Endorsement

Wow - I have been endorsed. Several times today, in fact. The one actually tipping the scales and resulting in a post is a link to this site on the vastly under-visited (or at least under-commented-on) http://www.laninator.blogspot.com/. (The others happened at church tonight and were meaningful, though of course related to different stuff.)

Being endorsed, especially by people whose opinions hold some weight, is quite something: empowering, inspiring, honouring... I'm not saying that all this wells up from a single-word link on someone's blog - well, but maybe it does. Maybe it does. The value of our comments and compliments, eh? Powerful.

Which leads, helpfully, into another of my favourite questions:
What's the best compliment you've ever received?

It can be quite cool to hear what people say to this. It was a question (possibly from the Un-Game, though I didn't know the game existed at the time) asked at a Christian group in my first year at uni, and I've remembered it since. You won't necessarily have an answer at the moment (I'd love to hear it, if you do! Please share.) but even so, it tunes your ears into memorable compliments from here on in, and you may find yourself collecting a little pocketful over the years, to cheer yourself in gloomy moments. Or over the dishes. Or while waiting at traffic lights. Wherever, really. Collect a whole bagful.


My two favourites so far are:

"If I did a thesis, it'd be on her head." - said in jest by a dear friend while we were talking with someone else about possible postgrad study. (on my thoughts, I think, rather than on the contents (or contours) of my skull.)

Another one came just a couple of weeks ago from another dear friend, via text. I can't remember what I'd said, but it resulted in:
"If I get stranded on a desert island I hope it's with you... You are so resourceful! :-)"
Just lovely.

The first post

Wow, the first post... what to write?

I think this blog'll not be about me all that much. It kind of weirds me out to put a bunch of stuff out there for anyone's careful pouring over. If you'd like to get to know me well, maybe that's best (safest? more balanced?) done in person, in the course of normal life, happening to meet.

But I'd love to have a bunch of conversations with people. That'd be cool. And to hear a variety of people's thoughts on stuff. That seems much more interesting - or wise, at least - than me writing about me.

So here's a first question:

What one 'thing' of yours best represents you?

This is a fun one. I've heard one woman say, 'my passport'; another said 'my planner diary.' My mum reckons it's her recipe book, with recipes from varied friends and decades. Someone else said 'my e-mail sent items folder' while another said 'my bookshelf.'
I have plenty more possibilities if you want ideas, but sometimes it's more fun to come up with them yourself, so I'll leave the list at that for now. Feel free to ask though.