Thursday, January 28, 2010

Yeah, talkative today. I'm kind of hyper - I always get hyper before a Big Weather Event (and I did as a kid, when there was a chance of a S*N*O*W D*A*Y)

Two things:

first, not spam, Lynn. My spam policy is this: if you're a regular commenter or someone I know as a regular reader, and you post a link to something referenced in the post (or even if you're NOT a regular commenter/reader and you post a link like yours) it's not Spam, it's Helping.

It actually would not have occurred to me to go "Hey, I could buy some inexpensive but not-explicitly-sold-for-embroidering-on cotton pillowcases from Amazon or somewhere." Sometimes I have little donut holes in my common sense.

However, if it's someone I DON'T know, and they post a link wildly unrelated to what I have been saying (ESPECIALLY if it's to an online dating site), then it's Spam and I hope the Karma Fairy poops on them.

Anyway.

****

I'm in a fairly good mood right now. And I don't think I'm going to be doing the usual Valentine's Day omphaloskepsis/whining. No, not because I have a new man in my life or anything...I actually figured out my distress with the day:

"Here is a holiday, and yet I cannot find any way to celebrate it that works for how I live. I am left out."

SO I thought: how to make myself feel not-left-out and have some fun with the day? And I remembered the silly little cards - you know, the ones that were common in the 1970s-1980s in grade school? (And earlier, I'm sure, that's just my experience)

You know the ones, with silly puns on them?

Like this?:



Well, it occurred to me that a number of the people I am "friends" with on one of my Ravelry groups are (a) not shy about sharing their mailing address with a relative stranger and (b) like me, unlikely to receive an actual valentine this year. So I made the offer: hey, if you want a silly valentine with a picture of SpongeBob or a duck on it, send me your address and I'll send you one.

I got a nice response. Not an unwieldy one (I was secretly afraid, having made the offer, of being smacked with 100 requests). And you know, it makes me happy...I went out and bought a couple boxes of cards, I have my list of addresses at the ready when it gets a bit closer to the day. I feel like I'm doing something to celebrate the day, and maybe, by being a bit silly and funny and celebrating friendship, I'm kicking a little sand back in the eye of the bully that says ONLY ROMANTIC LOVE MATTERS YOU IDIOT.

And you know? I do have some cards unspoken for. So if you'd like to get a valentine with a fuzzy animal and a bad pun on it, and you're comfortable e-mailing me your address...I'd be happy to send one out. It will give my mailman something to think about.

I don't think I'll quite go ALL the way and buy one of those big cans of "red" flavored Hi-C and cupcakes with pink frosting, like we had at grade school Valentine's parties. But it does make me happy to do a little something to mark the day, a little something to celebrate.

2 comments:

Charlotte said...

You may have already thought of this but your leftover cards would be a nice surprise for widows and other singles in your church ... especially if left unsigned or signed "Your Valentine." A little anonomous fun arriving in their mailbox.

Lynn said...

I knew it would be okay. It's just the way I worded it sounded spammy but that's what I wanted to say - that you can find anything at Amazon. I used to think of it as just the place for books and CDs and even though I knew there was a whole lot more it took me a long time to get it into my head to look for other things there.