ellenmillion

I am feeling seriously over-advertised-at.

Black Friday! Gray Saturday! Cyber Monday! Buy! Buy! One day only! No one will love you if you don't buy them presents! Expensive presents! If you fail to shop like a fiend, you are single-handedly responsible for the failure of the economy! Buy! Buy MY stuff! Sale! Save! Buy more! 50% off! Free shipping! BUYYYYYYY!

No grief to anyone on my friendslist, of course - I KNOW, it's that time of year that tends to justify the rest of the year's lame sales, and it's just smart marketing to take advantage of the fact that everyone is in this crazy, materialistic frenzy. What better time to remind people that buying from you is a better option than blowing their cash on cheap Walmart gifts? I did that, too... and I am SO glad I feel no obligation to do that myself this year.

I like buying presents when I find something perfect and spontaneous, not at Christmas or birthdays (which I am wretched at), but just randomly, because something occurs to me. But oh, I hate the stress of HAVING to get something for someone, because otherwise I am a lame and awful friend or family member. Then, I spend too much - or too little - or I'm pretty sure it's an awful, generic, gift with no meaning or I worry that the humor comes across wrong, or the fit is wrong, or it's something they already have and it's this big, stressy, not-fun, last-minute obligation.

I wash my hands of buying gifts this year.

But I like giving gifts.

So, here's what I'd like to do for my holiday spirit of giving:

Give me a word. Any word! I'll even accept phrases. But, just one! And I will give you that word back, in some new form. It might show up in your email, or posted as a reply to your comment, or it might show up in your snail mail box. If you ask for a pony, you might get a haiku about a pony, or a pony icon, or a pony short story, or a pony sketch, or a photograph of a pony, or an MP3 of a pony neighing, or anything that my crazy brain comes up with. I might even send you a pony, you never know. It might not be in time for Christmas, or New Years, depending on my work schedule. I might mash up a couple of words together into a short story for a few of you together, or I might undertake a massive new painting to your prompt. But whatever it is, and whenever you get it, it will be straight from me to you, created while I'm thinking about you.

There are no strings - you may post this and do the same, but you don't have to. You can filter your offer to just a few people, or fling it open to the unwashed masses. (I'm trying the unwashed masses method at first, but reserve the right to close this entry if it gets too out of hand. :P)

Please! Give me a word that I can give back to you. :)