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Wednesday 15 July 2015

Creatively double-Liebsterized


I've been creatively double-Liebsterized! What, you have no idea what I'm talking about? You say I've already been Liebsterized before? Alright, you've asked for it now, here we go. It involves dinosaurs, though, I've warned you!

Back in March, Pasduil nominated me for a Liebster award on his second blog, Planet Pasduil. Because I primarily read his other blog, Thinking Play, I missed this completely until I saw that he nominated me for the Creative Blogger Award on that blog (the one I do read, if you're still following). Unaware of this, De Pepi of De Pepi Geek Anthropology nominated me for another Liebster award. So now I'm creatively double (or triple, depends how you look at it) Liebsterized!
 
All three awards need me to start off with a bunch of random facts about me, so I'm going to be lazy and do them all together in one go. If you're unsatisfied with the amount of random facts, you can read 11 more in my previous Liebster post.

Gathering node on my balcony: mint

Random facts

  • I love 'gathering' on my balcony!
  • I dislike the colour orange. Probably because my parents made me drink orange juice every morning (and I hated it).
  • I used to think I was dreadful at dancing, until I discovered balfolk dancing when I was 17. Now I love going to balfolk parties and dance with random strangers all night.
  • Guilty confession: I own a working Furby. It was nice knowing you, too.
  • I'm looking for a place in Lund, Sweden, to stay during the fall. I'll feature you on my blog if you can find me an address! That won't work, will it...
  • Hopefully I'll get to dig up Vikings in Sweden! I'm not even joking.
  • I have a harvest mouse as pet. 
  • The mouse is called Merry. I used to have a Pippin too, but he died earlier this year.
  • My top 3 dinosaurs consists of ankylosaurus, plesiosaurus and stegosaurus.
  • My love for plesiosaurus probably emerged because of having a placemat with one on it, making me associate the dinosaur with positive experiences (such as yummy food).
  • I would love to ride an ankylosaurus! (Yes, I did get the memo that they're extinct. *sobs*)
Well, I'm really out of random facts now. On to the questions!

Harvest mice love to climb, so I made the den as stimulating as possible.

Pasduil's questions

Do you watch or play any sports? Which?
I prefer playing to watching. Did gymnastics and medieval sword fighting in the past; now I'm just dancing every week (that counts right?).

Are you a morning person, night owl or neither?
Used to be a night owl, but nowadays I can be a wreck at 4 pm on bad days. So I guess it's neither at the moment.

Strangest phobia you have personally come across?
Fear of water. My mother tells me that when I was a baby, I somehow became so afraid of water that I didn't want to drink anymore. I ended up being hospitalized with nurses force-feeding me. It's okay now, but I still hate taking a shower and need to go through a psychological barrier before going under water.

What little known book, show or film do you love?
If you would've asked for music, this would've been so easy! For books I can call out two of my favourite Dutch writers from my childhood: Tonke Dragt and Evert Hartman. They were masters of fantasy and sci-fi while addressing complicated social issues.

What historical era would you live in, if not the present? Why?
As a woman, the future probably is a better place to live in than the past. But if I would have to choose, the early medieval period because it would answer many questions I come across as its my chosen field of archaeological interest.

What advice would you give your younger self?
The only thing I would tell my younger self is to tell my parents about that awful first schoolday I had after moving towns. It probably wouldn't have helped apart from if I would've changed schools, but it may just have done a bit.

What’s something you’ve always wanted to do, but not done yet?
Write a great story.

How would you do in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse?
Probably crappy, like everyone suffering from a chronic illness. It would be fun if I'd make it to northern Sweden to wait until all the zombies die from starvation. Also, Conrad would have to hunt moose and finally work on that six pack!

Another gathering node: strawberries.

What’s your ideal place to work?
Alone at home, or in the library.

What fictional character has influenced you the most?
Perhaps Belle from Beauty and the Beast when I was a little girl. It was the first movie I saw in the cinema and I was so impressed by it. My mother tells me that me and my friend couldn't stop crying afterwards because we thought it was so beautiful. I could identify with Belle because she was a bookwurm, just like me.

