Thank you to both Lizzie Lee and Cognitive Caribou for nominating me to be a part of this project! I’m making this post a little late, but because I was just recently nominated a second time (thanks, Glynis) I felt that now is as good a time as any.

The following instructions are copied from Glynis’ post.

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There are a few easy rules you must follow to participate:

1. Acknowledge the blogger who nominated you and display the award.
2. Answer eleven questions that the blogger gives you.
3. Give eleven random facts about yourself–they can be anything!
4. Nominate eleven blogs that you think are deserving of the award
5. Let the bloggers know you nominated them.
6. Give them eleven questions to answer.

Like Glynis, I have also found a great amount of variation in these rules, so I’m also going to nominate only seven blogs. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I don’t read many blogs myself, and I honestly couldn’t make a list of eleven. Also, a couple of the blogs I’ve chosen have over 200 followers, but I think they still deserve to be part of this chain. And besides, Google tells me that some rule sets for the Liebster award say less then 3000, not 200. That’s precedent enough for me!

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Questions from Glynis:

1. What motivated you to start your current blog? – I’ve been working on writing a book for autistic women about romance and sexuality on the autism spectrum, and it’s been a slow process, mainly because I’ve never attempted to write anything of this scale before. I decided that starting a blog to write about topics pertaining to autism more generally helped my brainstorming process, and would keep me motivated. Plus, it’s a good way to keep me writing regularly. And I love giving advice and answering questions, so a blog is a nice consolidated, public place for me to stand on my soap box and talk to (or at) the autism community! I don’t have many readers, but I sometimes get mail from people who tell me the things I have to say helped them in their own lives. I like to think maybe a few who read this blog will find my advice useful.
2. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why? – This is a hard question. I won’t cheat and say “a trip around the world,” so I’ll choose Hawaii. I’m so tired of the cold, I could use some quiet beach weather. I also just re-watched Lilo and Stitch the other day, so it’s on my mind…
3. What is the one article of clothing that makes you feel like a superhero when you wear it? – I have a really fancy Audrey Hepburn style dress from Modcloth that I’ve literally never worn in public because it always feels too fancy, but it’s incredibly comfy and makes me feel like a movie star. I’ll find an excuse to wear it out some day.
4. Do you think selfies are a good trend or a bad trend?  Why? – Neither. I think self portraits have been around forever, and “selfies” are only a new thing because more people have easy access to technology that enables portrait photography. If anything, I think they’re a good trend, because the increase in self portraits online means teenagers on tumblr and instagram are being exposed to photos of real people, and their peers. Photoshopped photos of models will always be popular, but the diversity that comes from the popularity of selfies is a change for the better. For example, this is a blog entirely dedicated to displaying the selfies of queer and trans people of color.
5. If you could invent an app for a smart phone, what would it do? – I want a reminder app that works like my built in iPhone alarm, but that can display a customized picture for a reminder on the screen. I recently started drinking a full glass of water every morning when I wake up, and I wanted to set an alarm with a picture of a glass of water that said “drink water!” but I couldn’t find an app that would do this! Seriously! The best I found either didn’t let the user customize the pictures (what’s the point?) or didn’t display the photo linked with the reminder on the lock screen when the alarm sounded. Frustrating.
6. What is your favorite TV show to binge watch on Netflix? – This is an impossible question. I suppose my most recent favorite (that I literally could not stop watching until I’d finished) was Attack On Titan.
7. What’s one internet resource you think more people should know about? – The forums on Wrongplanet.net. It’s a very popular website, but I’m always surprised at the number of people who haven’t heard of it (or have heard of it but never used the forums). When people come to me who have just discovered autism and suspect they or a loved one may be on the spectrum, I always recommend WP. The site is so old and has such a huge population that there are thousands upon thousands of threads on every autism-related topic imaginable. Every variation of “I do this weird thing, is that related to my autism? Does anybody else do this?” is somewhere on the Wrongplanet forums. And there are so many people that any question you post will be answered by someone! After I first suspected I was autistic and began to research autism, I knew that I wanted to talk to other autistics about their experiences. I googled “autism forum,” and spent the next three or four months reading everything I could on Wrongplanet. It’s a really great website, and a fantastic resource for autistics looking to connect with like-minded people.

