Happy Holidays to all!

To all my friends, I will not be blogging from today until after New Year.  A very Merry Christmas to those who are celebrating and the Happiest New Year.  Most of all, I wish everybody peace, prosperity and health.

See you in a week or so!

Deja Vu Blogfest: My imaginary friends...

Today is the Deja vu Blogfest Day!  Hoorah!

I thought I'd re-post something that I wrote in year 2007, the year I started blogging. Why this one?  It's because in this post, I wrote about my imaginary friends which I still find amusing to this day. This is the story behind my blog title, Conversations with Self.  


And no, I did not exaggerate the story.  I did talk to imaginary friends...which worried my father.

Hope you enjoy reading it!


******


First posted on 08 May 2007

I don't know why, but for some reason, I tend to reminisce a lot about my childhood these days. Last week, it was Caroline (my doll) I was reminiscing about so I wrote about broken toys and then somehow found a way to connect it to broken dreams, etc. This time, though, it's all about this part of my childhood when I had imaginary friends. If you witnessed my childhood, you would probably think I was a looney. But think...children do have imaginary friends, don't they? Or was it only me? (Widens eyes and looks around)  Oh, no!

Anyway, let me tell you about some of these 'friends' that people never saw...or some probably did but never knew that they were my friends. One of them was that reflection in the mirror. yes, oh, yes, call me a nutcase, but I did talk to myself in the mirror! I would really converse with the other 'self.' And she talked back to me! Only, it was also me talking, of course, who did you think it was? I used to do this very often that I overheard my Dad saying to my Mom, 'Don't you think we should take our daughter to a Psychiatrist? I am getting worried.' My Mom, who was so used to seeing me talking to my toys, said nonchalantly, 'Oh stop that. She's just playing. Children do that all the time.'

Yes, I said toys. I did talk to my toys (although I didn't have much, really) - I remember talking to Caroline while she was behind that glass. What a pity. I could only talk to my doll behind a glass! (will post her story soon) I also talked to my paper dolls which I made myself. They lived in an improvised dollhouse. I used matchboxes as furniture and my dollhouse was a corrugated box, sometimes I used a cigarette carton. Ahh, a child's innovativeness. I wonder where did it all go? I don't seem to have the same creativity now that I am older. But that's another narrative. I think I can only produce rubbish now...and perhaps children? 

Hold it. That's not all. There is something far more special than that beautiful (oh ha!) reflection in the mirror that looked like me (Har! Har Har!) and my dolls. There were lizards as well. Yes! That's right, those tiny crawling creatures with moderately elongate body and tapering tail...some might have another name for it, though. They are sometimes called wall or house lizards. Other times they are called house geckos. But let me just call it that. Lizard. At night, I developed this routine to converse with them before I'd fall asleep. There was one time, if I remember it right, when my Dad came home late from work. Remember that in those days, there were no mobile phones...(and telegrams came after a week, not the promised next day delivery...so if you'd send it, you'd arrive at your destination before your telegram). When Mom started to get worried, I would listen to the clicking sounds of the lizards. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I would close my eyes and converse with them. 'Is - my - fa - ther - safe?' One Tsk is equivalent to a syllable. Of course, I would interpret the Tsk-Tsk to what I wanted to hear, what did you expect? Funny, huh?

All these imaginary friends come to mind now that I am away from home. I have forgotten them a long, long time ago and never spoken to them for years - if I ever did that at my age, I would probably be in a mental institution.

Isn't it a universal truth that from the day we were born, we already have the need to communicate? A baby's uttering of its first word is always a milestone, a breakthrough that all mothers rejoice in. I have read somewhere that there was an experiment done by experts where they formed two groups of babies. The first group was cleaned and fed but no one ever communicated with them - verbally or otherwise. The second group was cleaned and fed...and carers communicated with these babies. After a period of time, it was discovered that the second group of babies grew faster and were healthier than the first group. This experiment only proves that we do need to communicate. It is this uniqueness that sets us apart from other creatures.

This is most probably the reason why I am writing this piece. There is the internet now to communicate to practically everyone and anyone in the world. My friend, Rosemarie, was right in telling me that blogging helps. It would like to thank her for being an inspiration to create my own blogsite...(and to Makis for introducing Blogger to me). It sure eases boredom and makes me think. It fills my need to communicate.

