The Memes Week: "Interview Me" (AND, the Blog Love Award)

When I first came across this meme from Nymeth's blog, I was interested to take part so I asked her to "interview me." Here are the rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Below are Nymeth's questions for me:

1. ONE OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS ABOUT YOUR BLOG IS ALL THE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY YOU POST. HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INTO PHOTOGRAPHY? Ooh, great question, Nymeth. I first started taking photos when I was in high school. That'd be about 16 years ago. Digital cameras were not the trend then, so I used a film camera my parents bought me. Developing photos was expensive and I used my own pocket money to do so. Therefore, I had to do it sparingly. This post, Down the Memory Lane, featured some of the earlier photos taken using a film camera (see photos 3 to 5).
   
   Everything I like doing, including university education (I never did attend university), took a backseat when father left us making my sole focus this: helping mom pull our family through that crisis. My passion for photography never left me and was reignited the moment things became normal again. I started using a digital SLR in April last year so I'm pretty new to it and still learning!
   
   Edited to add @ Feb 15: I have tagged the photos taken and posted on my blog into the following tags: Canon S3 IS (the photography highlight using this camera is my 2007 Sydney trip), Canon A460, Nikon Coolpix 5900, HP iPAQ Voice Messenger (my smartphone) and Nikon D40 (DSLR). The first three cameras are digital compact cameras used in various periods of time; the Canon A460 being the latest one in my 'inventory'.
2. YOU HAVE MENTIONED A FEW TIMES HOW PASSIONATE YOU ARE ABOUT YOUR WORK. WANT TO TELL US A BIT ABOUT IT? I value work and I am grateful for every oppportunity that my employers--past and present--have given me. For the lack of university education, I started from the bottom rung of the ladder and climbed my way up the corporate ladder. Through all of that searching, I found my life's calling. In many ways, I'm used to juggling a lot of things and handling crisis thanks to what happened to me from young.
   
   I am an executive assistant, personal assistant, executive secretary, administrator--you name it. I am currently attached to the chairman's office and have since work at breakneck speed which I enjoy very much. I love my job and I enjoy doing supporting roles. I find satisfaction in organizing and making life easy for others but I can't say the same for mine. I'm quite messy and you should look at my study room. As long as I'm able to find the things I'm looking for, well, I'm not complaining... Oh by the way, my office is in tip-top condition.
   
   One more thing, although PAs play supporting roles, they really are managers. They manage up (the boss or bosses) and every other way. It's a challenging profession and is not for the faint-hearted. Seriously.
3. IF YOU COULD ONLY READ 5 AUTHORS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHO WOULD THEY BE? Wow, this is a TOUGH question. For fiction, they are Nora Roberts (for some good romance in my life) and Neil Gaiman (the king of fantasy--need I say more?). For non-fiction, they are John C. Maxwell (his leadership books are great and would be a good dose of meaningful reading for many years), Joyce Meyer (for great Christian books especially for women), and Rick Warren (another great Christian author who wrote The Purpose Driven Life). All these authors have touched my life in so many ways.
4. WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT BLOGGING? My favourite thing about blogging is getting to know and becoming friends with all the wonderful people, especially book bloggers. They are the ones who first came to my blog and is now an important part of my life. I am sure this blog will not be what it is without your presence here. You know who you are.
   

   
   With this, I would like to dedicate the above blog award to all my lovely blogger friends wherever you are. Thank you, Rachel, for giving it to me. You're one of my earliest blog friends whom I treasure very much.
5. PICK A BOOK YOU LOVE BUT HAVE NEVER TALKED ABOUT ON YOUR BLOG BEFORE AND TELL US ABOUT IT! To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I can't believe that I didn't do a review for it, but I absolutely love it. Very briefly, To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of two children, sister Scout and brother Jem, and their childhood. Scout and Jem spend a lot time with their neighbor, Dill. They like making up plays and spying on a peculiar person in their neighbourhood named Boo Radley. One day, Scout and Jem's father, Atticus Finch who is a lawyer, is appointed to defend a black man named Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a white woman. It's a very readable classic novel and as a reviewer on Amazon.com aptly summarized it, it is one "that depicts racism and prejudice, childhood innocence, and the perseverence of a man who risked it all to stand up for what he believed in." How I agree with her.

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Now, don't you think Nymeth asks the best questions? Thanks, Nymeth!