Ode to a Comic Book
I found you hidden on the rack
I bought you like you were the newest one
I took you home to never go back
You hit me like a machine gun
Why oh why can't I buy you all?
You're so pretty with your artistic scrawl
Without you all I want to bawl
My friends say I should act my age but
Why can't I buy you all?
Why can't I buy you all?
I know they're mostly for big fat men
But I can't live without those word balloons
Drawn with such a light stroke pen
You put me straight on the midst of the moon
Why oh why can't I buy you all?
You're so pretty with your artistic scrawl
Without you all I want to bawl
My friends say I should act my age but
Why can't I buy you all?
Why can't I buy you all?
And that's about the time my friends all left me
My friends say I should act my age but
Why oh why can't I buy you all?
You're so pretty with your artistic scrawl
Without you all I want to bawl
My friends say I should act my age but
Why can't I buy you all?
Why can't I buy you all?
Why can't I buy you aaaaaaaaaaaall?
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Challenge #2
Good job to all those who participated in Challenge #1. Since it's Sunday, this marks week number two and a new challenge.
Group, write a love song. Try to work with anything that would give us a clear idea of what your song sounds like. If you can sing, do that. If you're musically untalented like myself, then just write the song. Be creative with it.
As a special note, this can be any type of love. This can be love for your family, your friends, your significant other, or even yourself. Be creative with it and use this challenge to learn something new about yourself.
Group, write a love song. Try to work with anything that would give us a clear idea of what your song sounds like. If you can sing, do that. If you're musically untalented like myself, then just write the song. Be creative with it.
As a special note, this can be any type of love. This can be love for your family, your friends, your significant other, or even yourself. Be creative with it and use this challenge to learn something new about yourself.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Free Hug?
I woke up early on Thursday morning. I was nervous. I’m not the most outgoing person in the world, so what I was about to do gave me tiny nervous butterflies. To calm my nerves a bit, I wrote out “Free Hug?” with a Sharpe on white-lined paper and taped it onto my shirt. I figured I would try to get people to come to me instead of me going to them. Maybe it was the fear of rejection?
I walked out of my dorm. The lady I always see cleaning my floor was at the end of the hall. I told her I was doing Free Hug Day and asked if she would like a hug. She accepted, then told me it made her day, and she was going to have a good rest of the day. That made me feel better. It is always nice to hear that you are the reason someone’s day is good.
I continued to walk out of my dorm and down the street with the sign taped to my stomach. I noticed this one guy staring from his car when he was stopped at the light at Piedmont Avenue and Auburn Avenue. Many people throughout the day looked at me strangely.
The sign worked. Many people came up to me wanting a hug. Actually, I noticed only girls asked for hugs. I did hug guys, but it was only because I asked if they wanted a free hug. Also, a lot of people asked why I was doing free hug day; it was a good conversation starter. Overall, I believe it was a good experience. It definitely brought me out of my shell.
Would I do Free Hug Day again? Probably. Especially if someone looks like they need one or if I feel like they are under appreciated. I think a hug is the perfect thing to make a person feel loved and needed.
Free hugs and throat funk
When you look like you're on death's doorstep, offering someone a hug is definitely the last thing from your mind. Granted, I did cough on a couple of bratty kids in Walmart hoping they'd get strep throat, but I wasn't about to subject the overall, unassuming populace to my disease.
Last weekend, my throat swelled up like someone punched me in the vocal chords. I thought it was laryngitis because I could barely talk, and while I planned on visiting the GSU Health Clinic after my Monday classes, I still attended albeit a bit off kilter. I was so exhausted from the day, I fell asleep in the doctor's office. I barely opened my mouth before my doctor cried, "Ew!"
"What? I'm sorry, I had soup for lunch!"
"It's not your breath. You have a very bad infection! Definitely strep throat."
Somehow the only thing I could think of was, "But then I won't get to hug people! I'm diseased!"
The doctor sent me home with a big bottle of medicine and an order to nap the rest of Monday. I woke up Tuesday ready to roll! But of course, with a fever, I didn't get very far. Wednesday was much the same, coughing, sleeping and trying to keep up with my classes online. Finally, Thursday I returned to classes, ready to offer hugs to anyone who wanted them. I was sadly derailed by someone who said, "You're back so soon! You should stay away from me... I can't get sick."
