeno’s Arrow paradox.
Agreed! Only sometimes I do find myself thinking I know someone pretty well and then get stopped short thinking, but I don’t even know their real name… 🙂
I did not know about you being a musician! Possibly I should’ve known. Me, I’ve had some voice training but from a teacher whose interest was just in letting me have fun and helping me sing the songs I enjoyed well. (He was a great teacher and did wonders for my singing, but… formal it was not.)
Singing should always be about fun, so I totally approve of this approach to teaching it. In fact, most things in life should be about fun, though not everybody has the luxury of having the choice. Lilies of the field and all that…
My teacher was a clever fella! Particularly since he managed to persuade my mother that yes, actually, I can sing. I performed a fair few times, including solo in a church, which was just lovely — the acoustics were awesome.
Great idea for a post! This is so true! Tho I read so many blogs they all tend to run together and I can never remember who likes what! There are only a few blogs that I have zeroed in on and able to remember their specifics.
You are so lucky that your wife loves to read too! My Fiance hates reading haha but we both play sports together which is more important to me! (Tho I still wish he loved reading!)
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I’m kind of glad I don’t read that many blogs habitually! Of course I hop all over the blogosphere when people recommend posts or in linkups and so on, but I do have a core few I visit frequently!
Oof, I can’t imagine if my wife wasn’t a reader! *shudder*
I live in Scotland, looking after my dad, single/unattached and not interested in changing that, no siblings or pets and I don’t work. I love tv/films with obsessions for Game of Thrones, Buffy, The West Wing, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Sasuke, American Ninja Warrior, Deadliest Catch, Bering Sea Gold, Wicked Tuna, military training documentaries, When Sharks Attack and Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge! My favourite holiday destinations are Cape Town and Blackpool, I’m terrified of spiders and dentists, have slight OCD and bouts of agoraphobia. I did a Certificate in Contemporary Science with the Open University which almost blew up my brain and if I won the lottery I’d become a prepper on a rural compound! Hmm, I might do a post about this!
chucklesthescot recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday-Short Stories
I had no idea you did Contemporary Science! Did you enjoy doing it, even though it was hard? I’ve aaaaaaaaaaalmost finished my Natural Sciences degree now.
Great marital status in your ‘revelation list’, Nikki.
Me:
I have two children, a son and a daughter. Both are adults and left home long ago, so I live alone.
I have a degree as a computer programmer. I had worked as a programmer for two decades after university, but for the last dozen years, I have been a freelance writer; mostly speculative fiction and journalism. Ironically, I’m not very good with computers.
Lately, instead of writing, I have been designing book covers. My pre-made covers are on my deviantArt account.
My reading preferences: fantasy and romance. I don’t put my book reviews on my blog, but I do post them on my GoodReads page. Not for anyone, actually, just to keep track of what I read.
And my dirty little secret: I write in English, which is my second language. I’m an immigrant, although I’ve been living in Canada for 24 years. I never wrote anything in my mother’s tongue.
It’s an important one. 😀
Huh, computer programmer and not good with computers? I’m a little stumped by that combo!
I mostly write my reviews for me, too. It’s great if they help someone else, but mostly they’re about getting down my impressions.