Liebster Award – Praising and “Prizing” Bloggers

A huge bunch of flowers and thanks to Miss Andi for having nominated me for the Liebster Award. I can only hope that these words manage to convey my genuine gratitude and pleasure to be part of this. Miss Andi and her co-bloggers aren’t music critics, but they have great taste – that’s how they describe their blog and I can endorse the statement, as well as Miss Andi’s talent with words and – hopefully soon – pancakes. I’m coming over for that pancake one of these days, Miss Andi 🙂

The Liebster Award is a new-comer award given by bloggers to other bloggers, it creates a great platform for new blogs to be discovered and build communications. The best thing about this award is that it creates a lot of encouragement and support within our blogging community.

However, the award comes with a price. We have to answer a set of 10 questions formulated by the person who nominated us, providing honest answers and, at our turn, a set of 10 questions of our own. Here are Miss Andi’s questions and my answers:

 

  1. How do you eat your pancake?

 

Fat, fluffy and smeared with chocolate.

 

  1. Do you sing when you cook (Do you cook)?

 

I don’t sing (I have a terrible voice – husband says “swan voice.”) I also happen to have two left hands what cooking is concerned.

 

  1. What would you rather live without? Tea or coffee? Why?

 

Tea. I cannot imagine a life without coffee. I’m a total coffee junkie, I love it so much I take it 20 times a day like some people take the cigarette. It’s almost a fetish, I even pin coffee pictures on Pinterest.

 

  1. To turn off the world do you watch a movie or listen to music?

 

Listen to music, if I have to choose between the two. But I normally turn to books. Coffee and books by the window on a rainy day is my idea of paradise and my kind of unwinding/meditation.

 

  1. Do you stream (music or movies) or prefer physical copies?

 

I stream.

 

  1. When was the last time you went to a record store?

 

Seemingly an eternity ago. I was ten and I borrowed a DVD with Jet Li from Planet Hollywood (with my mom). Does anybody know if they still exist?

 

  1. What band did you last see in a concert?

 

Last concert was Michael Jackson in 1996 with my mother.

 

  1. What’s the best way to procrastinate?

 

Daydreaming.

 

  1. What’s your happy place?

 

The sea. Physical or in my mind.

 

  1. Are you going to do the A to Z challenge in April?

 

Not sure yet. I’m considering adjusting the challenge and making a quiz every day starting with the respective letter, but that would mean some changes in the schedule for the online reads, so I’m still thinking about it. What do you guys think, should I do it?

 

Now, before I share with you my own 10 questions, I’d like to mention that I don’t know if all the bloggers I’ll nominate here are new-comers, but I’ll nominate SOME (ONLY SOME!) of those that I truly believe deserve the award and don’t have over 1000 followers. There are many bloggers I discovered and who deserve a close look, and I’ll link to them in the following Meet and Greets.

Okay, here are my questions, and I hope you’ll take the time to answer one or two of them in a comment, because I’d love to hear from all of you. I’m a people lover and I can’t get enough of you guys.

  1. What’s your favorite pastime (hobby)?
  2. If you had to choose between a book, a song and a movie, what would you choose? Why?
  3. What is your ideal lover like?
  4. What’s your life dream?
  5. What’s your ultimate goal with your blog?
  6. What’s your favorite book or movie? Why?
  7. What do you daydream about?
  8. What was your favorite fairytale as a kid?
  9. What’s your favorite word?
  10. What’s your favorite place in the world? Tell me a little about your reasons for the choice.

 

I nominate the following bloggers:

 

Hyperion Sturm – stories and wisdom

 

Sara Flower – creative writing

 

Dracul van Helsing – comedy writing

 

Gary Lum – special food blog

 

Miriam – Travel Blog

 

Eternal Atlantis – about mythology, history and mystery

 

Rosie Amber – book reviews and book/publishing mentor

 

Stephanie Hurt – romance novels and writing tips

 

Niki’s Simple Life – Inspiring, motivating, mindfulness

 

Mark Fonz – last but definitely not least, cancer survivor blogging to encourage

 

Liebster Award Rules:

 

  • Thank your nominator;
  • Share the award on your blog;
  • Answer the 10 questions asked to you;
  • Ask 10 questions to 10 new nominees (who have less than 300 followers);
  • Notify them via social media.

