It’s been some time since I received an award for my blogging, & so it was a pleasant surprise to find The Wheelchair Teen’s nomination sitting in my inbox. The Wheelchair Teen is an excellent blog addressing the intersectionality of being both black & disabled, & is all the more impressive when you realise it’s written by someone so young!

To accept the Sunshine Blogger Award, there are a few simple requirements:

• Thank the person who nominated you & link back to their blog.
• Display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo.
• Answer their 11 questions.
• Nominate up to 11 others for the award.
• Provide 11 questions for your nominees to answer.

So, without further ado:

Answering 11 Questions:

Q: What was a defining or significant moment in your blogging experience?

A: A couple of years ago, after a couple of years of blogging, people began to approach me to contribute to other projects having been impressed with Diary of a Disabled Person. Sometimes this was through the comments section, my contacts page, or my social media, but on the odd occasion it was in person too. To date I’ve contributed to a small documentary that will be debuting at film festivals soon called Bathroom Privileges, attended conferences, & even been asked to represent disabled people in the workplace. It was then that I realised I was making small waves in the world of disability activism, but that those waves were being noticed by others.

Q: What’s your favourite place you’ve ever visited?

A: We may be a small country, but the UK has some world-famous landscapes, particularly in the north. I was lucky enough to grow up among the conveniences of the city, while being only a stones’ throw from the Yorkshire Dales & Moors. My favourite district is the Lake District, however, particularly the mountainous region to the north. I’ve visited many of the tiny villages on the edges of lakes, but I’ve also had the privilege of visiting a retreat half-way up the side of Mount Blencathra, with some of the most stunning views I’ve ever seen.

Q: Who’s your favourite disabled or neurodiverse character?

A: I actually made a Top 10 List of my personal favourite disabled characters a few weeks ago, & even then there were some that I missed, most notably Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road. I have a soft spot for Oracle a.k.a. Barbara Gordon, daughter of Commissioner Gordon in the Batman comics. Once Bat Girl, she was paralysed by the Joker in The Killing Joke, going on to becoming the wheelchair-using centre-piece of the Birds of Prey. My absolute favourite, however, is another Batman character; The Penguin as portrayed in the Gotham TV series. He’s charismatic, intelligent, & determined, with his disability remaining a feature of the character & not a defining trait or motivation.

Q: What’s one thing about society that angers you?

A: There are a lot of things that rile me about society, particularly the prejudice & discrimination that runs evermore rampant. If I had to choose one thing above all else though, it’s how nonchalant people are towards accessibility. It’s viewed as a luxury disabled people should be grateful for, not a necessity that is our human right.

Q: Do you love or hate poetry (or are you somewhere in the middle)?

A: I’m somewhere in the middle. I despise the pompous and needlessly ambiguous poems pretentious people write, where the meaning is hidden behind double-meanings and symbolism. I do, however, have a soft spot for comedic poems, or one’s that clearly tell a story.

Q: What was the last thing that made you smile?

A: I follow a disabled cat on Instagram & she’s so freaking cute! She was top of my feed when I opened the app this morning.

Q: What’s your favourite quote?

A: I have Disability Doesn’t Mean I Can’t tattooed down my arm, but also that’s my own quote which feels super arrogant.

My other favourite quote, though, comes from 00’s teen movie Mean Girls, of all places. Janis Ian is talking about bullies, & comes out with this gem, which is honestly a philosophy to live by:

“There are two kinds of evil people in this world. People who do evil stuff and people who see evil stuff being done and don’t try to stop it.”

Q: Name one thing that’s always guaranteed to help you relax.

A: Video games. I particularly love sprawling open-world RPGs with infinite immersive replay-ability, like Skyrim, the Fallout series, The Witcher 3, Horizon: Zero Dawn, & Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. I’m very excited for Cyberpunk 2077, the Outer Worlds DLC, & am interested in the Kingdom’s of Amalur remake. I also have a soft spot for the recent Doom reboot, just for a bit of variety.

Q: What’s your number one tip for new bloggers?

A: Stick at it. Maybe right now, you’re not getting many views, you don’t have as many followers as you’d like, & you’re not sure if it’s worth the effort. I assure you it is, purely for the interesting people you’ll discover along the way.

Q: If you could choose a best friend to bring to life from any book you’ve ever read or film or television series you’ve watched – who would it be?

A: I’m going to cheat here slightly – it would be a video game character. The protagonist of Horizon: Zero Dawn, Aloy, is brave, intelligent, & above all else compassionate. I think she’d be curious to see how “Old Ones”lived, our current society from over a thousand years before her birth. I also think she’d be a great person to just hang out with.

Q: What makes your blog special?

A: It’s honest. Almost every aspect of my life is up for discussion, & I won’t shy away from controversial topics like euthanasia & abortion. This seems to set me apart from other lifestyle blogs, which portray everything as twee and perfect.

My nominees:

• Cane Adventures.
• The Life Quadraplegic.
• Being Aunt Debbie.
• The World According to Me.

My questions:

• What made you want to start blogging?
• Tell me about an interaction you had with a stranger that was really positive.
• What has been your biggest blogging achievement?
• What’s the furthest you’ve ever been from home?
• What’s your favourite quote?
• Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction?
• What’s your favourite genre of fiction (movies/TV/video games/books/comics)?
• If you could visit any fictional world & characters, where would you go?
• What’s your guilty pleasure song?
• What made you laugh most recently?
• If you had the Infinity Gauntlet from the Avengers, & could change anything with just the snap of your fingers, what would you change?

Thanks once again to The Wheelchair Teen for their kind nomination!