Sunshine Blogger Award 2026

Full disclosure: I’ve heard of this award. I’ve known bloggers who’ve won it. (I think.) But I never really paid attention to what it is exactly. That being said, I’m going to do my best to participate especially since I’ve been nominated.

Thank you so much, Michael, for putting me in the rounds.

So here goes, as there are some rules:

Here’s the participation rules:

1. Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog
2. Thank the person who nominated you
3. Provide a link to your nominator’s blog
4. Answer your nominator’s questions
5. Nominate up to eleven bloggers
6. Ask your nominees eleven questions
7. Notify your nominees by commenting on their blogs

Alright, that’s simple enough. So here’s my response to Michael’s questions:

1. What is a weird thought that lives rent-free in your head?

There are a million weird thoughts in my head at all times but I’ll choose one for the sake of the question: If there really are a billion parallel me’s running around somewhere in different parallel timelines, & we all somehow ended up at a party together how many of the me’s would be super annoyed by the playlist?

2. What is a completely normal thing that secretly gives you the ick?

What, pray tell, is this ick that you speak of? I don’t have secret dislikes. I can’t stand eggs & mayo. Icky. I’m pretty open about things I can’t stand so I honestly can’t think of anything that secretly gives me this ick feeling.

3. What is a skill you’d like to learn?

I really would love to learn how to play guitar. I attempted in the past but my tiny little fingers & neuropathy made it extremely difficult. I can barely remember the three chords I got pretty decent at. But perhaps I can really work at it once I replace the popped string on my acoustic.

4. What is something you’re weirdly good at or goodly weird at?

Hmm, you’re stumping me here, for real, with these questions. Weirdly good at having dreams that are prophetic a lot of the times. Goodly weird at editing interviews? People tend to go off on tangents. (I do!) So I find it very easily to edit them accordingly so everything goes where it’s supposed to & presents like a more linear conversation.

5. Do you think our dreams have hidden meanings?

Wow. I swear I didn’t look at this question before answering the previous one. Yes, I do. Often times those meanings are not so hidden. I think you’re going to assign whatever meaning you want to as a dreamer. I don’t buy the “they’re just dreams!” argument. Interpretation of dreams shouldn’t be so “by the book” in my opinion either. Studying the “universal symbols” that the so-called experts have written about is a good foundation, sure. But different things are symbols for different people. Write them down. Notice your patterns. Trust your intution. (We all have intuition.) In my culture, if you’re stumped on the meaning of a dream, ask an elder for help.

6. If you could live in any time period, when do you think you might fit in better than you fit now? Or feel better about?

I wish I were like 22 in 1994. I’d probably be an award winning film director or something. I’d probably be cancelled by now. I just wish I was born slightly earlier than I was. Also, being 22 in 1953 would’ve been alright too. I don’t know if I’d feel better, but I feel I’d fit in these time periods.

7. What is your super-secret super power that no one suspects you have?

Now WHY would I give that kind of power away????

8. Cook me a meal. What am I being served?

Cook your own damn meal! Nothing! You’re being served nothing! Just kidding. I have a mini slow cooker now & I really like this fiesta chicken stuff I make. So I’d make some of that & you can either put it on tortilla chips or I’ll roll it up into a burrito for you. Maybe we can get ambitious & make tacos out of it too. It’s a pretty versatile dish.

9. What is the strangest thing you’ve ever done?

Dude, I dunno. I’m very strange. (That’s what they tell me anyway!) Ok, here’s a story: Once I was hanging with some friends at their new apartment. We were sitting outside chilling & suddenly I stared off into space & said very quietly. “There is a dead body in a brown car in that lake & it’s been there a little over a decade.” Random. No idea why I said it. “What are you talking about?” my friends asked. “No idea,” I answered. Didn’t dwell on it at all. About a month later I get a phone call from my friend. “Dude! They pulled a brown car out of the lake today with a body in it! People are saying it’s been there awhile!” More time passed. Dental records revealed that it was under that water approximately 12 years. I have absolutely no explanation for why I have a proclivity for this kind of thing, but it’s not the only story I have like that. So yeah. Strange.

10. Has anyone ever dared you lick a pole in the middle of winter? Would you? If you did, what happened?

Nope. We all saw that movie. No one even dared to dare anyone to.

11. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

187. Approximately.

That was more difficult than I thought it would be.

Ok, this is even more difficult. I don’t want to nominate eleven people. I’m only going to nominate one. I’m going to nominate Dominic Alapat for his amazing poetry and for all the support he shows me and others here on WordPress.

Ok, this is probably going to be even harder, but here are the 11 questions for you, Dominic. This whole thing is like a mission, seriously, & it’s yours if you choose to accept it. 😀

1. What is a band or musical artist who has impacted your life?
2. What do you feel is your biggest inspiration for writing?
3. If you knew it was your last day on Earth, what’s the one meal you would like to eat?
4. If you had to describe yourself as an animal, which one would you choose?
5. Where were you on the night of May 11, 2015?
6. Which book are you currently reading?
7. What’s one thing about WordPress that annoys you? (And please don’t say this questionnaire! haha)
8. What is your favorite season?
9. If you could travel back in time and visit your teenage self, what is one piece of wisdom you’d like to offer them?
10. Who let the dogs out?
11. What’s the best dream you’ve ever had?

Alrighty! This is interesting. I want to know how a “winner” is decided. Are we all winners? Is the prize the WordPress friends we’ve made along the way?

Thanks again, Michael. This took me all day with a long break in between. Haha