Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

There are many images on the Internet for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award, which I was recently nominated for by Mommy's Doll Club (MDC). Thank you Chrissie! I chose the above image which links to the source page.

Here are the rules for the award:
“Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award recognizes the unique voices of women bloggers around the world.”

What you need to do:

Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site.

Put the award logo on your blog.

Answer the ten questions they have sent you.

Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.

Nominate ten people.

The questions I was asked and the answers follow in italicized text:
1) Besides blogging, what other things do you like to do on the Internet? I enjoy communicating, often in real time, with others who collect black dolls. As a result, I created a private doll group on Facebook in July 2014. This group is a direct spin-off of a former private Yahoo email discussion group that I founded in 2001. After the activity in the email discussion group fizzled (with social media being the culprit), I closed that group in January 2014 and went for months without the active, daily communication with my doll collecting comrades. Because I missed our daily networking, I formed the Facebook doll group. I am also a member of other doll groups on Facebook, but for obvious reasons am more active and enjoy mine the most.
2) Why did you start a doll blog? Initially I began my doll blog to promote sales of my second black-doll reference book, Black Dolls a Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion. My first post was written in 2008, the year the book was published; however, I did not become an active blogger until 2009 when I decided to share my experience as a happy black-doll collector on a consistent basis through blog posts. The passion continues; therefore, the blog posts continue.

Leo Moss doll grouping
3) What doll don’t you have that you would most like to have? I would love to own an original Leo Moss doll. During the late 1800s through approximately 1932, Leo Moss, a black man from Macon, Georgia, made dolls in the likeness of family members, friends, on commission and/or in exchange for goods and services. For the most part, Moss used existing white doll parts for the bodies and extremities and sculpted new faces (often over the existing heads) to create ethnically correct features using papier mache. It is said he made black dolls in an attempt to provide them for his children as manufactured black dolls were either immediately unavailable or nonexistent for them. At auction, his dolls now sell for multiple thousands of dollars, which is the main reason I do not own an original Leo Moss.
4) Your favorite American Girl doll accessory? As a collector and lover of dolls, period, I do not find myself fascinated with doll trinkets and paraphernalia other than their clothes and shoes. Addy's black cloth doll Ida Bean and additional American Girl books are the only American Girl extras that I own.
5) Your favorite Non-American Girl doll accessory? Fashions and shoe packs are my favorite non-American Girl doll accessories.
6) Do you play any instruments and if so, what? Currently, I do not play an instrument. I was in the marching band in junior high school and in high school and also briefly in the high school concert band. I began my band career attempting to play the flute in 6th grade. I obviously did not have enough air in my lungs to successfully play that wind instrument. I quickly exchanged my attempt at being a flutist with becoming a clarinetist, at which I excelled, winning at least one award in a competition against students from area high schools. However, I put that instrument down and never picked it up again after graduating high school.
7) Favorite type of music to listen to? My favorite type of music is traditional and smooth jazz. I love it and am often lulled to sleep by smooth jazz.
8) Tea or Coffee? Coffee first (two huge cups in the morning) followed by afternoon tea is a Monday through Friday routine. I can do without the tea on weekends, but my two cups of morning coffee are must-haves, seven days a week.
9) Favorite Movie? I viewed the 1959 version of Imitation of Life (IoL) at a local movie theater for the first time at around age 7 or 8. That event had a huge impact on my life for a couple of reasons. The local movie theater was a few blocks away from our home. I often walked to the theater with my older brother where we paid a dime or 15 cents each to see the most recent-to-us (but not necessarily the most recently released) movie. IoL had probably been released several years before it became available at "our" theater.

The death and funeral scene of the supporting actress (Juanita Moore) who played the role of Annie in the movie had a negative effect on my brother. He cried for days afterward. Initially he would not divulge what was bothering him but finally confessed to our parents that it was the funeral scene in the movie.

Me, at 18 months old with my brother, age 5, (smiling as he often did).

Death of others that we know, as unpleasant as it is for most, was even more unpleasant for my brother, even when he did not know the person personally. Annie's death in IoL did not have an initial impact on me, but I still cry every time I watch the movie, even though I know the outcome. My brother is no longer with us, so viewing it now makes me reflect on the times he and I spent walking to and from that movie theater to see it and the other movies we went there to see. Some of the tears evoked now when I watch the ending scene of IoL are for Annie but most are definitely over the loss of my brother.
10) If money were no object, where would you most like to travel to? I would also have to overcome my current flying phobia in order to travel anywhere by plane, but if I were to overcome this and money were no object, I would love to travel to the continent of Africa at least once in my lifetime to plant my feet on Motherland soil.
Questions for My Nominees

1) When did you publish your first blog?
2) What inspires you to write a new post?
3) Other than your blog, what else do you write?
4) Has any of your other writing been published?
5) How long have you been a collector?
6) List everything you enjoy collecting?
7) How do others feel about your collection?
8) If you could purchase anything you enjoy collecting, what would it be and why?
9) Please share anything about yourself that you would like your readers to know?
10) Share one thing about yourself that would surprise most people?

My Nominees for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award are (drum roll please) and a brief reason why I chose to nominate them:

1) atelierniSHASHA because I love the playscale fashions she sews.
2) Auction Finds because she finds the most interesting eclectic items at auction.
3) Dazzle Dolls because her doll photos are awesome.
4) Desperately Seeking Dolls because I enjoy her narratives about the dolls she chooses.
5) Dollightful because she is a good storyteller.
6) Fabricholic Doll Maker because I'd love to own one of her dolls one day, too.
7) Male Doll World because I love her male doll musings and her Black History Month quizzes.
8) Pink Obsession because of her loyalty (through comments) to my blog posts.
9) Sarah Plays Dolls because she is thoughtful and creative.
10) Thammie TheDollMaker because I enjoy seeing her dolls and scenic photography.

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