What’s the best thing about your life right now?
I just heard I get to study in Lund, Sweden, for my master! I literally heard today. Now I just need to find a place to stay...

De Pepi's questions

We aren't there just yet. I was double-Liebsterized, remember? More questions need to be answered, this time from De Pepi:

Which is your childhood favorite sweet?
Fire balls. I'd go to the gas station around the corner once a week together with a neighbourhood friend to spend a portion of our pocket money on them and then laugh at how they put our mouths on fire. 

What Superhero are you? (Or would like to be?)
I have discussed this extensively with Conrad, and we came to two options.

The first is Scarlet Witch. Conrad said it had to be a not-very violent hero, as I feel horrible when playing shooters or watching violent TV series or movies. Scarlet Witch can do some creepy things (I guess all heroes have to), but her power is psychological rather than physical. Also, I think she looks awesome in the Age of Ultron! 

The second is a Violet Lantern, because I love friendly hugs, so gaining power through love makes sense. Conrad always says I have an addiction to oxytocin. But this is all from what he tells me, because I haven't read the comics myself and hadn't heard of Violet Lanterns before.

My in-game characters should count as superheroes as well. They fight dragons, after all!

Do you collect anything geeky? What?
I try not to collect things: I'm bad enough at managing stuff as it is. I guess I do collect screenshots I take in games. I do sort them neatly so I can always find them back if I need to use them for a blog post. Screenshots are perfect because they don't take up any physical space!

Which Potter character do you think defines you the most?
It will have to be a crossover between Hermione and Luna. Hermione because I'm a bookwurm and have always been eager to learn, Luna because people have repeatedly told me that I'm weird. I don't mind; I prefer weird to ordinary.

What is your favorite Superhero movie quote?
I like this one from Guardians of the Galaxy:
- Hey! If it isn't Star-Prince.
- Sighs. Star-Lord.
- Oh, sorry. "Lord."

I picked this guy up a while back for petty theft. He's got a code name.
- Come on, man. It's a... It's an outlaw name.
- Just relax, pal. It's cool to have a code name. It's not that weird. 
―Rhomann Dey and Star-Lord
[spoiler alert] And then that moment you find out he calls himself that because of the only thing he has left of his parents: a letter from his mum calling him "her little Star-lord". Awwww. [/spoiler]

Which is your favorite comic/manga? Why?
Asterix & Obelix, because it is funny, original and amazingly historically correct.

That time when you where the only geek in the room. How did you notice it?
That would've been pretty much my whole high school time. The girls would go "Last weekend we went out and thingy got drunk! And OMG there were boys, hihi!" and I would be "Last weekend I went camping and I found Geum rivale for the first time. It was such a score!" My universal translator must've been malfunctioning permanently.

What book can describe best your childhood?
I have no clue. I spent my childhood reading fantastic stories, basically everything as far as possible from life in reality.

In-game I do love cocktails!

Which is your favorite cocktail? (You can add the recipe).
I can't remember the last time I drank a cocktail, but you can have my favorite kokosbollar recipe instead. I hope you've been working on your Swedish!
Ingredienser:
100 g margarin
1½ dl socker  I usually just do a bit less, ~1 dl
3 dl havregryn
1 msk vaniljsocker
2 msk kakao  I usually do a little bit more, for a more pure chocolate effect
1-2 msk kaffe  Just add until the substance becomes easily malleable

Gör såhär:
Vispa först margarin och socker pösigt, helst med elvisp eller assistent. Tillsätt sedan resten av ingredienserna och rör en stund. Rulla sedan bollar av smeten (valfri storlek) och rulla dem sedan i kokos eller pärlsocker.
Which is your favorite Middle Earth folk?
The Elves.

How many geek tees do you own? Which is your favorite one?
None (gasp). I don't wear tees that often and I don't like brands and letters on clothes all that much - which they often have. I did just order these leggings, though, if that counts.

