Liebster Award post

Yep, it's time to do one of these again!  This blog got nominated by two people this time; D7ana and the Dorky Doll Collector, so I think that means I've got two sets of questions to answer!  LOL, individual bloggers can make up their own questions, so I've got a lot of typing to do.  Anywho, I wish a big thank you to D7ana and Dorky for the nomination.  I'm not sure how Talolili and I are going to work this out since there's the two of us, but we'll figure it out.  My answers are below, and when Talolili gets the time (she's been VERY busy), she can fill in her answers as well.

Okay, rules first.
#1:  Thank the person/people who nominated your blog.  Done and done.
#2:  Give your readers 11 random facts about yourself.
#3:  Answer the 11 questions presented from the person who nominated you; in this case I have 22 questions.  No biggie.
#4:  Nominate 11 bloggers to receive your award.
#5:  Invent eleven questions of your own to ask your nominees.

RULE #2:  11 RANDOM FACTS
#1:  I turn twenty-eight in two days.

#2:  I like freight trains.  My hometown was built on a rail line, and during my childhood I wiled away many an afternoon watching trains go by.

#3:  I also like biplanes.  If I was at a location where I couldn't see the train tracks, I'd lie in the grass and count the planes that flew overhead.  I didn't always see biplanes, so when I saw one that was reason for a happy dance in the middle of the yard.

#4:  I didn't play with dolls as a child.  Well, okay, I sort of did.  I had a huge collection of My Little Ponies (discussed in this post), but that was my sole concession to being female.  My favorite things to play with were dinosaurs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and toy cars.

#5:  I'm a tornado buff, and I have been since I was three.  If God hadn't suggested mortuary work for a career I might have attempted to become a professional storm chaser.

#6:  I am terrified of both wasps and spiders.  I'm willing to tolerate spiders since they catch and eat the mosquitoes that drive us nuts during the summer, but I don't want them crawling on me.  As for wasps...well, let me just say that they're the only insect that I'll go out of my way to squash.  I'm sure they have their place on Earth just like everything else, but I can't stand them.

#7:  My mother and I are animal rescuers.  We currently live with nine cats, five dogs, two rats, and a gecko.  Every single one was either a rescue or a stray.  It gets expensive, but it's rewarding to watch our animals grow and thrive.

#8:  I live less than three hours from two major cities (St. Louis and Memphis), but I've only been to a city once (St. Louis, for a class field trip).

#9:  I'm the tallest member of my immediate family.

#10:  I love apples, especially those little Fuji apples.  The small ones always seem to have more flavor packed inside.

#11:  I once thought a member of my church was a ghost.  I'd look up, see her standing there, look away briefly, then turn back and she'd be gone.  She turned out NOT to be a ghost of course, but you could've fooled me for awhile.  She and I became great friends once I could finally catch her and verify that she wasn't a ghost.  LOL
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Now it's time to answer some given questions.  Dorky Doll Collector won the coin toss, so her questions go first.

#1:  What is the one doll or toy-related item that you dream of owning one day?
Cameo Newborn Miss Peep.  My mother owned one, played with it all through her childhood, and was devastated when the little doll finally wore out and had to be discarded.  If only she'd known what great doll doctors the future would bring!  Anywho, I'd love to find another Baby Peep for my mother.

#2:  Anime, yay or nay?
My blog partner Talolili enjoys anime quite a bit.  I have only dabbled in it myself; the only anime I've seen from start to finish has been Puella Magi Madoka Magica.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I'm going to vote yay for anime.

#3:  Favorite candy?
Oh Lordy, that's a tough one.  My childhood favorite was Skittles and I still hold a special fondness for them, but my current favorites are Milk Duds and Heath Toffee Bars.

#4:  What would your dream job be?
Mortician and county coroner.

#5:  What is your current favorite movie or TV show?
My favorite movie has always been "Twister."  It's not an accurate description of what storm chasers do, and several plot points are inaccurate, implausible, or just plain nuts, but it's still my favorite movie.  As for TV, I'm a sucker for "World's Dumbest" on TruTV.  It's silly and a little on the vulgar side, but I still enjoy it.  Life is entirely too short to be taken seriously.

#6:  What is your favorite doll or toy item that you currently own?
That too is a tough one to answer.  I go through cycles where I prefer one doll over another, and then I'll go weeks or months without playing with her, only to pick her up again when the urge strikes.  Right now my favorite doll is Denise, one of my American Girls.  Tomorrow it might be Ju-hwang (my only ball-jointed doll), or Kissy (one of my mother's childhood treasures), or Felicity (another of my American Girls).  It really depends on my mood...and what I would like to knit!  LOL

#7:  Have you ever cried during a movie or TV show that is mainly targeted at children?
You betcha.  The first movies I ever cried at were both child's' movies; the first one was "Pocahontas," followed shortly thereafter by the movie that made EVERYONE cry, "The Lion King."  Granted, I was a child myself at the time, but I'd grown into the stage where I felt enough to empathize with movie characters.  I hated it that Pocahontas and John Smith were having to say goodbye, and who DOESN'T cry when Simba's daddy gets killed?

