Dear lord, not another honor...

My prettier and older twin sister (by three months) - edder - has honored (and I pronounce the 'H" - Hhonored - like Martha Stewart saying 'Hherbs' - try it! It's fun!) me recently with both the prestigious "I Should Have Been a Stripper ," and the "I Give Good Blog" award

What in God's name the first has to do with blogging, I have no earthly idea.

But I've played the "What's your Hooker/Drag Queen/Favorite vegetable name" game where you combine the name of the first pet you ever had with the name of the first street you ever lived on.

As a result, my nom de plume - and a rather juicy one at that - would be:

Ebony Garden

Beat that...I dare you...

Consequently, I must reveal seven personality traits about myself and then nominate seven other sites with 'personality."

Sadly, it's taken so long for me to respond that everyone I'd nominate has pretty much already been nominated...

So here goes with the personality potpourri:

Polite: I am unfailingly well-mannered and civil in any situation. In fact, I collect both modern and vintage etiquette books. I have read books on the evolution of manners and civility. And I am appalled by rudeness in any form. As a result, I am appalled a lot. I write letters to shopping chains where the custom of the cashier saying "thank you" has disappeared. To no avail.

Yet, I can also not tell a lie, which leads to some interesting encounters. One introductory dinner and subsequent evening where we were hosted by a new couple in town was so cheesy and so appalling and distasteful that, upon departure, I found myself only able to say,"Thank you for this evening. It was..." - at which point I made a gurgling sound and walked briskly away.

Needless to say, riding the train lines in Southern Italy nearly gave me shingles.

Random: Despite an ability to focus in on the task at hand, my brain appears to not work in any kind of prescribed linear fashion. I make random connections at almost dizzying speed that constantly surprise and/or annoy the other humans around me. Something may make sense to me because of the synapses that fire off in my brain and I'm left with people looking at me like I'm Rain Man or channeling or something.

Gregarious: I tend to attract people to me who love to laugh and to loosen up. I have very few hang-ups and can be found laughing about 99.4% of the time. I grew up in a family that treasured laughter - none of us ever had much materially growing up, but we could always be found laughing with immediate and extended family.

Drama-free: 15 years ago, Brian and I made a pact that we were going to eliminate the dramatic, toxic and high-maintenance people from our lives. And we did. We swept the clingers, the stalkers, the eternally-needy, and the traffic wrecks from our very existence - and we never looked back. Reconnecting with some folks from the past on Facebook reminds me of why we did that - the immediate sense of someone desperately demanding your attention, cloying, clinging, trying to grab back on. What a wise choice we made - and what wonderful friends we have now because of that choice.

Loyal: I am flat out the best friend you will ever have. I will give you the shirt off my back, my time, my support, my unending trust, until...you choose otherwise. Then you had better distance yourself from me completely. Ask any of my exes - if you can find them. : ) I am the same way about my friends - if you hurt them, you hurt me. And I can be a vengeful bastard when I want to be. As my friend AerialPJ says, I'll always help you hide the body.

Addictive: You name it, I'll abuse it. Nicotine, food, alcohol - it's all about being the best!

Passive-Aggressive: I know, right? Hypocritical with most of the above. I try to negate or forestall conflict through humor, good manners, insight and superior intellect. If that fails, I will methodically reduce you to ashes before you knew what hit you. But in an exceedingly polite and well-mannered way.

You're welcome.

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Now - as to the second honor bestowed upon me by the lovely edder, the "I Give Good Blog" award - I would like to say first-off that I truly appreciate the designation.

I sincerely love the folks who bother to read this blog - and find it hard to believe that so many folks do.

But I graciously accept the honor and, after the conclusion of my hectic work day, I plan to heft a Stolichnaya vodka martini, extra dry, shaken and not stirred, straight up with olives in your honor and drink to your collective good health!

Sláinte!