#50 and the prezzies

ASIDE: i can already tell a few things about how i will survive in the blogosphere and have a job. one, i will read and comment far less on my favorite blogs (not good). i will buy less on etsy (hasn't really manifested itself as of yet (thank you heather and margie)). i will have more posts consisting of random lists (i am trying hard to resist as we "speak," but i did start this paragraph with "one" so i'm not sure it's working). i will take a lot more of my signature self-portraits in hotel rooms. (i have to admit the one above has shot to the top of my favorites.)  but, enough navel gazing (i promised to stop that when the job started).

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so i will move on to the 50 followers thing...da da da dah.....number 50 was the lovely amanda. amanda has been loyally reading my blog and chatting with me daily (ya gotta love gmail chat) for ages now, but never actually signed up as a formal follower. she was lucky strategic enough to be #50! and i know exactly what i'm going to make for her (and i shall try to do it before christmas). but since one prize didn't seem like enough, i turned to my lovely assistant to draw another name from among all of the other fabulous followers (i felt bad about calling you old, here in light of my own upcoming birthday). and she had so much fun that we decided she should draw two.

i neglected to photograph my lovely assistant actually drawing the names (and she may have been inappropriately dressed at the time in white short shorts, green leggings, a slightly too small blue and green top and fairy wings), so here is a shot of her after her recent haircut instead. but the names that she drew were:

lynne of wheatlands news 

and 

B of the recently consolidated into one blog cuttings on a blog 

i think my lovely assistant done good as we'd say back where i grew up. lynne is one of my beloved south african bloggers and writes very thought-provoking current events stuff, as well as posts that will make you want to get a job with her son on the really cool yacht he works on (just to butcher some grammar for fun). lynne, i have your email address, but you'll need to send me your snail mail. B and i met through the "year of reading dangerously." she's reading far more dangerously than i am at the moment, tho' i will surely burst out of the gates anytime now. she, like me, lives outside her home country and is occasionally bewildered and/or delighted by the culture in which she finds herself. B, please email me your snail mail as well (my email is in my profile) and in the not-so-distant future, you will receive a little something from me (i'm cooling on the eyeballs, so don't be afraid). ok, i'm not, but i'll restrain since i know that not everyone is as enamored as i am.  and the rest of you, please go read these two, they're awesome. :-)

and a big thank you to all of you who are following me. it really does mean more than i would ever have imagined it would. it's so nice to write into a void with faces and voices. :-) there is also a special "packse"(as sabin calls them) on its way to my very first follower, molly, which i'll kind of count as part of this, tho' i sent it in another context (she needed a little something to help with her year of creativity and they don't have ikea in south africa).

but seriously, i am constantly amazed at the connections i've made though this blog. i've found like souls, long-lost twin sisters, people after my own heart, some who are after my own shoes and so much more. and i really appreciate the inspiration and friendship and laughter you've all brought into my life. thank you!!