Alas, fate rejected me once more. Another day of medicine in, however, I was ready to take on the challenge. Late Friday I received a call from a friend saying he and some others were going to see Suckerpunch at the Mall of Georgia. I put on some clean clothes, trying to definitely look friendly (hey, some people are intimidated by a loud, six foot girl), and headed for the bookstore. It was a midnight movie, so we had some time to burn. We drank coffee in the bookstore, and I offered hugs to anyone who wanted them.
While the quiet bookstore attendees were a bit skeptical of my offer, I hugged the entire staff of the coffee shop (including the barista who gave me a bigger drink size for free). The movie goers, however, were extremely excited to see a movie with hot chicks wielding guns and swords. It was almost like shooting fish in a barrel. I offered a hug, and everyone wanted one! Everyone was so pumped up to see the "new IT film" they let their energy out any way they could. Hugging was like a way that we passed on our excitement, and we passed our two hour wait in the near-empty mall with ease.
Would I offer free hugs again? Sure! Hopefully I won't be carrying the black plague with me next time!
Last weekend, my throat swelled up like someone punched me in the vocal chords. I thought it was laryngitis because I could barely talk, and while I planned on visiting the GSU Health Clinic after my Monday classes, I still attended albeit a bit off kilter. I was so exhausted from the day, I fell asleep in the doctor's office. I barely opened my mouth before my doctor cried, "Ew!"
"What? I'm sorry, I had soup for lunch!"
"It's not your breath. You have a very bad infection! Definitely strep throat."
Somehow the only thing I could think of was, "But then I won't get to hug people! I'm diseased!"
The doctor sent me home with a big bottle of medicine and an order to nap the rest of Monday. I woke up Tuesday ready to roll! But of course, with a fever, I didn't get very far. Wednesday was much the same, coughing, sleeping and trying to keep up with my classes online. Finally, Thursday I returned to classes, ready to offer hugs to anyone who wanted them. I was sadly derailed by someone who said, "You're back so soon! You should stay away from me... I can't get sick."
Alas, fate rejected me once more. Another day of medicine in, however, I was ready to take on the challenge. Late Friday I received a call from a friend saying he and some others were going to see Suckerpunch at the Mall of Georgia. I put on some clean clothes, trying to definitely look friendly (hey, some people are intimidated by a loud, six foot girl), and headed for the bookstore. It was a midnight movie, so we had some time to burn. We drank coffee in the bookstore, and I offered hugs to anyone who wanted them.
While the quiet bookstore attendees were a bit skeptical of my offer, I hugged the entire staff of the coffee shop (including the barista who gave me a bigger drink size for free). The movie goers, however, were extremely excited to see a movie with hot chicks wielding guns and swords. It was almost like shooting fish in a barrel. I offered a hug, and everyone wanted one! Everyone was so pumped up to see the "new IT film" they let their energy out any way they could. Hugging was like a way that we passed on our excitement, and we passed our two hour wait in the near-empty mall with ease.
Would I offer free hugs again? Sure! Hopefully I won't be carrying the black plague with me next time!
The Man Who Needed A Hug Most of All: Free Hugs Shut Down
Can you recognize a hugger and a non-hugger? The face gives it away. For this challenge I decided to make a Free Hugs sign and sit at one of the tables the clubs usually use for promotional activities in the courtyard at my university. In the midst of a bustling crowd and students shouting…
“Free Drag Show!”
“Justice Week!”
“Help the Victims in Japan!”
I added to the noise, “Free Hugs!”
By the way, I’m the Daydream Dancer. I’m made of parts—one part creative adventurer, one part dancer, one part dreamer, one part sweetie, and one part hug reject. That’s right. While I hugged and was hugged, told you’re so sweet and I love hugs! , I was also told you’re crazy. Is it irrational to fear not being hugged on free hug day? I felt anxiety even when I was making the sign, when I was riding the bus to campus with the sign tucked under my arm, when I noticed the wind that day. Oh no, I thought, what if my sign blows away and I’m left hug-less and alone? I found an empty table, set my stuff in the chair, and propped up my sign with a heavy book for support. The girl across from me handing out flyers for the drag show giggled right as she saw my sign. “Do you want a hug?” I asked. She pursed her lips and smiled, “Sure.” It was a good start. The sun was out, I was doing something daring—I felt something in my cheeks, a pressure to smile despite my nerves. I’m not usually a smiler, but I was giving hugs. Don’t smiles just go along with the package?