I forgot to take a picture myself so these kokosbollar are by Martina of foodblog Mat och Odla

The questions

Here are the 11 questions I could come up with. You've been warned, they're all super serious.

1) Name one thing that would make your current favourite game better. Why?
2) How much time do you spend in MMOs standing around, not actively steering your character (for instance because you are chatting to friends) instead of doing actual gameplay?
3) If you would get to pick a lightsaber, what colour crystal would be in it?  
4) In games, do you have a preference for creating a character of a specific gender?
5) In games, do you have a preference for creating a character of a specific race (dwarf, elf, asura, human etc.)? If you check your characters, which race is in the majority?
6) In games, do you have a preference for creating characters of a certain body type or height?
7) Outside the realm of games: does everyone know that you game? Or do you keep it a secret for certain people?
8) What is your favourite in-game consumable and why?
9) Do you prepare that consumable in the offline world as well?
10) What is your top 3 favourite dinosaurs?
11) And, last but not least: I'm an iguanodon. What dinosaur are you?

That was it. Be happy I stopped before they got any weirder! Read further to see if you've been targeted by the Spanish inquisition selected to answer them. But first, you'll have to endure this brilliant picture featuring an iguanodon!

Iguanodon versus megalosaurus drawn by Édouard Riou (1863).

My victims honoured individuals

I'd love it if the following bloggers would take it upon themselves to answer my questionnaire and proudly show off their Liebster award. Feel free to post a link to your answers in the comments!

The Iron Dagger: Syrmaticus writes thoughtful posts about gaming. I'm guilty of not commenting enough on this blog! They also do a lot of LOTRO nostalgia posts that make me feel, well, nostalgic. *pinks away tear*

Tyrannodorkus: Roger writes about about everything gaming related. He also has the most epic blogger name. Of course it made me wonder about his favourite dinosaurs (apart from the obvious), so Roger, you've called this upon yourself!

Pleasant Gamer: Zyngor writes about LOTRO from time to time, which I love! It's been a bit quiet on the blog since the NBI, so hopefully this award will serve as some fuel.

Oh Sweet Samsara: Ashlee started blogging recently and her blog already looks amazing! She plays World of Warcraft (no longer SWTOR *sobs*) but does still love Star Wars, so here's me hoping that some lightsabers will pop up every now and then.

Imperial Intelligence: Targeter writes about anything SWTOR. And his baby being Dark Side II. What's more, reading his blog instantly applies a 12x XP buff. Better start right away!

Zerneblog: Edit: I meant to include Zernebog, who's back from the void. I've been following his blog since it was just around and it's lovely to see it grow. Zerne is one of the most enthusiastic members of the SWTOR community!

Help, I've been Liebsterized! What now?

It's simple: post 11 facts about yourself, answer my 11 questions, make up 11 questions of your own and select a bunch of victims. You can pick up your badge here.

Here's a pro-tip for selecting people for you own Liebster award: check with the search option if they have already been Liebsterized before. Of course there's no rule against Liebsterizing people twice, but I personally enjoy finding new victims nominees (totally nominees)!

Liebster search positive. This blogger has already been Liebsterized before.

Do you feel too serious for posting this award? No worries, we can't all be perfect! Seriously, though, this is all in good fun, so if there are any questions you feel uncomfortable answering, skip them. Who cares about the rules, anyway!

If you don't own your own blog and thus will never be Liebsterized (you poor thing), or if you just love answering lists of questions, you can also answer (your selection of) my questions in the comments below. I'd love to get to know you better (yes, YOU, lurking reader).

I'm looking forward to see your answers!

Edit: here they are:
The Iron Dagger: What's a Liebster? Can it be eaten? (17 July 2015)
Oh Sweet Samsara: Blogger Recognition & Liebster Award! (18 July 2015)
Zerneblog: I've been Liebsterized!!!!! (22 July 2015)
Tyrannodorkus: I've been Liebsterized (29 July 2015)
Imperial Intelligence: Liebsterized! (4 August 2015)

30 comments :

  1. Whew!

    Twice was enough for me, thanks!

