Though I don’t post gigantic blinking .GIFs begging for it, Midlife Crisis Crossover maintains an open policy of Ask Almost Anything (because in my lifetime, AAA has been far more beneficial to me than the AMA), provided I’m aware that I’ve been asked questions. Thanks to a moment of well-timed stumbling, I discovered eleven questions aimed in my general direction from C.v. Heerden from Bridging Worlds, who was actually bestowing upon me the honor of a nomination for the Liebster Award for meritoriousness in the field of blogging. I’m much obliged for the nod.

Two slight problems:

(1) I already did a Liebster Award entry previously, and probably shouldn’t repeat myself any more than I already do. Unless that somehow draws more readers, in which case I suppose I can spend the upcoming MCC Year Two simply reblogging my previous twelve months’ entries one by one and live the high life at the corner of Easy Street and Lazy Boulevard.

(2) According to the Liebster Award rules set forth in myriad versions by the mysterious governing body that refuses to step into the spotlight and claim authorship of their works, it was my understanding that the Liebster Award nominations are permitted only for bloggers with a limited number of followers.

Thanks to MCC’s social media connections, a growing number of live readers (for whom I remain humbly grateful, and from whom I always welcome input), and an even more rapidly growing number of spammer followers (about whom STAB STAB STAB STAB), I believe my current Follower count, though still puny by the standards according to pro bloggers who earn a living at this (in front of whom I remain consistently humbled), still disqualifies me from the Liebsters based on the limits I’ve seen in other Liebster Award entries (200, 500, 1000 whatever).

Regardless of my heartless exclusion from the proceedings by that Mysterious Governing Body, the nominating post did include questions for the nominees. If the MGB would like to emerge from the shadows and try holding me back, I welcome the chance to meet them face-to-face in the light of day.

Anyway. Mrs. van Heerden’s questions, answered in order:

1. A memorable experience you had in another country – if you haven’t been abroad yet, you can tell about a memorable experience with a member of another nation

I’ve only left America once: in 2004 our family diverged from our Niagara Falls trip with a one-day excursion into Canada to visit an amusement park called Marineland and to see their exotic currency up close. Marineland was large and sparsely populated with very interesting marine mammals and intermittently interesting non-marine mammals. The view of Niagara Falls was also much better from the Canadian side. This was back in the good ol’ days when you didn’t need a full-price passport to traverse the border, only your birth certificate. Much, much simpler times.

2. A meal you really enjoyed recently

On my weekly Guy Night with my son, I usually cook myself an omelet using any available leftovers. This week: taco omelet. Works for me.

3. Describe a setting in which you would definitely find peace

The first image that comes to mind is the Duluth shoreline along Lake Superior. The waters are calm and less freezing than the other Great Lakes we’ve visited (based on my own limited experience), and there are trendy coffee shops nearby.

4. An event that changed your life drastically

Birth of my son? Marriage? Divorce? Bankruptcy? Baptism? Diet? Remarriage? Buying a PC? Such an array of events, but so little time. For now I’ll go with dropping out of college and leave the other chapters of my life as future writing options.

5. Your favorite way of travel

Rental SUV. After a 2004 incident involving a breakdown on a Cleveland interstate, I don’t use my own car for our road trips anymore. Someday I might try an airplane ride and see what the fuss is about, but it hasn’t happened yet.

6.Imagine I had the powers to arrange a meeting with the person of your choice. Who would that be? Convince me why I should let you meet with them.

This is a common icebreaker question for which I never have a quick, easy answer. Presumably I should name a famous person to hang out with or to pester with questions, but the truth is I’m terrible at coming up with questions for other people to answer, especially if they’re greater than I am.

To be honest and weird, the first several names that come to mind are victims of unsolved disappearances or murders. That kind of answer would probably kill party chatter dead, though.

7. Since the point of this Award thing is to connect with bloggers, please share a link to a blog post of yours you think came out quite good – maybe even your favorite one. Let us get to know you!

In MCC’s almost-year of existence, I’ve written fiction exactly twice. My favorite of the two was “The Bitter Little Cable Car“. Fiction ideas never seem to spring to mind for me, but they’re a total blast to explore when opportunity knocks from inside my head.

8. Blogging – is it easier when one stays anonymous?

There’s less accountability that way, to be sure. You can gossip and tattle about any aspect of your life without fear of retribution from the parties involved. Personally, I consider the idea of accountability a welcome writing boundary. Some stories don’t need to be shared with strangers. My awareness of that boundary forces me to think a little more deeply about what I should or shouldn’t mine for writing material. I like having reasons to think more deeply.

9. A movie that impressed you lately

The Sound of Music is a sumptuous visual feast on Blu-ray, more than it ever was on CRT TVs and VHS tapes from ancient times.

10. Scenes that let you stop zapping on your TV and make you watch?

I brake for any Lord of the Rings chapter. Last winter our cable stations went overboard rerunning them and I found myself braking a lot, frequently at the same scenes over and over again. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen Aragorn plummet over that precipice.

11. Something you would love reading about more

Some combination of commercial art and HTML coding. I took art classes in high school, but fell away from them over time. Mostly I’d simply like the mental capacity to make a website not-ugly, maybe even learn how to design a real live logo.

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[Questions for future MCC Q&As are welcome anytime, even if I’m not openly begging for them. Feel free to submit your questions in the comment box below, or go dig up an old entry that bugs you to this day and reply to it instead. Digging through old entries is like archaeology, only it’s more fun and there’s no sand getting in everywhere. Also, it means a free plug for your site, if you’re not one of those aforementioned spammers. STAB.]