Well, the challenged progressed and I would say more people passed on a free hug than those who accepted. From my perspective it was difficult for me not see them all as huggers and non-huggers. The non-huggers gave themselves away with their phones attached to their cheeks, their headphones and iPods, that blank city kid gaze into the far distance, or worse, shifty eyes. I had to exercise my skill for catching glances. When I did it was funny. “Do you want a hug?” I’d ask, and the non-hugger might say something like, “Naw, I’m good” or “No, but thanks.” One person said I was crazy. Is it crazy to hug? Is it not synonymous with showing the love? If it’s crazy to voluntarily break the bubble of privacy we maintain in our public relationships with other human beings, and more acceptable to communicate with two-dimensional user profiles via social networking websites, I’d prefer to be crazy.
Luckily I was not the only one. It was great to be hugged and my fear subsided the more I gave. You see, the great thing about hugs is that they are both given and received simultaneously. Some people paused for a minute to stare at my sign. It was a fairly simple message, just the words “Free Hugs!” I stood to the side in a yellow shirt, smiling, waiting for them to decide whether or not they wanted to accept my gesture. Some people had to think about it for a second, as if inwardly asking, “Do I want a hug? Do I want to be touched? Do I want to hug this stranger?” The hugger resolved this with another question, “Why Not?” A good hug only takes a few seconds of your time. Some huggers said that they needed a hug today, or that this made their day. A few people asked me why I was doing this and I told them about the project. A few seemed touched by the gesture, like it was a beautiful thing to see someone offer kindness so openly.
But then…
I was approached by a man with a clipboard. He worked for my school and asked what my project was for, if it was a chartered group of the University. I said no, but it was for a class project. Then he said I was not allowed here and that I had to leave because the tables in the courtyard were only for established University clubs. I was shocked, and to be honest disgusted. Rules like those kill me, there is too much gray area. I tried to hold my tongue, and asked if I moved to a bench it would be alright to keep giving hugs. He said yes, but was pressing me to move from the table. “Is there someone else trying to use this space?” I asked. “No, but you’re not allowed here.” I planned on complying with his demands, but I wanted to know his honest opinion first. Sure, it was his job to kick the non-clubs out from the tables, but didn’t he read the sign? What harm could it do? I said, “It’s just a sign.” And with that held out his hand to reach for my sign, “I told you, you were not allowed and you didn’t listen. Now I’ll have to take your sign.” He left with it. I was appalled. My friend was with me at the time and we slowly gathering our things and moved from the table. Later the man gave my sign back when he noticed that we had left. He said he just wanted to make sure we left the table. In retrospect, I realized he was the man who needed a hug most of all. I wonder how he would have reacted. I'm not so sure if he was hugger or a non-hugger.
I didn’t know what I was really doing on free hug day. I thought I was just completing a challenge. Now I see it as an expression of humanity. I meet new people, I smiled, I hugged. Someone asked if it was my mission statement. Another shut the free hugs down. But I’d like to do it again. In an odd way, I felt courageous.
Free e-hugs out to alla yalls. You don’t even need your arms just an open mind and some imagination.
xxxxx
THE DDD
“Free Drag Show!”
“Justice Week!”
“Help the Victims in Japan!”
I added to the noise, “Free Hugs!”
By the way, I’m the Daydream Dancer. I’m made of parts—one part creative adventurer, one part dancer, one part dreamer, one part sweetie, and one part hug reject. That’s right. While I hugged and was hugged, told you’re so sweet and I love hugs! , I was also told you’re crazy. Is it irrational to fear not being hugged on free hug day? I felt anxiety even when I was making the sign, when I was riding the bus to campus with the sign tucked under my arm, when I noticed the wind that day. Oh no, I thought, what if my sign blows away and I’m left hug-less and alone? I found an empty table, set my stuff in the chair, and propped up my sign with a heavy book for support. The girl across from me handing out flyers for the drag show giggled right as she saw my sign. “Do you want a hug?” I asked. She pursed her lips and smiled, “Sure.” It was a good start. The sun was out, I was doing something daring—I felt something in my cheeks, a pressure to smile despite my nerves. I’m not usually a smiler, but I was giving hugs. Don’t smiles just go along with the package?