    Okay, are you an archaeologist? If so, I know a couple of mini-Reds who would be really interested in knowing....

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    1. I'm not an archaeologist, but I will be, in a year or two, if that counts? Your mini-Reds can ask me anything they want. Mind you, the dinosaurs have nothing to do with archaeologists, those are just in the post because they are cool! Everyone loves dinosaurs, right? ;)

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    2. That's fine. My wife is a Paleontologist by training, so if they wanted to ask about dinos, they could hit her up for info.

      I'm personally curious about what digs you've been to.

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    3. Sorry for assuming the worst. I swear, when I say I'm studying to become an archaeologist, half the populace asks me if I've already dug up a dinosaur. -_-

      I've only done digs in the Netherlands so far (which is fine, because it's my main area of interest anyway), so I don't think the place names will mean much to you. I can tell you something about the things I've found, though. In short: I've been fortunate to excavate a huge trench in Forum Hadriani; an entrenched Roman compound; an 11th century (AD) settlement; some late medieval rural buildings and two Merovingian cemeteries. It's a simplification because you almost always find traces of all ages, but these were the main subjects of inquiry.

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    4. Fascinating stuff.

      I notice you didn't mention any pre-Roman digs; are there not a lot available in the Netherlands?

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    5. Also, my wife informs me that she used to get the reverse when she'd tell people she was a Paleontologist: "So, have you been to Egypt on a dig?" "Have you dug up any arrowheads?"

      FWIW, we're enough history nuts that we spent a day off from school this past Winter going here: Serpent Mound - Ohio Historical Site.

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    6. Haha, that's brilliant. I had no idea palaeontologists were plagued the same way, but I guess it makes sense. And sure, there are prehistoric sites as well in the Netherlands. The more monumental ones are protected and are not being dug up; for the rest I've seen some traces but it's never been the main thing in the excavations I've personally been involved with. For instance, during scientific research on a medieval agricultural layers (which I forgot to mention) we also found some Iron Age burning pits. Doesn't mean it's not there: mainly coincidence.

      The Serpent Mound looks cool. That's something I have no clue about: such different archaeology at the other side of the pond!

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  2. Very interesting answers!

    Coincidentally I was wondering recently about sci-fi and fantasy in languages other than English. Never heard of the authors you mentioned but it seems one Tonke Dragt book has been tranlated into English, so I may have to check it out.

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    1. I have never re-read them as an adult (apart from one), I guess in part to keep the memory of them alive as they were. Of course I've read them in Dutch, so I have no idea if the English translation is any good. Which one is it that has been translated?

      Oddly, there's a lot of fantasy & sci-fi in Dutch children's books, but rarely any in Dutch adult literature (and the ones that do exist I don't like the quality of).

      Anyway, if you do happen to check out Tonke Dragt's book, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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    2. "The Letter to the King" is the book. The reviewers seem to like it, but I don't know if that's from the perspective of a children's book though

      http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/tonke-dragts-the-letter-for-the-king-has-finally-been-translated-into-english--50-years-on-9826857.html

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    3. That's my all-time favourite children's book! Although I do believe her writing became even better afterwards (this was her first). Her later books are different, in a positive way. For adults, her later books are probably more fun to read: more fantastic, intrinsic and complicated - but not available in English (yet), unfortunately. If you have children, I'd recommend reading "The Letter to the King" to them: they'll probably love it.

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  3. Dawww <3 I loved it!!! And I'm happy to meet your super cute mouse <3 So cute!! I enjoyed this post a lot!! And the quote of Star-Lord, and everything really :)

    Thank you!!!!

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    1. So glad you enjoyed it! It was a lot of fun to write for me as well, so I didn't mind the double-Liebster thing (hope it didn't sound as if I did). Thanks for nominating me!

