More from around the Internet

I couldn’t think of anything to write about today, so I’ll let the Internet do my entertaining for me… Here are some of the best things I’ve come across out there in the web recently.

1. The artist Dave Devries has taken children’s drawings and turned them into realistic looking works of art. Fantastic!
2. The Middlest Sister is my new favourite blog! It’s a web-comic based on the author’s memories of growing up with four sisters and it’s fabulous!
3. This BBC comic about a Somali couple raising their family in Norway makes me sad. If Jan and I ever have children, I’m afraid they will end up being completely German and rejecting my culture as something that bears no relation to them. (This isn’t as far-fetched as it might sound. I’ve heard stories of children in Germany who have rejected their English parent’s culture entirely, to the extent of refusing to speak English even at home).
4. I loved these innocent things that will make you feel filthy. And I definitely had to look twoce at the one with the pigs…
5. Finally, check out these incredibly bizarre and awful cakes. Warning: Some of them are not for the faint-hearted!

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An award I don’t deserve

So Lu from Moose Noose gave me an award back in.. errrm… September(!!) which I’ve failed to actually post on here until now. Oops! Not even sure I deserve it any more after ignoring it for so long. But here it is anyway, the Verstile Blogger Award:

This award isn’t just there to look pretty. There are rules to this game, too…

1. Thank the person who gave you the award. That’s just common courtesy, that is.
   I believe I did, in fact, thank Lu when she first gave me the award, but after all this time she deserves to be thanked again. Publically. Thank you Lu!
2. Include a link to their blog.
   Done. Look up there ^.
3. Share seven random facts about yourself.
   Will do, once I’ve finished with the rules.
4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and share a link to their site.
   15? I’m not even sure I know that many! But I shall give it a go…

First, seven random facts about myself. A difficult one, this. Those of you who’ve been reading for a while probably know pretty much everything that’s even vaguely interesting already, but I have had a few new readers recently so at least these will (hopefully) be new to them. Regular readers, I apologise now if I repeat myself…

• Once I start reading a book, I feel compelled to read it to the end even if I don’t like it. The book I’ve come closest to not finishing is Wuthering Heights. I got it for Christmas when I was about 14 and 7 year and 4 attempts later, I finally finished it, then immediately gave it to a charity shop
• I love garlic! I would eat it every day if I could. I’ve wanted to go to Tallinn, Estonia ever since I heard there’s a garlic restaurant there. (That’s a perfectly good reason for wanting to go somewhere, right?)
• I also love potatoes and cheese. Any meal containing garlic, potatoes and cheese would be my idea of heaven! (Garlic and Cheddar mashed potatoes anyone?)
• I am currently obsessed with owls. I also like hedgehogs, tortoises, red pandas and seahorses.
• I actually enjoy writing letters, as in with an actual pen and paper. E-mails, on the other hand, I am useless at. I’ll read them, make a note to come back and reply later, then forget about them for months and months.
• I sometimes wish my commute to work was longer, so I could continue reading my book. Strangely I never think this on the way home…
• I would LOVE to be able to sew, but I am terrifed of sewing machines and my hand stitching is a) slow and b) messy

I believe that is seven. Now I have to nominate people…

– Tina at Kulturschock
– thepinkrachael
– Katyboo (who I’m sure will already have had it, but deserves to have it again, and again, and again…)
– Working Berlin Mum
– Pinklea
– Thoughtsy at Thoughts Appear (who again has probably already had it several times, but see note for Katyboo…)
– Charlotte from Sherbet and Sparkles
– Alex at Ifs, ands & Butts
– Jessica at Booshy
– Svenja at Happybluebird
– Sarsm
– Elaine at I used to be indecisive…
– Sam at Wie sagt man…?
– Eating Wiesbaden (and Mainz)
– JP of Pining Liwasan

And that is 15. Phew! If you don’t do the blogging award thing, please accept my apologies and ignore this post. For the rest of you, I’m looking forward to reading your seven facts! And now I have more gifts to wrap… I’ll be glad when they’re all done and winging their merry way to England, to be honest.

And they sailed away for a year and a day…

In the course of my wanderings through the blogosphere I’ve come across some great people. Amazing, funny, crazy and daring people. People who write brilliant blogs, make me laugh and make me think. People who inspire me and make me believe that anything is possible.

One of these people is the hilariously funny Home Office Mum, whose blog you can read here.
Now, Home Office Mum is the mother of two small and rather boisterous boys. She also runs her very own business. She combines the running of her very own business with taking care of the aforementioned small and boisterous boys. You’d think with all that going on life would be challenging enough – I mean, I can barely look after myself never mind two small boys and a business. But no. Home Office Mum has decided to take on a new challenge. Something ambitious. Something awe-inspiring.  Something exciting. Something, quite possibly, insane. She’s only gone and signed up to take part in the Clipper Round the World Race. So come September she’ll be setting sail from England to Brazil in a boat that’s probably neither pea-green nor beautiful.

The thing is, in order to complete this ocean adventure she’s going to need your help. First of all you need to head on over to her new blog, moretolifethanlaundry.com and give her as much encouragement as you possibly can. That shouldn’t be too difficult – after all, it is a fairly incredibly thing she’s doing. While you’re over there it would be fabulously wonderful if you could hit the donate button on the right hand side and give her a hand with the raising of the funds. ‘Cause taking part in a challenge like this doesn’t come cheap. She’s not asking for much – just 2 tiny little English pounds for each mile she sails, and one of those pounds shall be donated to charity so you’ll even be doing your bit to help sick and disabled children. Sounds marvellous, doesn’t it? So what are you still doing here? Get on over to More to Life Than Laundry and help a blogger out…