Love Love Love (and GIVEAWAY!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I didn't get my tutorial for Valentine's Day done, so I opted for a superquick GIVEAWAY over HERE. Thank you, dear Jen, for getting that up and running so quickly. (Jen can do anything. She can even raise a son who gets a perfect 800 in math on the SAT and a 97% on the English part. Good on ya, young Camden! I, on the other hand, am also raising a son, and let alone produce stellar test results, I have yet to have the young man use a fork on a consistent basis).

So get on getting over there so I can get on giving away.





I (may or may not) know someone, who may or may not have initiated a little bit of random happiness, which she may or may not have entitled "Funism". It has a pretty good Instagram following. Funism may or may not include taking a bit of harmless chalk and writing a bit of love. It may (or may not) be taking a tiny mermaid and photographing her adventures in the world. Funism may (or may not) be wearing wax lips (life hack: Nothing fights polar vortex induced chapped lips better than wax lips). What Funism is supposed to be is fun. Love and fun, really. And so, a fan of Funism may or may not have encouraged a bit of Valentine love on the Hermosa Beach strand today and may or may not have invited anyone to a bit of chalk.

Chalk messages such as these also have detractors. Angry, angry detractors. I mean it. There is strong opinion among some that there is a municipal cost arising from happy chalk messages on the strand. Perhaps there are costs to clean the chalk, money that could go to other things in the town. And thus chalk should be banned from possession in the town, chalkers fined and so on. The chalk actually fades away on its own in about 72 hours and is completely gone in less than a week. That fact notwithstanding, I have been trying to understand this point of view, really understand, because this bit of Fun has caused division and disgruntlement. Making anybody upset is quite the opposite of the mission of Funism. The polar opposite. The polar vortex opposite. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished.



So much for a possible cost side. There is a possible benefit side, too, however. Specifically, there was a fail woman in a wheelchair, who made her way down to the Funism-In. Her speech was slow and quiet, her movements shaky, but deliberate. She made her way to the Hermosa strand to perhaps speak to the person, who always wrote the happy messages. She really looked forward to finding them, as they made her happy. Then, there was gal going through the physical agony of fibero-something-or-other, as well as the emotional pain of divorce. She made her way to the Funism-In, because the messages snapped things back into perspective: because life is good. The ups and the downs--that's all part of it. There was also a celebrity appearance: Horse N Horse. Horse N Horse travel the world and posts selfies of their horseselves. One Horse is, in fact, a professional model, and I would like to posit, that perhaps beauty and life are temporal, so the moment is what is important, living in the here and now, and that is why Horse N Horse were in the naaaay-borhood (catch that? "Naaaay-borhood"?). Those things, I would further posit, all fall on the benefit side of Funism. What do our municipalities spend to promote happiness? Just plain happiness? No matter your age, race, gender, physical ability, or income? Our municipality is going to construct a boat launch. I don't have a boat. So, how many people of all ages, any race, gender, physical ability, and income benefit from the costs of the boat launch?

Who doesn't need to be reminded every once in a while, that there is love, there is goodness, and that it doesn't have to be all that complicated.

Fortunately, the Funism-In-istas may or may not have received many, many, many more positive comments than negative ones. If you wish to participate, you may. Coming disguised for your protection is up to you.











Happy Valentine's Day! And I mean it!