 

Looking forward to reading from you 🙂

Discover Your Calling – Part II

A few days ago I started a promotion campaign for people like you and me, who decided to have a go and turn their hobbies into business. Leave a comment at the end of this article with your own passions and hobbies that you’d like to make a living out of, and I’ll get back at you. The next article could be featuring you and promoting your self-made products or services. Another important set of news is that, together with my partners, I’ll launch a presentation campaign for these products and services on the German market on the 15th of September, with me translating your promotional material into German at no cost. Keep on reading for more details and seize the chance.

In only a few days since I’ve started this project I’ve encountered a number of interesting people who offer unique products and services that could inspire you too, if you only ever thought of becoming your own boss. The first two – a graphic designer and a jewlery maker – have been presented in the first article, available here.  Now let me mention one very important aspect – I DO NOT charge for advertising presently, these are people whose work and mindset I simply appreciate. And this post features another person in whose story and work I find inspiration – Elena N., a fashion designer based in Berlin.

Elena N., a painter who worked with Beuys-scholar Heinrich Koch, and a fashion designer trained in Düsseldorf, Germany, focuses on unique creations that aren’t your every day on the block. Her clothes are for the elegant and refined, for the woman who wants to be unique and not just another brand display doll among hundreds and thousands. Her design process is inspired by historical and conceptual research, while her subtle style features clear cuts and quality materials at – and I have no freaking idea how she manages this – more than reasonable prices. All of it Made in Germany. Check out her clothes at http://www.elenanancu.com and let us know if you’d like an outfit made especially for you. Here is a taste of Elena’s upcoming collection:

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And this is the person behind the creation:

Elena N

Take the chance and leave a comment with your own passions and hobbies, tell me what you think your calling is and I’ll get back at you. If you feel you’re destined for something bigger than what you have now but can’t put your finger exactly on what it is, let me help you with a free personal profile and check out this post.

And now, as I promised as present at the end of each article, here are your free reads for relaxation: “The Executioner” Part I, first 50 pages. The book will be relesed on the 4th of September on Amazon, and you can get the Kinde format for free on the first week.

Looking forward to your input!

Tell me the motto you live by, and I’ll tell you who you are

This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time: You leave a comment with

  • your life motto
  • date, place and time of birth
  • an e-mail address where I can send you  your personal profile with focus on your strengths both on professional as well as on love level (for example what career would suit you best and what is most attractive of your personality).

If you have privacy concerns you can send me your contact details and birth info at anaatcalin@gmail.com, and only leave your motto in the comment.

If you’re wondering whether I’m “equipped” to do this the answer is yes. In my teaching career I’ve studied and researched heaps on general and educational psychology, which I like to blend with medical astrology.

These profiles will be tailored on your unique person and personality and I’ll work it “by hand”. This means that I’ll be completely concerned with you and only you while I do it.  Once a week I’ll let one of these profiles inspire me and write a novel scene starring the “literary avatar” (of course also with a fictional name) of the chosen person, which I’ll then publish. I’m looking forward to your comments, the wonders and depths of your personality! Until then, here’s some free reads for you to enjoy: The Executioner.

Love,

Ana

Update on the Drama of a World-Class Ballet Dancer

For Blog Bogdan

UPDATE

Dear friends and readers, thank you so much for your help and support for Bogdan during these last months! Further donations won’t be necessary, but all the prayer you can give. Bogdan has passed away on the 21st of June, “tranquil and without regrets.” These were his words. The disease had advanced very quickly – four times faster than in the average case – and left him with solely the command of his eyes in a matter of months. He will always be remembered, loved and cherished.

R.I.P. Bogdan Nicula

SAVE A LIFE – A world-class ballet dancer paralyzed in full glory

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This is an appeal to all my friends and readers and to the world at large.
Sadly this post isn’t fiction, but the true story of an amazingly talented young dancer, Bogdan Nicula, whom I had the honor of knowing personally fifteen years ago. We didn’t stay in touch, but a couple of weeks ago I was shocked to learn that he struggles with ALS, the disease against which last year people poured buckets of ice on their heads and which nails Stephen Hawking in his high-tech chair too.

But in Bogdan’s case the disease seems to be advancing at a much faster pace than usual. Bogdan now lies on a hospital bed in Düsseldof, Germany, where he used to work as a ballet dancer until December 2014. His family and friends hope to raise the necessary funds for his transport to Thailand for a stem cell transplant, his only chance of survival.