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  4. Yay, thanks Rav! I'm excited to pick my victims and answer your gamer/dino questions=P Loved getting to learn more about you! My hubby majored in archaeology, though he hasn't gone for a masters yet. That's awesome that you get to study abroad, I hope you do dig up some Vikings!

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    1. That's awesome! What period and region is he interested in, if I may ask? I'm looking forward to your answers already. Feel free to post the link here in the comments when it's there. :)

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    2. He's most interested in the early Holocene, and loved studying in the Mojave Desert region. That's what he says at least, I have no idea what he's talking about when it comes to archaeology=P Anyway, thanks again for the nomination! I finally got around to answering your questions, and I had a lot of fun writing this post=)

      http://ohsweetsamsara.blogspot.com/2015/07/blogger-recognition-liebster-award.html

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    3. I forgot to post this! Bad Rav!

      [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/tPosT3h.jpg[/IMG]

      Ashlee as struthiomimus (source)

      Naturally, it's a purple one! :D

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  5. Awsome post to read (especially about your sweden-trip)! I do feel slightly guilty about giving you a furby....

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    1. You can make up for it by taking care of mine while I'm in Sweden. Lock them up together in a room or something. I bet they're still talking when I come home! ;)

      (Seriously, though, I know we both secretly love our furbies. :D )

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  6. I hope you have a great time in Sweden while you study for your masters degree. :) And let us know if you find any dragon bones buried with the vikings in there. Skyrim was a totally historical game, right?

    The cool thing I found about that Star-Lord quote is that later in the movie one of the bad guys go like "Hey, it is that Star-Lord guy! Kill him!" and then Star-Lord goes all happy because someone finally recognized him by his "outlaw" name. The reason you put in the spoiler part is also a pretty good one. :)

    Also, seems like I'd be a <a href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/kids-only/dinosaurs/what-dinosaur/troodon.html> Troodon</a> if I was a dinosaur. I was hoping for a raptor but I guess I am just to small for that. :p

    Also, also! You may get your wish to ride an ankylosaurus some day since there are some scientists thinking about mixing dinosaur DNA it with chicken ones to bring them back to life (or something like that). And they are totally serious about it. Unfortunately I have no source to back my claim right now, alas!

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    1. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/6I1aXra.png[/IMG]
      Rakuno as troodon (Source)

      Haha, this is no doubt the most hilarious-looking one out of the dinosaurs people got. Apparently they had the largest brains of all known dinosaurs, so I guess you have to compensate for that somewhere. :P

      I vaguely remember reading something about that DNA experiment as well, but I'm like "I'll see it when it happens". No doubt things like that will be possible one day, but I don't know if it's something we'd ethically want. I mean, I know it's cool and all, and probably won't do any harm, but it's also kinda freaky in a way.

      I also remember the Star-Lord moment you mentioned. That made me laugh as well!

      I promise to let you know if I find any dragon bones. I would advise against getting your hopes up, though. :P

      Delete
  7. You know, I've dodged this particular meme (twice now, I think?) because I find something about its format irrationally annoying, but I can totally go for the non-committal option of just answering some questions in the comments! So here we go:

    1) Having more time to play it! I know that's kind of dodging the "real" question, but it's true.

    2) Less than I used to. I feel so limited in my game time these days that I don't want to spend it just "hanging out" and not doing anything. Sometimes I stand around and tab out though if I'm just waiting 5 more minutes for a crafting process to finish or something.

    3) Yellow, because it's my favourite colour. My Sage (my "main alt") has a yellow lightsaber too.

    4) Yes, the vast majority are female, like me. I've tried rolling some male alts and it's interesting for a few levels but somehow I can never quite get into it. I feel a little ashamed that I'm apparently mentally unable to cope with being a guy, but there you go...

    5) Mostly I like variety, so I'll make alts of most races/species except the one or two I really don't like. I suppose I like characters that are slightly exotic-looking, yet pretty, like elves and such. (Yeah, I'm one of those people.) In SWTOR, my favourite species are twi'lek and cathar.

    6) Again, I like variety, though I'm leaning towards tall and strong. I tend to find most small races in MMOs annoying. (Gnome was the only WoW race I could never get myself to play.)