#8:  What is your favorite holiday?
Easter.  Being a Christian woman, I love the significance behind Easter.  I also love the candy!  Halloween is a close second.  Yeah, I'm a Christian who celebrates Halloween.  Again, I love the candy, and I've always loved watching kids dress up and enjoy some harmless fun after dark.  Every year it seems like the costumes get more and more original!

#9:  What is your favorite season?
Spring.  Spring brings the return of light, flowers, insects, and warm weather after the seemingly endless span of cold that winter brings.  I also love Fall; each Fall month (September, October, and November) brings with it a birthday of at least one family member.  The trees turn beautiful colors, the crops look fabulous, and the heat breaks.  Oh yes, I forgot that it tends to rain quite a bit in Missouri during Spring and Fall.

#10:  Are you calm and collected, or happy and excitable?
Depends on the circumstances, truthfully.  Usually I'm calm and let things roll off, but I can and do go through periods of excitability.

#11:  Is there someone that you currently look up to almost as an idol?
Yes, unfortunately.
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Now it's time to answer D7ana's questions.  There are only ten because I belive D7ana skipped a number somewhere!  It happens.

#1:  How did you become a blogger?
I'm a big fan of the Toy Box Philosopher (I refer to her in my posts as Miss Emily).  I wanted to comment on her Stardoll post thanking her for the information on clothes, but in order to do so I had to log in and create a profile.  Since I was creating a profile I figured I might as well start a blog of my own.  I try to follow Miss Emily's example without copying her blogging style directly.

#2:  What was your favorite subject in school and why?
As I mentioned above in my random facts, I'm fascinated by tornadoes and by foul weather in general.  Thus I leaned towards the sciences.  Earth science and biology were my strong points, but physical science didn't go so well.  Didn't stop me from being fascinated by it all, though!  My love of the sciences carried through college, and thus I currently hold a B.S. in biology.

#3:  You can be any doll you want, brought to life.  Which doll are you and why?
I'd be Noellia, from the Soom Emporium's limited edition Faery Legend line.  I've always loved rainbows, and Noellia happens to be the Rainbow Sprite.  She even has beautiful rainbow wings, the kind that I'd want if I could grow wings at will.

#4:  What is the coolest story ever connected to your blog?
I haven't really had anything earth-shattering happen yet, other than being joined by one of my FB friends to co-blog.  That was fun.

#5:  What do you do when you are not blogging?
I have a job at the public library.  I shelve books, check items in and out, and help customers during open hours, and in the after-hours I sweep, mop, dust, vacuum, and clean the bathrooms.  It's not a glamorous job, but it's easy pay and I enjoy getting involved with the patrons.  On my downtime I play with my pets, knit, crochet, listen to music, fart around on the computer, and talk with my mother.  I also read...but not anywhere near as much as I should!

#6:  What are your Grail Dolls/action figures?
In addition to Baby Peep above I have my eyes on a ball-jointed doll from Angel of Dream named Tao Huandao.  I love his sweet smile!  There's also this doll.

This is an antique Armand Marsailles, and once upon a time she was available at an antique store near here.  The antique store has since closed, and I don't know if this doll is locked up in there or if she has gone elsewhere.  Her price was far more than I ever could've afforded, but she's still my grail.  I even have a name picked out for her :  Heather.

#7:  What three countries or cities would you like to visit.
In a past blog post I mentioned a fondness for Banff, Alberta, where I'd love to learn to ski.  To that list I'll add Darwin, Australia, because of their lightning storms, and Scotland, just for the say-so of it.  I dig a man in a kilt!

#8:  Is there a project that you dream of accomplishing?
I'd like to earn my mortuary license, and I'd also like to master entrelac knitting.  I've conquered cables, basic Fair Isle, and simple intarsia, but entrelac remains a frontier.

#9:  What are your favorite foods?
Being from the south (sort of), I have a fondness for fried food.  Fried catfish, fried okra, fried pickles, fried chicken, fried Twinkies, fried ice cream...LOL, can you imagine what my waistline looks like?  I also love barbecue, chicken of almost any sort, my grandmother's hash, fried eggs on toast, raw carrots, baby spinach, my mother's roasted cauliflower (with cheese and garlic on top!), and apples.  I can name a few other things, but then we'd be here all night!

#10:  Any tips you would give future bloggers?
It's your blog and you can post whatever you want.  It doesn't have to be devoted solely to one thing, and it doesn't even have to have a point.  Just post what you love, have fun doing it, and don't be afraid to speak your mind.
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We only have forty followers at this time, and I've nominated most of them at least once.  So I'm going to let these answers stand on their own for now.  I've got a review in the making and a birthday in a couple of days, and Talolili is...well, I need to ask her about the status of her grail doll.  I don't remember whether she ordered it yet or if she's just preparing to order it.  Either way it's exciting for her, and I'm excited for her!

