I remember when I first started blogging. Anomination for an award seemed to be the ultimate blogging achievement. These days I get nominated quite often, but every nomination is special and has me walking around with a huge grin on my face, gazing at the screen with eyes full of overexcitement.
This time I was nominated by F from the Fence of Stars for the Sunshine Award and then, before I could do the post, Catalina from the emo wolverine writes nominated me too! Thank you guys, thank you so much for nominating me! You're both great bloggers. I don't know where I'd be without you.

I guess most of us know the rules, but in case someone is new to blogging, here they are:
(1). State 5 facts about yourself.
(2). Answer the 5 questions.
(3). Create 5 new questions and nominate some more bloggers for the award.

Since I was nominated twice I think I'm supposed to tell you ten facts. No problem, I've got lots of not really interesting stuff to tell.

1. I'm currently learning to cook - which is driving my Mom crazy. Apparently the result is edible, but the way I get there is more dangerous than the current situation in the Middle East.
2. When I'm hungry my stomach makes more noise than an airplane during take-off
3. I can touch my big toe with my third toe. People in school say it's creepy to see.
4. When I buy necklaces I always choose the one that doesn't fit in with the other necklaces on the stand, because it's different and doesn't fit in just like me.
5. In October 2012 I started knitting a Ravenclaw scarf. I finished it last week.
6. I absolutely love writing in red ink. It gives me a feeling of authority.
7. I never use mascara. Last time I did I almost poked my eye out.
8. My hair is so thick and heavy I can probably knock someone out with my ponytail.
9. My ultimate comfort food is my Mom's special meatball sandwich.
10. I once dreamed that the sun was a gigantic orange that wanted to eat the earth

Now on to F's questions. I've got to say these are interesting questions (I wouldn't have expected anything else from her).

1. What is your favorite mythical creature?
I'm a bit of a weirdo who has an interest in banshees and hamadryads.
Banshees are creepy women who announce the death of a person. They are said to make terrible screaming noises. I don't know why I like them, because my other favorite mythical creature is so gentle. Hamadryads are basically Greek tree spirits. They live and die with their trees. I'm currently writing a story about one who lives in an ancient oak that gets transported to and planted in Central Park. Culture clash and stuff coming up, you know the stuff.

2. If you had to change accents, which would you choose?
Aussie, mate. I already have a thick American accent which got me into a world of trouble in high school. American accents weren't 'proper' accents, I had to have a British accent. I refused. Instead I wanted to annoy them even more by changing my accent into the one they hate even more than an American accent: Australian.

3. What was the last good book you read?
A lot of people won't agree with me on this, but I'd say The House of Hades. It's right up my alley with all those bad jokes and puns. Okay, maybe it's not making me think about the problems in the world, maybe it doesn't offer me a new view on humanity, but it was a great read.

4. What's your favorite modern slang/phrase?
So as a Dutchy I know very little about English slang. I only know 'yolo' and that only reminds me of getting run over by cars in Rome... I don't know much about Dutch slang either. The only thing I know about that is that Dutch boys between the ages of 8 and 15 suddenly call eachtother 'kil', which is really stupid because it's pronounced exactly the same as 'keel', meaning 'throat'. So when you pass a group of those kids it's like they're all yelling THROAT at eachother (yes the caps were necessary). This is why I'm not a fan of slang.

5.What's a little-known fact you've just found out?
I don't want to confirm anything in case the Peruvian maffia comes to kill me for putting this on the internet but... but...
Maybe, just maybe, some archeologists in Peru found another abandoned Inka village in the jungle, smaller in size than Machu Picchu, but also awesome? Maybe?

Think we're done? Think again! I've also got Catalina's questions to answer :)

1. What's your favorite part of your favorite season?
My favorite season is winter. Every season has its good and bad things, but none of them is as awesome as winter. The best part is when snow colors the world white for the first time. I love that moment.

2.Describe one event that happened to you this summer which you will probably remember for the rest of your life.
You can find that here. I don't think I will ever forget the Inka Trail.

3. The worst book ever written- in your opinion?
I can't pinpoint a worst book ever, but Elixir, by Hilary Duff, is bad. And I don't mean the book as a whole, but the writing itself. Switching from past tense to present and back within one sentence? That's just bad writing. You've got to stick with the tense you chose - at least within one paragraph.

4. Natural tourist spots (eg beaches) vs man made tourist spots (eg amusement parks)- where would you rather go?
Natural, because there are always places in nature with no one else. Mankind doesn't like me and I don't like mankind, so I have to get out and go to a forest or something every now and then. People are judgmental, trees aren't. Okay, an acorn might fall on your head, but it won't leave an emotional scar like an insult can. Long story short: I like trees better than people, so natural tourist spots for me.

5. If you could invent something out of a science fiction novel or movie, what would you make?
It's not actual science fiction, but I once read a Donald Duck story in which there was a machine that instantly wrote down your thoughts. That would be nice. Most of the time when I'm writing my head does the entire paragraph in one go, but by the time my hand is half-way there, my head has forgotten how the paragraph should end...

So that's it for the Sunshine Award this time. I usually nominate people, but everyone I know has been nominated in the last week or so. Besides, college starts tomorrow and I'm way too nervous to come up with any questions. Sorry :(