• Title your post “One Love: Jamaican Blogger Tag”
•  Link back to the blogger who tagged you ( you may add a brief definition of what a tag is for the benefit of your readers)
•  Copy and paste the rules at the beginning of your tag.
•  Copy and paste the questions as well so readers know what’s going on.
•  Answer the questions (No duh!)
•  Tag seven other (untagged) Jamaican bloggers to continue the trend. Kinda forces you to make friends, no?

1. Why did you give your blog its name? (If it is named directly after you, try and make your answer interesting. eg: Did you feel nervous at all about putting your name out there? Did you just lack creativity at the time?)
2. Why did you start blogging and why do you blog now?
3. Do you think being Jamaican influences your blogging style?
4. What do you think about the increase in bloggers in Jamaica?
5. What is your favourite thing about being Jamaican?
6. Ackee and saltfish or “ (mackerel) run down”?
7. Stew peas or stew chicken?
8. Tastee Patties, Juici Beef Patties or Mother’s?
9. Pantucky or KFC?
10. What do you hope to be the future of blogging in Jamaica?

My Answers:

1. Why did I give my blog its name?
Secret: I have been wanting to be asked this question for quite some time now. I have always loved reading, but I’ve only recently begun to appreciate my given name. I think my name makes a unique statement about me, and the associations with my eponymous avian counterpart are fun to consider. The “Well Read” in Well Read Robin functions as both an adjective and a commendation, by the way.

2. Why did I start blogging and why do I blog now?
I started blogging in 2007 because my friend was doing it. Seriously. And then she stopped and I continued avidly, mostly because of fanfiction and fandom (that’s my Livejournal here). Then I met WordPress, which looked like rl srs bznz y’all, and now I blog because I want to get better at writing and telling stories.

3. Do I think being jamaican influences my blogging style?
No, with a caveat. My blogging style is basically my writing style which is heavily (and almost exclusively) influenced by European authors and one American blogger in particular. However, there is a likkle-but-tallawah Jamaican voice inside me that comes out at odd times. The reason I stay away from Jamaican-isms on this blog is that I feel like I never get the flow quite right.

4. What do I think about the increase in bloggers in Jamaica?
I think there need to be more Montegonian bloggers! But that’s my bias talking. I think the surge of Jamaican bloggers is great, but there needs to be more decentralization of the demographic. Most Jamaican bloggers are either from Kingston or living in Kingston and blog with a Kingstonian mindset which is not so far removed from the larger Western mindset. I want to see a blog by a Jamaican from rural St. Catherine who can talk with equal poise about her life in the country as well as the latest Kesha song.

5. What is my favourite thing about being Jamaican?
Being able to call this country home. Jamaica is one of the prettiest places ever and our country has such a rich history that I’m so absolutely proud to be part of this heritage.

6. Ackee and saltfish or mackerel rundown?
For the non-Jamaicans reading this: this is what ackee and saltfish looks like and this is mackerel rundown. When it’s made properly, with coconut milk and yumminess, mackerel rundown wins hands down.

7. Stew peas or stew chicken?
So again: this is stew peas and this is stew chicken. I have a strong dislike for stew chicken, simply because most people prepare it with a lot of bone and very little chicken. Plus stew peas usually goes with pork or oxtail or some other such delicacy so it’s delicious.

8. Tastee Patties, Juicy Patties (because that is the name of the company) or Mother’s?
Mother’s is actually a Kingstonian thing, so I never really had it until I moved here. And then I had a phase where I thought I preferred Tastee to Juicy, but I was really just mixing both of them up.

9. Pantucky or KFC?
Pantucky = jerked chicken made in half of a drum by a man on the side of the road.

I have never actually seen a female drum pan man. Strange. Pantucky, because they are always around when you’re really desperate for food, so it invariably tastes really good.

10. What do I hope to be the future of blogging in Jamaica?
I hope blogs get more readers as time goes by. Jamaican bloggers are already getting recognized by TV personalities, so I want to see blogging get more attention from the average guy on the street. I want blogging to be a part of the literary revolution that Jamaicans need; I want people to want to read, and I feel like blogs are ideally placed to make that happen.

The Tags: 
I barely know three Jamaican bloggers, let alone seven!

• GavRo of Doctor Gargamel (who is kind of like a student Dr. House)
• Ken of Mr. Multilingual (who is all kinds of linguistically brilliant)
• Farah Colette of farah colette (who lived my alternate life and survived to tell the tale)

And in keeping with the spirit of “hey let’s make friends with this game”, here are three bloggers hand-picked from the JA Blog Awards nominees and one past winner, none of whom have any idea who I am:

• Kimi Small of TheSmallGirl (who sounds like someone I’d want to be when I grow up)
• Charissa from DANCE Jamaica (because I never thought I’d find a blog about dance in Jamaica and it is awesome)
• Lecia-Gaye (and her hubby by extension) over at JustHitchedNowWhat (who sound like pretty interesting folks)
• Sean of From a Boy to a Man (whose blog I was first introduced to last year; his Tumblr always has interesting/humourous musings)

*ETA: So JustHitchedNowWhat has already been tagged. Mea culpa. But I am stubbornly not going to remove her (simply because I have no one else to replace her with).