Well, the challenged progressed and I would say more people passed on a free hug than those who accepted. From my perspective it was difficult for me not see them all as huggers and non-huggers. The non-huggers gave themselves away with their phones attached to their cheeks, their headphones and iPods, that blank city kid gaze into the far distance, or worse, shifty eyes. I had to exercise my skill for catching glances. When I did it was funny. “Do you want a hug?” I’d ask, and the non-hugger might say something like, “Naw, I’m good” or “No, but thanks.” One person said I was crazy. Is it crazy to hug? Is it not synonymous with showing the love? If it’s crazy to voluntarily break the bubble of privacy we maintain in our public relationships with other human beings, and more acceptable to communicate with two-dimensional user profiles via social networking websites, I’d prefer to be crazy.
Luckily I was not the only one. It was great to be hugged and my fear subsided the more I gave. You see, the great thing about hugs is that they are both given and received simultaneously. Some people paused for a minute to stare at my sign. It was a fairly simple message, just the words “Free Hugs!” I stood to the side in a yellow shirt, smiling, waiting for them to decide whether or not they wanted to accept my gesture. Some people had to think about it for a second, as if inwardly asking, “Do I want a hug? Do I want to be touched? Do I want to hug this stranger?” The hugger resolved this with another question, “Why Not?” A good hug only takes a few seconds of your time. Some huggers said that they needed a hug today, or that this made their day. A few people asked me why I was doing this and I told them about the project. A few seemed touched by the gesture, like it was a beautiful thing to see someone offer kindness so openly.
But then…
I was approached by a man with a clipboard. He worked for my school and asked what my project was for, if it was a chartered group of the University. I said no, but it was for a class project. Then he said I was not allowed here and that I had to leave because the tables in the courtyard were only for established University clubs. I was shocked, and to be honest disgusted. Rules like those kill me, there is too much gray area. I tried to hold my tongue, and asked if I moved to a bench it would be alright to keep giving hugs. He said yes, but was pressing me to move from the table. “Is there someone else trying to use this space?” I asked. “No, but you’re not allowed here.” I planned on complying with his demands, but I wanted to know his honest opinion first. Sure, it was his job to kick the non-clubs out from the tables, but didn’t he read the sign? What harm could it do? I said, “It’s just a sign.” And with that held out his hand to reach for my sign, “I told you, you were not allowed and you didn’t listen. Now I’ll have to take your sign.” He left with it. I was appalled. My friend was with me at the time and we slowly gathering our things and moved from the table. Later the man gave my sign back when he noticed that we had left. He said he just wanted to make sure we left the table. In retrospect, I realized he was the man who needed a hug most of all. I wonder how he would have reacted. I'm not so sure if he was hugger or a non-hugger.
I didn’t know what I was really doing on free hug day. I thought I was just completing a challenge. Now I see it as an expression of humanity. I meet new people, I smiled, I hugged. Someone asked if it was my mission statement. Another shut the free hugs down. But I’d like to do it again. In an odd way, I felt courageous.
Free e-hugs out to alla yalls. You don’t even need your arms just an open mind and some imagination.
xxxxx
THE DDD
Thursday, March 24, 2011
AbsolutePower
I dove into the first challenge yesterday. I woke up, put the dog out, and got ready for the gym. I'd planned to start hugging people after my workout but then decided no one wanted to hug a funky stranger. So I made a list of the non-perishable items I needed from Walmart and decided to go there first. I had a strategy. I'd go in through the garden department which is always deserted first thing in the morning, and hug the greeter.
So, no greeter was there and I went in hugless. I saw a man stocking the shelves and hesitated. Then I threw on a big smile and marched up, announcing, "Guess what! It's Free Hug Day." He accepted with a smile, we hugged, and I felt less stupid with each passing second. I gave out my second hug on the way past the freezer section. It was going so well. I became a woman with an eye peeled for hug recipients.
After awhile I went looking for rejection. I wanted at least one funny story to tell. I passed a group of women on the toilet paper aisle. They looked so ornery that I lost my nerve.
I guess I don't want to be rejected even if it's for a good cause. Why such an aversion to the word "no"? It's kind of weird when you think about it.
On my way out, through the garden department, a tapped a woman on the elbow and informed her that it was free hug day. She lit up, we hugged, and she said, "I don't know how you knew that I needed a hug."
I had one of those cheesy sentimental moments, like the lesson part of a family sit-com. I felt great!
