I’m the lucky recipient of a Kreativ Blogger Award, bestowed by dear friend and colleague, artist and astrologer Jude Cowell http://www.starsoverwashington.com/ Thank you, Jude! I don’t feel especially kreativ, but I like being told I am, so I’ll embrace my fate and pass the love on to seven fellow kreativ bloggers as requested. Here are the rules of the game, so to speak:

1. Copy/paste the Kreativ Blogger Award picture onto your blog
2. Thank the person who awarded it to you and post a link to her/his blog
3. Write 7 things about yourself we do not know
4. Choose 7 other bloggers to award
5. Link to them
6. Notify your 7 bloggers of their award

Seven Things You (Probably) Don’t Know About Me:

1. I can’t sing or dance. Literally, so don’t put me in your show.

2. I speak several languages (badly!)

3. I have synethesia; as a child I assumed everybody did!

4. I’ve spent the night in the wilderness, alone, with just a sleeping bag, water, and a couple of energy bars–it’s okay, I wanted to.

5. I’m an avid gardener. I like to grow vegetables but do much better with flowers, disappointing my Saturn and delighting my Venus and Moon!

6. Since Jude brought up chocolate, I have to vote for Dark Chocolate, no question.

7. One of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t take a job as a cook on an Alaskan fishing boat when I was 19 and had the opportunity.

There, now you know way more than you ever wanted to. As to my nominees, I’m trying for the most part not to duplicate those to whom I gave a Lemonade Award last year–I’m trying to focus on a new set of interesting sites–so I still like all those, and adding to them these :

1. I can’t help it–must go with Jude Cowell! But instead of talking about the eclectic ‘Jude’s Threshold’ http://judecowell.wordpress.com/ or the wittily perceptive ‘Stars Over Washington’ http://www.starsoverwashington.com/ I’d like to draw your attention to ‘Two Hours You’ll Never Get Back’ http://2hrsyulnvrgetbck.blogspot.com/ It’s always a surprise what you’ll find there, with a wonderful mix of the the personal and the global, and follow the links to Jude’s art and stores, one of which is here http://www.zazzle.com/cowelljude.

2. Emergent Culture http://emergent-culture.com/ is a wonderful resource focusing on the contrasts between the globe’s rapidly changing cultural aesthetic, our place in things, and the ways in which the past still lives and influences us. I couldn’t find anywhere on the site who is responsible for the content, but there’s a wide variety and I assume it must be a collaborative effort.

3. Again, with the surprises-http://wildmonkeysects.posterous.com/ offers a grab bag of wisdom, nurture, wit, and nonsense–kind of like what’s in my own head!

4. This is a charming spot for the jewelry and vintage lover http://capricornonevintage.blogspot.com/ The narrative is always fresh and personable, and the aesthetics of the content hold a wide appeal, as it’s as much about the experience of her work as it is the items themselves.

5. This site by Dipal Desai is serenity on a page. The visitor is enfolded in an almost palpable sense of love, acceptance, and nurture. The narratives read like the soothing voice inside your head–and that’s a very good thing! http://mysticfire.wordpress.com/

6. I’m a big fan of altered books and ephemera, and Karen Hatzigeorgiou does beautiful work (and has also shared a trememndous storehouse of public domain images with her readers-thank you, Karen!) See her work here http://karenswhimsy.com/

7. This is a personal blog that has both visual interest and thoughtful content http://veronnicawolpendz.blogspot.com/ Veronnica discusses whatever’s on her mind; it’s very much like a conversation with a calm, intelligent individual, making it a rare commodity.

Now, I’m off to notify the recipients. Complaints about no astro diary for today should go directly to Jude at  http://www.starsoverwashington.com/ Just kidding!