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Questions from Lizzie Lee:

1. Is this your first foray into the world of blogging? – No, I’ve had several blogs as a teenager on blogspot, tumblr, and livejournal. They were all very mundane, in the way of most unspecialized teen blogs. This is my first “serious” blog.
2. Why did you start your current blog? – Glynis asked this question too, and I’ve already answered above, so I’ll skip this one.
3. What are your interests and hobbies outside of blogging? – I have some overarching interests that will never go away, like the more general reading, writing, drawing, and playing video games. Lately I’ve been getting more into physical fitness (running and yoga), and I’ve been making an effort to get back into anime (yes really).
4. Do you have any pets? – I have one cat, Buffy.
5. What sort of camera do you use? – My iPhone. But I also use disposable cameras fairly often.
6. What are your favorite genres of music? – This is hard to answer, because I don’t know the correct terminology for a lot of the music I listen to. I like 70’s-80’s rock operas, German pop, and that indescribable genre I call “girls whispering” (some examples are Bat for Lashes, Ladytron, Goldfrapp, Lana Del Ray, and Roisin Murphy). Lately I’ve been really into Lindsey Stirling.
7. What’s your Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality type? – ISFJ
8. How extensively do you research something before buying it? How large or small of a role does branding and packaging play in your decision to purchase a product? – I do at least cursory research. I’ll read reviews if I can, and if I can’t find product reviews I’ll wait much longer and do much more research. Branding plays a very small role (reviews are far more important to me), but good packaging heavily increases the chances of me making an in-store impulse purchase.
9. Did you grow up using computers, or delve into the digital world later in life? – I grew up with computers! On Neopets and flash games, more specifically.
10. Do you prefer neutrals or bright colors? – Neutrals look better on me, I think. So I choose neutrals more frequently when it comes to makeup and clothing. But I really like bright colors!
11. Felines or canines? – I can’t choose! I’m both a dog and a cat person, because I like dogs and cats for very different reasons!

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Eleven facts about me:

1. I can slide both my arms a few inches out of their sockets. It makes a poping sound like cracking a joint, but I can repeat the noise forever since I’m just plucking my tendons. Loads of fun!
2. I still have all of my wisdom teeth, and they fit in my mouth just fine.
3. I can write and draw with my left hand (I’m right-handed), but my lines are shakier and I can’t write in cursive.
4. I’ve had an autistic “special interest” for wolves and werewolves since third grade.
5. In 6th grade, I wore bandanas every single day, but managed to get around the “no hats or head-coverings” rule at my school by claiming that I couldn’t take it off because I was raised Quaker “and Quakers don’t take off their hats for anyone!” Fearing an accusation of religious discrimination, the confused teacher let me carry on.
6. I took six years of German in public school, though I can only speak German at maybe a kindergarten level. It’s enough to enjoy German music though!
7. I’m infinitely more comfortable speaking publicly on a stage to an audience than I am introducing myself to strangers at a party.
8. I have a neurotypical boyfriend, which has been a fascinating insight into such an alien thought-process.
9. I’m socially awkward even in online video games, so I used to spend $15 a month on World of Warcraft just to run around alone questing and exploring. I’ve never done a group raid or dungeon, or made one in-game friend even though I’ve played WoW on-and-off for almost nine years now.
10. I need a stuffed animal at night to sleep comfortably.
11. I own an acoustic guitar but the only song I can play is Then He Kissed Me by The Crystals.

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I nominate:

1. Cognitive Caribou
2. Lizzie Lee
3. I Married A Geek
4. Indulging Our Quarks
5. Dude, I’m An Aspie
6. Amy’s Tiny Corner of Existence
7. Aspie From Maine

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Eleven questions for my nominees:

1. What prompted you to start your blog?
2. For the autism blogs: What was your first introduction to the “autism community”?
3. What is your Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality type?
4. Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert? Why?
5. What is one book, movie, or television show that you absolutely love?
6. What is one song you love that never gets old for you
7. What kind of computer do you use?
8. What do you take more pictures of: yourself, or other people? (Animals count as other people!)
9. Who was your first pet? Tell me about them! (breed, name, etc.)
10. Do you have any pets now?
11. What is your earliest childhood memory?

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