Next up: the gym, where I hugged no one. We were sweaty and gross. But my mood was super!
I went to school at three o'clock. I had a class that started at three, but I didn't go to class. I went to see a guest speaker in the Student Center. I ran into someone I'd taken a Literature class with last semester. I didn't remember the guy. I mean at all. Period. If he hadn't come up to me, I would have kept walking. But as we sat waiting for New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci to take the podium, we had a nice conversation. We talked about classes, frustrations with our courses, and one of my favorite subjects in all the world: creative writing. And we talked about something that I know nothing about, physics. So I learned a few things. That was cool.
I wonder how many people I've missed out on by not caring enough to even notice that they were in the room...
I typically have a friendly disposition, and I chat easily, but in a room I usually sit beside no one if at all possible. I always look people in the eye, but I must not be doing it right.
Mr. Baldacci, author of one of my favorite novels, "Absolute Power", gave a riveting speech. I truly enjoyed it. Afterwards, he signed books outside the Ballroom. Of course I had my copy of "Absolute Power" and I got it signed.
But you know what I told him, right? So, I got a signed book, a picture, and a hug!
By the way, I will totally give out free hugs again. And especially if someone appears to need one because I have the power to change someones day for the better.
So, no greeter was there and I went in hugless. I saw a man stocking the shelves and hesitated. Then I threw on a big smile and marched up, announcing, "Guess what! It's Free Hug Day." He accepted with a smile, we hugged, and I felt less stupid with each passing second. I gave out my second hug on the way past the freezer section. It was going so well. I became a woman with an eye peeled for hug recipients.
After awhile I went looking for rejection. I wanted at least one funny story to tell. I passed a group of women on the toilet paper aisle. They looked so ornery that I lost my nerve.
I guess I don't want to be rejected even if it's for a good cause. Why such an aversion to the word "no"? It's kind of weird when you think about it.
On my way out, through the garden department, a tapped a woman on the elbow and informed her that it was free hug day. She lit up, we hugged, and she said, "I don't know how you knew that I needed a hug."
I had one of those cheesy sentimental moments, like the lesson part of a family sit-com. I felt great!
Next up: the gym, where I hugged no one. We were sweaty and gross. But my mood was super!
I went to school at three o'clock. I had a class that started at three, but I didn't go to class. I went to see a guest speaker in the Student Center. I ran into someone I'd taken a Literature class with last semester. I didn't remember the guy. I mean at all. Period. If he hadn't come up to me, I would have kept walking. But as we sat waiting for New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci to take the podium, we had a nice conversation. We talked about classes, frustrations with our courses, and one of my favorite subjects in all the world: creative writing. And we talked about something that I know nothing about, physics. So I learned a few things. That was cool.
I wonder how many people I've missed out on by not caring enough to even notice that they were in the room...
I typically have a friendly disposition, and I chat easily, but in a room I usually sit beside no one if at all possible. I always look people in the eye, but I must not be doing it right.
Mr. Baldacci, author of one of my favorite novels, "Absolute Power", gave a riveting speech. I truly enjoyed it. Afterwards, he signed books outside the Ballroom. Of course I had my copy of "Absolute Power" and I got it signed.
But you know what I told him, right? So, I got a signed book, a picture, and a hug!
By the way, I will totally give out free hugs again. And especially if someone appears to need one because I have the power to change someones day for the better.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Welcome & Challenge #1
Creative Adventures is a blog created and maintained by five college students who decided that pushing themselves would both inspire personal growth and encourage development in its readers. Each week the Creative Adventures team will be assigned a challenge. The five members will then partake of the challenge and write a detailed blog describing the events and their troubles with each challenge.
The following is a detail list of our first three weeks of challenges:
Be safe and have fun, team!
The following is a detail list of our first three weeks of challenges:
- Week #1: Free hugs. The team will offer free hugs to strangers and see if they accept. This involves a coming out of one's personal bubble and breaking into the shell of others.
- Week #2: Write a love song. The team will write a love song to see who is the most successful at the challenge. This involves a creative writing challenge in which form is just as important as content. Bonus points if the team members record themselves singing their song.
- Week #3: Tacky clothes day. The team will dress in what they consider tacky clothes and attend school for a day. The blog will record reactions of those around the students. This involves coming out of one's shell to the point of ridicule, a challenge that few would readily accept.
Be safe and have fun, team!
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