All Dressed Up, and No Where to Go.

It has taken me a long while to pull this post together because I got caught up shopping for the perfect dress and matching shoes. A girl’s got to look cute when accepting an award nomination, you know.

I was floored (literally, I think I fell to the floor in disbelief) when Ambition in the City nominated my blog for the Liebster Blog Award. How f’n cool to have my blog recognized by a blogger I follow regularly. So, thanks to Ambition in the City and Liebster for this recognition.

I started blogging a few months ago, and have been completely humbled by the amazing feedback. Since starting Think Rainbows, I have landed freelance writing gigs, including CrossFit West10 and Accent Music Therapy. Though it wasn’t intended to be, Think Rainbows became my business card. So, thank you to the readers for helping me create these opportunities.

Hold the applause. Call off the standing ovation. There is no real award. There are no judges, no special rules. No website with an official team to congratulate nominees. It’s basically a sweet way to give recognition to new (awesome) blogs.

Rules of the Liebster Award

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions from the nominator, list 11 random facts about yourself and create 11 questions for your nominees.
3. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 11 bloggers who you feel deserve to be noticed. These blogs must have 200 followers or less. Leave a comment on their blog to let them know they’ve been nominated by you.
4. Copy and paste the blog award on your blog. Post all the items listed in item 2 on your blog also.

My Responses to Ambition in the City

1. What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
   I have yet to ever read a book cover to cover.
2. Why do you blog?
   It’s cathardic, and helps keep my EQ in check.
3. What have you learned recently that you would like to share with others?
   Brody Jenner is going to be joining the cast of Keeping up with the Kardashians as a fulltime cast member.
4. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go and why?
   Maldeves.
5. What would you say is your greatest accomplishment in life thus far?
   Being nice to people I dont like. 😉
6. What is your favorite childhood toy?
   ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin bottle opener key chain. Okay, it’s not a toy, but it’s a trinket I got it as a kid because I was obsessed with WWE wrestler. I still got the key chain.
7. What’s your favorite season?
   Season of miniskirts and ice cream…I mean Summer!
8. What’s one or your favorite family traditions?
   Annual cousins’ sleepover over the Christmas holidays.
9. What’s one of your favorite guilty pleasures?
   Homemade Indian Chai Tea with buttered white toast. Yum.
10. What did you have for dinner?
    Butter chicken and rice.
11. What do you want to be when you grow up?
    Still be happy.

Random Facts About Me

1. I like to write.
2. I am a private person.
3. I watch way too much tv.
4. I am a strong introvert.
5. I love carbs, especially the starchy kind.
6. I believe the only way money makes you richer is by facilitating travel.
7. I have been skydiving.
8. I have a really bad memory.
9. I hate when people smack their lips when eating/chewing gum.
10. I think people watching is a valid activity.
11. I’m getting the ball rolling on getting my PhD.

Questions for My Nominees

1. How tall are you?
2. What’s your favourite boy band?
3. What do you wear to bed, if anything?
4. Do you have any scars? If yes, what from?
5. What was the last film you saw?
6. Where was your last vacation to?
7. What’s your favourite joke?
8. If you could learn any language fluently what would it be?
9. Who would you want to play you in a movie of your life?
10. If you could steal one thing without consequence what would it be?
11. What’s your favourite dessert?

My Nominees (could only come up with 6 who had less than 200 followers!)

1. With an Open Heart
2. The Single Girl’s Guide to Dating
3. Yogue
4. mPower360
5. Morning Coffee Bliss
6. Coutureness

Rainbow Thought: Life is good.

Double D’s.

I am a Double D. Beloved. Disruptive. Possibly over-rated. Attention-grabber. Misperceived. Need support. Objectified. Virtuous. Ornamental.

These are all terms that can be used to describe Damsels in Distress –hopeless women who need to be rescued.

That’s me. I’m the epitome of damsel in distress. From changing a flat tire, to finishing a fight I started in a nightclub, or carrying my luggage while vacationing, I always need help.

And, I’m lucky enough to know suckers good friends/family/strangers who help me on a regular basis.

I use to stress myself out by striving to pay these favours back. But, then, I came to the conclusion that there is no debt among friends, and to just pay forward. I try my best to help those I can help, whenever, wherever. It is just the right thing to do.

With that said, a local news story of the weekend really irked me. There was a possible abduction outside a very populated mall. The surveillance video shows a car stopping in front of the Shoppers Drug Mart at Surrey Central Mall, and two men forcing a third man out of the car and into the trunk before driving off (side note: in the video, the driver does stop at the cross walk and waits for pedestrians to cross…odd).

Apparently, police are treating this as a possible abduction because there’s potential for this to be a prank. But joke or reality, I’m left baffled by the passive bystanders. How did the bystanders shackle their moral instincts in that alarming situation?

The bystander effect is when people are reluctant to intervene in an emergency situation when there are others present. We’d like to think that it’s best to have as many hands-on-deck in such situations, and yet, I think it’s human nature to, instead, turn a blind eye and expect others to be responsible. There’s even a popular show about this phenomenon (ABC’s What Would You Do?)

A few years ago, I was in Boxing Day line-ups at 4am. A group of drunk guys led the line-up, and as the store was prepping to open, one of the guys accused another random guy of budging in line. If the accused was budging, that meant I was budging, and I knew that wasn’t the truth. I opened my big mouth and tried to defend the accused, and soon found myself in a verbal altercation with a group of drunk guys –one guy was right up in my face. Cops arrived, the accused disappeared, and I retreated into the crowd (so typical of me). In hindsight, I don’t regret getting involved, but I think I could have been less reactive and more tactful in diffusing the situation.

I understand that bystanders don’t want to jeopardize their own safety, but there is a balance of self-love and morals.

In the possible abduction situation, I don’t expect people to physically get involved in the dangerous situation, but something as simple as calling 911 or take down the license plate number is invaluable. It’s not taxing or disruptive to do the right thing.

Rainbow Thoughts:

(1) Doing the right thing isn’t necessarily self-fulfilling.

(2) Regret something you did you instead of something you didn’t do.

(3) There’s no debt among friends/family.

(4) I’m an A-Cup dreaming of a full B-cup *sigh*