So, this time, I don't have to stand in front of the mirror or listen to the clicking sound of the house lizards (there isn't any here, anyway) or get dolls. I only have to sit down and immerse myself in the world wide web. It does help.

PS: I will understand if you think that at an early age, I showed signs of a mental disorder - talking to lizards and all  - but don't worry, I don't bite. Aha-ha-ha-ha!!!

Friendship Celebration Winners!

I'm announcing the winners today!  But before I give you the results, I'd like to thank the sponsors of the books I'm giving away for their generosity and most of all, their friendship:

Talli Roland

JC Martin

Theresa Milstein

My sincerest thanks wrapped in a big HUG to you all!

Now the winners! 

Lucky (paperback) by Alice Sebold goes to:

L'Aussie Denise

The Breath of Fresh Air (paperback) by Erica James

goes to:

Sharon Mayhew

Build A Man (e-book) by Talli Roland

goes to:

Golden Eagle

The Doll (e-book) by JC Martin goes to:

Gemma

Unidentified (paperback) by Rae Mariz goes to:

Robyn Campbell

Floral Writing Set goes to:

Cortney Pearson

Congratulations!!!

You will receive an e-mail shortly about your prize.  Yayyy! to you all!!!

Wait! Before I say goodbye, have you been to JC Martin's blog?  She's announced the winners to her Birthday Blow-Out!  Here's the link:  JC Martin, Fighter Writer.

Have a fab Sunday, everyone!

Hello You! You're my friend...and I'm celebrating You! ❤

Friendship Give-aways for Thanksgiving!


"...Was my only chance at friendship here destined to be thwarted at every turn?"- Sophie Mercer, Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

I have met a lot of wonderful people in my life, some of them became very very good friends.  There were, however, many thwarted friendships as well.  There had also been on-line friendships that began well...and ended up really bad.  I'd like to think they are ones that are never meant to be.

Why am I mentioning the thwarted and the unpleasant ones?  Because  I believe life shows us these undesirable things sometimes to let us focus more on the good!  It has made me appreciate more what I have!  This is why, I'm celebrating all the friendships I have in my life!

This message is to thank all of YOU:  Blogger friends, fellow writers and readers out there who have always been there for me.  Whether or not I have something worth reading, you are always there.  I often find myself unable to write anything worthy of posting and yet you keep coming back.  Again and again.

So, please let me tell you.

I heart  ♡♡♡ you all.

I'm celebrating Friendships!! YaY!

This Thanksgiving (in the UK, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving but I'd like to join my my friends in USA and in other parts of the world who are), I'd like to take the opportunity to tell you how grateful I am for each one of you. You know who you are.  I'm so glad that we crossed paths, that we are on-line buddies and that ours is the kind of friendship that has not been thwarted.

As a sign of my appreciation and lurve and with the help and generosity of friends who are donating books (massive thanks!), I'm giving away:

From the Author of Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold.
This is her memoir.

A Breath of Fresh Air by Erica James
A story of finding love again after a tragedy from
a Sunday Times Bestselling Author

An e-copy of Build a Man - donated by the author, 
the Bestselling Novelist Talli Roland
She is also the author of The Hating Game and Watching Willow Watts
Big thanks, Talli!

An e-copy of The Doll by J.C. Martin
A delightfully creepy novellete and a must-read for any horror-lover!
Donated by Author J.C. Martin
Big thanks, J.C.!

A YA dystopian novel by Rae Mariz
This will be sent by mail to one of the winners within the USA only
Big thanks to my friend Theresa Milstein for this book!


and I also have:

A beautiful floral Writing Set with 20 sheets of writing paper and 10 envelopes
plus I'm including some surprise treats inside!

Come on, I know you want them!  It's easy, you can do one, a combination or all of the following:

1.  share this on your Facebook wall - 1 point
2.  share it onTwitter - 1 point
3.  post a link on the side bar of your blog - 2 points
4.  write a blog post about it - 3 points

Please leave me a comment telling me what you've done and which books above you like in order of preference...and don't forget your name and e-mail address so I can let you know if you are one of the winners!

This ends on 30 November 2011, 12 midnight UK Time.  Winners will be announced after 30 Nov.

All giveaways, open internationally.  The Unidentified by Rae Mariz is open within the USA.

I'd love it if you follow me but it is not necessary or a requirement to enter. Sharing the news is to let others know I'm celebrating them, too.  Thank you so much for being here ❤ 

♥♥♥BIG Thanksgiving Hugs!♡♡♡