    7) My attitude tends to be "don't ask, don't tell". I'll mention it if people ask me or if I hear other people talking about gaming, but I've always found it annoying when other people bored me with detailed talk about hobbies that I had absolutely no interest in (cause everyone cares about football, right?), so I tend to not bring it up unless I know that the other party is interested. I don't actively try to keep it a secret either though.

    8) I'm actually not a huge fan of consumables... health potions I guess, because if you use them at the right time, you get to feel clever.

    9) If I could create health potions IRL, I would be rich!

    10) That question makes me wish I was back in Austria in our old family home, so I could dig out all my old dinosaur books to flip through them and pick my favourites. Off the top of my head I remember liking stegosaurus, dimetrodon and parasaurs. Oh, and triceratops of course! I guess that would be my runner-up.

    11) I'm a Dilophosaurus, apparently.

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    1. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/nVRXYdh.png[/IMG]
      Shintar as dilophosaurus (Source)

      It was hard to find a good-looking picture of this dino, which is weird because they are kinda cool with those flappy things (whatever they're used for). And it was super cool to see you affected by the Liebster curse after all. I really enjoyed reading those answers!

      3) Great minds think alike: so is mine! I prefer green lightsabers for some reason, I guess because I like the consular class, but yellow are obviously my second favourite.

      4) I'm guilty of this too. I've tried playing male characters, but it just doesn't work. I don't feel like playing them. Totally unfair to them, I know, but I've given up and just roll female characters from now on.

      5) I think you're in the minority there with your love for twi'leks and cathar: you don't see that many people playing them! Cool thing to know.

      6) In LOTRO I have two hobbits and one dwarf that I just don't feel like playing, all sitting in their level twenties. Maybe it's the same thing as with the male characters: inability to identify with (only thing I can think of). I don't have an asura in GW2 either.

      9) If you happen to get your hands on some health potions, I could use some! :P

      Delete
  8. Oh you were also fan of belle and the beast, it was my favorite disney movie as well. I think it had something to do with the library. If I would have money I would love to have such a library :D. And I am also a Iguanodon :O. Not really sure how it looked liked, never was a super fan of dinosaurs, though I had a point in live were I wanted to be a palaeontologist, but I was more interested in the evolution I think. Those dino's hardly represent anything that lives today (I know expect the crocodile) . However how the elephant evolved over time was far more interesting :D.

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    1. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/tyZVk4H.png[/IMG]
      Marinka as iguanodon (Source)

      Hi fellow iguanodon! I don't think anyone knows exactly what we look like, at least when it comes to skin colour etc, but I found this picture that I liked. Who knows, maybe they would indeed have had these happy colours! I also learned from that link that we have a ninja weapon in our thumb, just in case Shintar, Rakuno or Syrmaticus drop by thinking we're a tasty meal.

      You're not the only one who loves that library. I must admit that I had forgotten about it, because it is so long ago that I saw that movie... but now it's all coming back. Damn, I feel like re-watching it now!

      What's with the elephants again? I remember they being related to something really unlikely, but I don't remember what.

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    2. Elephants are most closely related to the sea cows and the hyrax's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyrax). So yeah also not such a clear resemblance.

      Delete
    3. Of course, how could I have forgotten! The hyrax are one of my favourite animals. They're so cute! And they probably give you *lots* of points if you're playing Scrabble in English. We have to remember this just in case we end up doing that in England. ;)

      [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/EQBmIac.png[/IMG]
      Source

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  9. You had me at 'archaeologist'.

    Thanks again for the mention! My response is up: http://bit.ly/1Gpuk8H

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    1. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/Igj04X8.png[/IMG]Syrmaticus as T-rex (Source)

      Wow, you're quick; you're the first to answer the questionnaire! Here's a clicky link to your post for the lazy lurkers: What's a Liebster? Can it be eaten?

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  10. I love reading everyone's Liebster answers! ^_^

    ReplyDelete

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