Hello readers,
It’s nearing the end of Spring Break vacation and I haven’t had much time to blog proper, as you can tell. But never the matter, on to wonderful news…I’ve been given the Sunshine Award! 🙂
The Sunshine Award is an award given by bloggers to other bloggers. The recipients of the Sunshine Award are: “Bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogsphere”. The way the award works is this: Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them. Answer questions about yourself. Select 10 of your favourite bloggers, link their blogs to your post and let them know they have been awarded the Sunshine Award!
A fantastic blogger by the name of Jay {http://jaywcarmichael2.wordpress.com/} has nominated me for this and for that I am ever grateful. I have a modest amount of readers here in the month or so keatsandkitch has existed and I am thankful and grateful for all of them! It’s really great when something you enjoy can bring some entertainment to other people. Feedback is a wonderful thing. Thus, I heed you all to go and give Jay’s blog a look, I am sure you’ll like what you see.
So the rules of this recognition are that I have to answer the following questions and recommend 10 blogs for the award as well. First the questions…can I be a little bit critical, these questions are more like generic dating show-esqe things instead of questions that get to the heart of one’s blog or inspirations for writing…but whatever I’ll still answer them.
What inspired you to start blogging?
Writing is kinda in my family (we have an author/researcher and two published poets) and I always enjoyed to hear myself speak so the next obvious step was writing things down. I had a diary until about age 16, then I found online blogging in the form of tumblr.com during the first year of University. Been blogging ever since and I go into withdrawal if I don’t blog for a while.
How did you come up with the name to your blog?
Keats is my favorite poet and favorite Romantic and then kitsch just really because I feel it succinctly describes a lot of aspects of my life. See.
What is your favourite blog that you like to read?
All the blogs really. I read posts, not necessarily follow blogs. I like pursuing through interesting topics and that’s illustrated in the people I recommend below.
Tell about your dream job.
My dream would be not to have a job. Whatever I do in life should be play, if it’s not play, I’m not being a human correctly. That said, the form of labor I would be willing to do for some sort of compensation is counseling. Ideally a “caravan” form of counseling specifically for women in war zones or wives/sisters/mothers of soldiers etc. etc. Maybe N.G.O.
Is your glass half full or half empty?
Half empty, most days. Half full, most nights
If you could go anywhere for a week’s vacation, where would you go?
Easy. 3 days back in Oxford. 2 days back in Scotland. 2 days in Ireland (finally).
Hard. Morocco – Must step foot in at least every continent, also the history is brilliant.
What food can you absolutely not eat?
Ginger. I hate ginger with the fire of a thousand suns. I will not speak to you if you put ginger in my food. Or tuna, can’t stand tuna either.
Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?
Both, as long as they contain some form of mint.
How much time do you spend blogging?
Too much. . . and when I’m not physically writing, I have a hundred ideas racing through my head and many of them never make it to paper. This is my main blog but I also run another tumblr on the side which is a more personal type diary-esqe thing I don’t give out to people.
Do you watch tv – if so, what are some of your favourite shows?
What a silly question. I am a 21 year old grad student who blogs, I constitute 1/3 of the target audience for most tv programs. I’ll try anything at least once.
Fav shows: Outnumbered, Psych, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Community, Peep Show, Supernatural, Miranda, IT Crowd, Arrested Development…I could go on but I’ll stop there.
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Now to pass on this award to other wonderful blogs! I also wrote why I chose you, if you don’t mind. Also, you don’t have to go through with the whole question ordeal if you don’t want to, no hurt feelings from me… I just wanted to let you know your existence matters to me 😀 Cheers.
1. Big Blank Page
This blog has great advice to improve quality and content of writing and I generally enjoy taking inspiration from the posts.
2. Mike Etter : Thought Dummy
Recently stumbled upon this blog, has yet to fail in providing thought provoking pieces. I always need a cup of tea before I read them though because they take some cognitive lifting and I love it.
3. Art Rat Cafe
Really really brilliant art blog. The artist has a fantastic style and great eye for creative pieces. I thoroughly enjoy randomly pursuing this blog on days when I need a pick-me-up.
4. David Emeron: Sonnets
Bloody well done. That’s about all I can say about David’s writing. So incredibly well done. The sonnets are brilliant and make me quite jealous of my lack of skill with the English language.
5. The Notes of Nona
Crippling nostalgia looking through some of the great photographs this blogger puts out. This blog allows me to keep one foot in Oxford, no matter how far away I am from it.
6. DairyAirHead
I feel like this blogger and I are on a writing wavelength. There are countless times this blog has posted the exact thing I was feeling/thinking/ruminating about. I also enjoy the writing style!
7. Words of Birds
Seems like Jay and I have similar tastes :] Fun, innovative, profound and deep poetry. These guys do a great job of providing a plethora of styles that all come together quite brilliantly.
8. Immature Fruit
Another great poet that produces very moving and though provoking pieces. The sketches are great as well!!
9. GrADABOUT
I have to admit, this blog has become another means of reliving my glory days. 😀 This blog is a great travel-esqe blog that talks about fun experiences and adventures of a Grad Student in London.
