Lynn gave me a "Creative Blogger" award (even though she said she was going to note people she didn't regularly link to, and I think she links to my blog more than most of my other readers do). Thank you, Lynn!

The award suggests that we share seven unusual things about ourselves, then provide links to seven other bloggers. I think I'm going to give the links first; these are people I read but don't have on my sidebar (for whatever reason) and don't often mention, but still enjoy. And at least one of these came courtesy of Lynn's massive Links page:

Fed by Birds. This is a British site, it's not updated as regularly as some. It's kind of hard to categorize - I think perhaps "discusses ephemerata" would maybe be the best - she often features old photos or postcards. A recent post discusses floor plans in books (along with a strong desire to have them provided). I always love looking at any maps provided in books, though I admit I like to also make up my own floor plans and maps in my head for the places I'm reading about. (Oddly, a lot of the cottagey places in books - like the Miss Read stories - wind up "looking" like my maternal grandmother's house)

Loobylu. (Though of late her life seems to have got more busy and she's not posting as much). This is the site of an Aussie mom/artist who discusses her work, her home, and her daughters. It's fun to see - even if just for the "oh, hey, it's summer over there now!" aspect of it.

Angry Chicken. Another craft/home blog, again with lovely photos, fun projects, and news of raising children (which is exotic to me as I haven't any). A recent post refers to the Women's Day Book of Soft Toys and Dolls, which was a favorite of mine as a child, and which I had to track down a copy of when I moved here. (My mom still has "our" copy somewhere).

Feeling Stitchy. A nice clearinghouse of "cool embroidered things seen on the Web."

Red Shirt Knitting. A knitting blog, and don't tell anyone this, but I really read for the Sims Sunday updates. And the chicken photos.

Geek Crafts Another clearinghouse-type site of links - in this case, to crafts involving Star Wars, Dr. Who, Nintendo, and other things near and dear to various geekish hearts.

Mental Multivitamin. This is a different sort of creative blog than most I've linked; the author definitely does not do crafts. But she does read and write and comment on her reading and on homeschooling and on society in general. This is where I first saw the link to "Shop Class as Soulcraft." This is also a good site for people thinking about reading Shakespeare - she has a whole section called "Bardolatry." She's also the one who rails against New Year's resolutions of the slimming-down sort (though, dear Lord, I wish I had the kind of body that would remain slim thanks only to eating carefully and some occasional gentle walking to the bookstore. Alas, I have to have one of those steel-and-wood giraffes known as a NordicTrak in my house, and use it regularly.)

So those are my seven.

Now, the seven things about me. Let's see:

1. I am almost deathly allergic to miso. I have to be very careful in both Japanese and vegetarian restaurants.

2. I love pretty "Victorian" things; I am considering ordering a set of "cartes de visite" for myself from Victorian Trading Company. Even though I already have business cards provided by my university. The business cards are fine and all but they're not PRETTY. And I didn't get to pick out the design.

3. I have an exceptionally good sense of "mental maps" - if I have been somewhere once, I can usually find my way around there again, even without a paper map or GPS.

4. I also have an exceptionally good auditory memory, in the sense of remembering a piece of music if I've heard it before, or even recognizing the style of a composer. I used to amuse my friends by immediately identifying composers (or the group, in the case of pop music) upon hearing the first few notes.

5. I become irrationally irritated upon feeling my time is being wasted, or that someone is "playing" me.

6. I've been attacked by a spruce grouse.

7. I was a passenger on a train that suffered a (minor) derailment. (Yes, I am going to continue to milk that.)