Sometimes a place is striking enough that descriptions and explanations are useless. To wit, a few more photos from Tunisia, including Tunis, La Marsa, Bizerte, and Sidi Bou Said:

  

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In other news, grateful to have been nominated for a Liebster Award by Chioma at Lifehomeandaway, fellow expat blogger and creative writer extraordinaire! The Liebster Award was created to recognize and/or discover bloggers, to increase their readership and to spread the blogging love. seems that the parameters have changed over the years, but in essence once nominated, you answer a few questions and then nominate other blogs, asking your own questions. in this case, 11 was the magic nomination and question number – i didn’t manage to nominate 11 bloggers, although there are certainly loads more with talent out there.

So, many thanks to Chioma for the nomination! In response, I’ll answer her questions and then pass on a few others to my own nominees.

My answers:

What’s your favourite quote?

“I can’t even.”

What’s your favourite colour and why?

I wouldn’t want to make all the other colors (colours!) jealous by answering.

Compose a new quote describing your outlook to life now?

”Slow and steady hopefully gets us somewhere.”

What continent would you pick to be from if you had the option and why?

Europe or Africa, with a preference for the Mediterranean basin, because of food, climate, history, and geo-cultural exchanges.

If you were a politician what would you change in the world?

Politicians are quiet champions of the status quo, so I would probably change my day job.

What word best describes you?

Pendulum

Write your last words in one sentence?

“That was delicious.”

In one sentence describe the world?

Getting smaller and heating up!

What is your greatest fear?

Taking the same photograph as someone else.

(Or, it’s probably not to my advantage to record my greatest fear on the internet, hehe).

What is your favourite memory from childhood?

Crunching over beds of a thousand shellfish, knee-deep in the saltwater marshes of coastal South Carolina, fishing for crabs (crabbing?) with my grandparents. (I’m not from the south, so this was a wild adventure for me in my youth).

What motivates you to get up each day?

Breakfast.

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Thanks again for the nomination and the opportunity to spread some appreciation. Here are a few bloggers I have heaps of respect for, and would like to hear from:

Mr. Muchena, from On The Heath [prolific is putting it lightly]

R. Baldwin at Before the Downbeat [quote that should be a tagline: “It’s not just about waving the arms!”]

Tinea at Anarchapistemology [because what a word, and what a perspective]

Ms. Tahir of Muslimnlove [mashallah, a nexus of creativity, clarity, honesty]

Mr. Hastings at Behind Prison Walls [generous and insightful, with hilariously original Jackson Pollock analogies]

M & B at Next Stop Senegal [smart people writing smart things–and I want to catch them before they leave West Africa!]

Questions for my nominees, if you’ll be so kind:

1. What did you have for breakfast this morning ?

2. Where do you call “home” (multiple answers acceptable) ?

3. What smell or scent evokes the strongest memory for you, and what is the memory ?

4. Who, under the age of 5 or over the age of 60, has inspired you most ?

5. What or who represents truth to you ?

6. Where do you find equilibrium ?

7. What are you struggling with, lately ?

8. What’s the farthest from home you’ve ever been (literally or figuratively) ?

9. What is the most direct path to justice ?

10. What would you expect your grandkids (real or imagined) to make fun of you for ?

11. What’s for dinner ?

Nominees, it’s now up to you to accept the Liebster, answer these questions, and then nominate 11 other bloggers who might appreciate a readership boost, and devise 11 questions of your own to pass on to them.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Here’s to long, happy, and healthy blogging!