10. Ross Grinder
I stumbling upon Ross’ blog about two years ago before I had a wordpress and I remember reading his short stories just amazed how someone could write with such vivid imagery and gripping emotion. Like seriously. I felt like I was walking the streets of India with him and haggling over rickshaw prices (or whatever that one story was about) I’m glad I found his blog again.
Okay..well enjoy the Sunshine and Thanks again Jay, this was really great!
Deena xx
keats and kitsch 
Deena – I am honoured to be nominated for this award by you and by your words about my site. You should know, however, that I have been doing some deep thinking about this award thing and I’m not sure if I want to continue it. The exclusiveness of the concept bothers me more than a little. Should I decide to go ahead you should also know that I will follow the ‘rules’ in a very loose way. So give me time to cogitate on this…thanks again – John
That’s quite alright! I think the main point of this award is to show appreciation of blogs you enjoy, nothing more. As long as the appreciation has been felt, you may go along your business as you see you fit :]
Gently lady,
It is so nice of you to think of me in this way. I also find myself quite surprised that you read enough to discover the less than prominent comments and posts regarding awards, rings, magazines, etc.
You are the very first to notice in advance. I really should place these comments, or copy them, somewhere prominent; or rephrase them, or re write them into a coherent, less convoluted mass; because I have written a number of responses thus far to each awarder, and I must say the personal regret does pain me a great deal. More than anyone could possibly know.
Still I am not sure I should do so even as a polite pre-emptive (though peremptory) measure, because I truly do feel obligated to respond to such overtures and state most strenuously my appreciation for the intent, as well as my most heartfelt apologies that I feel so very strongly that I must not accept them I thank you again for the thought and for your very charming and generously understanding note.
Hah! I am the worst proof reader! It never ceases to amaze! There is, in fact, some abnormality regarding my PF lobe, I have always wondered if that was not the reason I cannot correct errors that are obvious to most, and yet will often see such errors everyone else in the room, so to speak has missed.
And I am very sorry that you must now refill your number 4 position.
No need to apologize, you have a blog I admire and so you shall stay on this list! Like I mentioned before, this post is about positive feedback and appreciation for other’s work. I don’t necessarily agree with the “1990’s chain email style” of tagging other people and requesting them to follow, as I said above, my main mission was to show gratitude and spread sunshine. That is all. And I hope I accomplished that. 🙂
Very much so, thank you.
This notion I hold regarding awards, is of course more than just a notion. I do write about it and probably will more so. This is something about which I have thought a great deal, and extends to much more than wordpress or even the web in general. It extends through all poetic orthodoxy–all of its modes of recognition and acknowledgement.
Not that a sonnet writer in 2013 is likely to be in this position, but, I would instruct anyone wishing to submit my work to a Nobel or other such committee not to do so, although I could not prevent this, if they did not respect my wishes. I would not seek publication in any poetry or writing outlet, no matter how well known or obscure, and would refuse all overtures from such publishers no matter how large or small.
In the astronomically unlikely event that, despite my lack of participation, (intellectual rigour, and skill) I were awarded a prestigious prize I would refuse it unless it could not be refused, via its by-laws; but in this case would not personally accept it nor formally or informally acknowledge it in any way except to decline it. Any documents, materials, or objects from such a committee would be marked “return to sender,” and/or not signed for if certified.”
I would not cash a check from such a committee no matter how great the amount; and in the event, once again, that its by-laws forbid such an award to be withdrawn, they might find themselves in a quandary : )
If at that time I had a self published work–through Amazon, for example–they could, I suppose, buy $1,000,000 worth of copies of this theoretical book of sonnets that does not yet exist.
I do not think I shall ever offer a “PayPal” link on this site, although I have no objection to those who do such things. I just feel as though when someone pays something, one should receive something one does not already have. Still, I have myself “clicked-to-donate” here and there mostly due to the fact that no such products existed or that nothing offered by the artist in question was within my economic reach.
This will not ever be the case with me, of course, as a writer of sonnets. There is no need for such a link if everything, or at any rate, most things are within anyone’s reach.
But this would still be the case no matter the type of art with which I may be involved. If I were, for example, a sculptor, such as Danielle Anjou, for example, I would offer signed reproductions in various scales, and unsigned ones as well, not to mention inexpensive miniatures, and even a line of affordable posters and books, so that anyone could posses a physical copy of something of mine they thought worthy if they so desired. Technology being what it is today, it is not difficult to manage such things without stocking inventory.
Which makes me wonder, on a tangential subject, if I should put together some kind of book of sonnets. My wife would like such a thing, but we have never discussed it seriously. Perhaps I should consider it?
And it would help to solve the Nobel committee’s astronomically unlikely problem if ever it should arise : ) I am, after all, nothing if not an obliging and amiable man.
And… Once again, an unsuspecting someone asks me the time, and I very carefully instruct her in the ways of watch-making! : ) My apologies.
Thanks for the mention above Deena, very kind of you considering Big Blank Page is only an infant in the blogosphere!
You’re very welcome. It’s a fantastic infant with great potential, you should be beaming with pride!
What a nice comment to wake up too 🙂 Thank you very much for such wonderful words!
Not a problem! It was my pleasure 😀