His friends and colleagues, ballet dancers from Bucharest, Constanta and Cluj, Romania, organized beautiful charity ballet shows, but until now they could only raise about a quarter of the necessary sum.
Bogdan Nicula is a valuable, acknowledged artist in Romania and Germany, he danced on the world’s greatest stages includig the Balshoi Theatre, Moscow. For this reason the Romanian press reported his case, and I took the liberty of translating a chunk from an article that offered the detailed story.

View the original here.

The Tragedy of the Romanian Ballet Dancer who paralyzed in full glory. Bogdan Nicula suffers from the same disease as Stephen Hawking.

In less than six months Bogdan Nicula (35), a Romanian ballet dancer living and working in Germany, was forced to leave the stage of the Opera House in Düsseldorf for a hospital bed, now almost entirely paralyzed. His family is struggling to raise the money for a stem cell transplant, Bogdan’s only chance of survival.

He danced on the world’s greatest stages, from famous German theatres (Mainz and Düsseldorf) to the Balshoi Theatre in Moscow, being one of the most talented Romanian ballet dancers known abroad. But Bogdan Nicula’s career was interrupted this fall, after he was diagnosed to be suffering from a  relentless disease, the same one that nails Stephen Hawking – the famous physicist and Nobel Prize winner – to his chair, namely amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It was to raise funds to find a cure for this disease that last year Hollywood stars poured buckets of ice on their heads in what became a viral movement on the internet (“The Ice Bucket Challenge”).

The first signs of the disease

For 25 years Bogdan Nicula worked every day to achieve the best possible muscular coordination, as well as strength, gracefulness and the discipline necessary to attain success as a dancer. He began dancing ballet in the 6th grade, when he moved from a normal school to the School of Coreography in Bucharest, where he managed to catch up the work of two years in only six months.

After graduation he worked at the ballet theatre “Oleg Danovski” in Constanta, on the coast of the Black Sea, and in 2001 he started his international career on the stages abroad as a main dancer at Ballet Mainz and later at Ballet am Rhein, Düsseldorf, Germany. His schedule used to start early in the morning with training and it would end late in the evening with ballet shows. But in September 2014 it changed abruptly. Bogdan began to feel drained of energy much faster than usual and increasingly exhausted. He began having difficulty controlling his arms and legs, and getting back pain. Bogdan went to the doctor’s for investigations. The diagnosis came as a shock.

In Bogdan’s case the disease avances four times faster than usual. By the end of December he was forced to use a wheel chair and since January he’s lying on a hospital bed, almost entirely paralyzed and barely able to breathe by himself. He only let his family know at the beginning of January, when his state worsened and he found himself unable to fend for himself in any way.

The disease evolved at a very high pace

The newspaper “Adevarul” contacted Bogdan’s mother two days before she came back home from Germany. She was at Bogdan’s side and crying. “We found out on the 10th of January. He didn’t tell us before, didn’t want to cause us pain. He’s in a good state of mind, he can still eat and talk even though with difficultly because of the oxygen mask, but he can’t use his arms and legs anymore. He’s a vegetable,” says Bogdan’s mother among sobs. “I pray to God for a miracle, he’s such a good boy, such a loving child. I spend the whole day with him. Friends from the theatre come to visit, they took care of him, he wasn’t alone for a second. I pray to God to save him.”

The family needs 50.000 Euro

“Adevarul” also contacted Monica, his sister, who explained that her brother’s only chance is a stem cell transplant, a procedure that can be successfully performed at the Beike Biotechnology clinic in Thailand. “This disease usually evolves between three and five years, but his case is particularly dangerous. Before Christmas he could still walk and in January he was almost entirely paralyzed. When we came to the hospital in Düsseldorf he was already wearing an oxygen mask. His only chance is a stem cell transplant. We already sent the documents to the clinic in Thailand, and the doctors told us the transplant must be carried out as soon as possible. The problem is that he can’t be transported as a normal passenger, he needs special transportation. The costs for the transport and transplant are very high, around 50.000 Euro,” Monica explained.

UPDATE

Dear friends and readers, thank you so much for your help and support for Bogdan during these last months! Further donations won’t be necessary, but all the prayer you can give. Bogdan has passed away on the 21st of June, “tranquil and without regrets.” These were his words. The disease had advanced very quickly – four times faster than in the average case – and left him with solely the command of his eyes in a matter of months. He will always be remembered, loved and cherished.

R.I.P. Bogdan Nicula

Much love,

Ana