There is all this stuff I want to say about what you have written about what “Love is..”, but I’ll keep my mouth shut. Because it’s pure and perfect just the way you have said it.
Thank you for being vulnerable.
Thank you for opening your hearts and sharing.
Thank you for being the freaks you are.
(this does not include all of you, but most)
It means a lot to me, especially since I’ve known most of you, written with most of you, over several years. This was sort of a soul melt, mind crush, turn on experience. Being able to relate to each other like this makes the world spin and dollar store pens click.
The winner line was a easy pick, although I didn’t realize it at first. It is raw, honest, vulnerable. It slipped into a separate area of my mind none of the other lines touched. It hit a sweet, gnawing place like an over-rubbed scar. Does any of that make sense? Maybe not, but after sleeping on it, I knew this morning it was undoubtedly the winner.
The Winner of the $1 Rotating Love Message Pen Contest Is:
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"Love is the regret you can't imagine life without."
~ Bryan Doyon
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Bryan Doyon is a friend of a friend of John Wiswell. Bryan used to write, but hasn’t in a long time. So not only is he getting a pen, I’ll be sending him a notebook (from the dollar store, of course!). No more excuses. Congratulations, Bryan. Please let me know of your first publishing! I’ll be cheering for you.
2nd Place:
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"Love is settling for spooning when you really wanted a fork."
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This shines above all others like the north star. Witty, beautiful, naughty and brilliant. Sort of like Laurita herself.
3rd Place:
There were like 5 of you leap frogging over and over in my mind for third place. So, I took a lesson from King Solomon. I split the pen into five separate pieces. But then they grew legs and mouths, screamed and scuttled away. Solomon hadn't said anything about this. Briefly, I wondered if this is what The Queen of Sheba had come to ask him about. No one won third place. I'm sorry.
4th Place:
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"Love is a virus which cannot be inoculated against."
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I don’t have any more pens left. But David told me the other day, after dozens of one liners, which he is infamous for writing anyway, it wasn’t about the pen. It was about the secret of the universe. The secret of the universe wasn’t on the cheesy dollar store pen. But I found it on something else. So he’ll get that.
Honorable Mentions:
There are three types of people in the world. Those who can count and those who can’t.
I have 10 Honorable mentions:
“Love is…the antibiotic applied to your lover’s wrists once the handcuffs are removed.”
"Love is....he not only doesn't mind your tentacles...he helps you thread them through the holes in your sweater." ~
Karen Schindler
"Love is always in the heart, even if you buried his in the backyard." ~
Erin Cole
“Love is the hot sauce that makes the taco of life worth eating." ~
Chris Allinotte
"Love is an anagram of vole, coincidentally the only monogamous rodent."
"Love is...keeping dinner warm for 3 hours while I, "just finish this paragraph."
"Love is...offering the 1st or last bite. Obsession is offering both." ~ Rob Lundahl
"Love is a howling snow storm...clouding your vision yet filling your heart with wonder."
"Love is...difficult. It gets in the way of all the fun stuff." ~
Jason Michel
"Love is for angels - and they have a devil of a time with it." ~
Kevin J Mackey
"Love is a pause, a quickened breath that makes your heart stutter." ~
Lori Titus
"Love is upside down and inside out, taking the fun and scenic route, always and forever."
~ Nicole Hadaway
"Love is found in the 10 cent store but if you want that in writing it's 10 times more."
"Love is the opiate of the Misses." ~
Marc Nash
Read ALL "Love is..." one lines on the original post
Here.
And finally,
Love is… forever. I plan on putting up a link off to the side or eventually on top. People can continue to keep adding on to the “Love is…” list (previous blog) through comments or email, and I’ll keep adding to that blog post. I think it’s such a wonderful, powerful, random force, every line is precious and I’d like to keep it going.
Each and every line contributed is valid, real, and important. Thank you everyone for your participation.
Thank you to Lynn Alexander and Dave Mathewson for mentioning the original idea on Facebook.
~J. Mac
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Nigel Bird and Chris Rhatigan are holding up Paul Brazil's site with the mother load news of the century, if not the century, then at least of the summer. Yours truly was absolutely unable to resist when asked to participate, then about had a heart attack when I saw the list of names. These two gentlemen know how to knock'em dead. It's not even July, and you can feel the heat waves simmering from this lot.