Happy October,
RagingMoon1987

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

I've been nominated by Barb the Evil Genius to participate in this award.  Since I'm a bigmouth and I love to talk about myself, I'm going to participate!  If you don't know the rules (and you quite possibly do), you get ten questions to answer about yourself, and then you must nominate five fellow bloggers to do the same.  So...here we go!

1. Do you collect anything other than dolls?
One could safely say that I collect collections!  LOL, I collect doll clothes, rocks, knitting supplies (especially needles), and trinkets.  Most of my trinkets are tiny novelty toys and odd cast-off stuff like dried bones or bottle caps.  Go figure.  LOL 

2. Why did you start a doll blog?
I started a doll blog for a few reasons.  I have some Facebook friends who like dolls, but for the most part they've got their own hobbies.  Starting a blog seemed like a good way to meet other people who shared the same passion that I did.  It's also a great way to recommend a good doll to collectors, or to warn them about a bad one!  And of course, I did this for the sheer fun of it; I like taking the pictures and sharing my opinions and experiences.

3. Do you have one particular doll that is the favorite in your collection?
Yes, I do.  This is Astrid, from the J. Misa Porcelain company.

I don't know if she originally had another name; "Astrid" is the name I chose for her when I received her.  Astrid was a gift; I was seventeen, and my grandfather had been hospitalized.  Since I like to snoop I mosied down to the gift shop to see what they had, and Astrid was there.  My intention was merely to show her to my grandmother without asking for her, but I guess Grandma liked her too!  You can see how the story ended (LOL again).

4. Your favorite doll accessory?
I like shoes.  Shoes are often the first thing lost off of a new doll (depending on the size of the shoe), and certain sized shoes are hard to find.  So when I find a pair of doll shoes that will fit one of my girls, I go out of my way to get them.

5. Do you know exactly how many dolls you have in your collection (you don't have to tell the number of course :-) )?
I stopped counting long ago.  If I were to count every single one I think the number would come out around three hundred.  Most of them are small, so storage isn't a huge problem...yet.

6. Do you play any instruments and if so, what?
Unfortunately I'm more fond of music than I am gifted.  If I could learn any instrument in the world, I'd pick something unusual like a balalaika or a set of bagpipes.  

7. Where is your most favorite place you've ever been?
Columbus-Belmont State Park in Hickman County, Kentucky.  My father was a historian and he loved taking the family on trips to forts and other historical sites.  Columbus-Belmont was a Confederate strongpoint (don't hate), and it's close to the sites of two battles so there were a lot of graves.  I was only two or three when we went there, but I remember how beautiful the scenery was.  There were the graves and some old cannons, and even a big anchor!  For some weird reason, we never went back to Belmont, not even after I got old enough to truly appreciate it all.  My father was a superstitious type, and he had this strange fear that if we returned, there'd be some big catastrophe and we'd never make it home.  So I've never been back to Belmont, even though it's very close.  My intention is to return someday.  

8. Where would you most like to visit, that you have never visited?
I've got several places on my bucket list; the highest place on the list is Banff, Alberta, because the scenery is beautiful.  Plus, it might be a good place to learn how to ski.  I'd love to learn how to ski.

9. Is there a retired doll or doll line that you'd like to bring back?
That's a tough choice.  There are a lot of lines that I missed out on because they existed before I was born, and there are also some good ones that I DIDN'T miss out on!  If I had to pick a single line it would be the Ideal Crissy line.  The whole line was cute, dolls, clothes, concept, and all.  Their concept, hair play, is about as timeless as one can get.  I mean, what little girl doesn't like to play with hair???  Plus, since Crissy and her friends were supposed to be young children, there wouldn't be any overzealous parents harping about boobs and skimpy clothes and oversexualization.

10. If you could design your own doll, what would it look like?
I'd want her to be a blue-eyed redhead, because in real life that's a very rare combination.  She'd be about seventeen years of age and be dressed in seventies-style garb (bell-bottoms, tie-dyed shirt, the works).  She'd be a bigmouth like me and have joints all over like the LIV dolls.  And of course I'd want her to come with a ton of outfits so that little kids wouldn't have to scrounge around for clothes.

Alrighty, now it's my turn.  I present to you a few of the same questions as above, plus a couple that I made up myself.  I think that's how it works.  Anywho I nominate:

D7ana at A Philly Collector of Playscale Dolls and Action Figures
Pandora at Pandora's Dolls
KAF FRUM at .....A little doll will do it.....
Michelle at BlytheLife.com
Rhonda F at Living A Doll's Life

To thee I present the following questions for you to answer if you choose to participate:
1. How old were you when you started collecting dolls?
2. Why did you start a doll blog?
3. Do you have one particular doll that is the favorite in your collection?
4. What hair color do you prefer your dolls to have?
5. Do you know exactly how many dolls you have in your collection (you don't have to tell the number of course :-) )?
6. What does your family think about your dolls?
7. Do you ever take your dolls out in public?  If so, where do you like to take them?
8. Do you remember your first doll?  If so, who was she/he?
9. Is there a retired doll or doll line that you'd like to bring back?
10. If you could design your own doll, what would it look like?