mother

I have always looked upon decay as being just as wonderful and rich an expression of life as growth. —Henry Miller

Expression is personal and has no right or wrong, but some are definitely more fun

There are so very many different methods of expression that no two people would ever need to express themselves in the same way. Such diversity is wonderful and the creativity with which some people choose to make a statement is sometimes more noteworthy than the statement itself. Technology we have now gives everyone the opportunity for self-expression. Everyone gets their chance to yell and scream. Open your mouth. Say what you want. See who listens.

One of the challenges, however, is that with so many people trying to express themselves at the same time, not everyone is heard. Sometimes we do well to employ alternate means of expression just to gain attention. Once we have someone’s attention, then we can get down to the real message. Expression sometimes needs a little advertising or at least a little teasing.

Getting attention is a risky thing. I’ve thought about printing a bunch of stickers with my website address on them. I could place them in conspicuous places around town to raise awareness that I’m here and talking. The downside to that particular form of expression, though, is that, in many cases, it could constitute vandalism or defacement of public property. I don’t need a large fine of any kind.

So, I’m thinking maybe yard signs might be an alternative form of expression. Surely, you would let me put a sign in your yard, wouldn’t you? We decided to make some mock signs to test our theory. We went to BuildASign.com and played around a bit. What we created is a different form of expression.

Hey 2016

This year hasn’t been exactly stellar up to this point, and I really don’t see it getting any better. There have been too many deaths of really talented people. There have been too many deaths of totally innocent people. The level of stupidity found in politics around the world has reached unprecedented volume. I’m rather of the opinion that 2016 needs to be put in time out until it learns to behave. Our most simple yard sign is an expression of this sentiment.

Single?

I understand the plight of the single person. I was one for several years and didn’t particularly enjoy large parts of that existence. Being lonely sucks, especially on the weekend when everyone else seems to be out on a date. However, there is a tendency on the part of some single people to make feeble requests for sympathy by overstating how horrible life is as a single person. Not every single person is like this, mind you. We know several who embrace their singleness and make the most of it. For those few who just don’t get it, though, we have a special sign:

Pokemon Be Gone

Yes, this is yet another gratuitous mention of that silly phone game that has been wreaking havoc all over the world. Apparently, there was a really big stir in Central Park last night over a rare Pokemon sighting. Then, the servers went down and chaos ensued. Obviously, I don’t play the game, but my youngest son does. He tells me there have been mistakes where people’s private homes have been targeted as PokeStops. The result is homeowners look out their window to find people standing around staring at their cell phones. I can only imagine how unnerving that must be. So, we created a sign to express how we feel about the issue.

Open Minds

We like people who think. We like people who take information and give it a proper hearing, even when it challenges their own belief system. However, not everyone feels that way. There are plenty of people out n the world who think that their opinions and their version of the truth (which isn’t truth at all) is the only acceptable perspective on any topic. Worse yet, once the next two weeks of political conventions have ended, we are at risk of those closed-minded people invading our open-minded space. They’ll be out campaigning for one candidate or the other, insisting we see their point of view. The problem is, we’ve already considered their point of view and discarded it as dangerous. So, before those people open our front gate and try to ring the doorbell (assuming the dog doesn’t think they’re Pokemon and eat them first), we have a special sign:

Sex Party

We’re still rather bummed that Killing Kittens isn’t throwing a sex party in Indiana this summer. We just don’t have time to go jetting down to Melbourne for the big summer sex bash down under (take that however you wish). We’re not ones to complain too terribly much, though. Instead, we thought it might be fun to begin planting the seeds of sexy thoughts into the minds of those around us. Who knows, we get enough people thinking about sex parties and they’re likely to start popping up everywhere! We think that would be a much better use of people’s time than talking politics, don’t you? So, here’s the sign we’re considering:

Bridled Expression

There is a potential downside to this form of expression. A large number of home owners associations regulate how many signs one can have in their yard and where they can be placed. Personally, I don’t see how such agreements are not a violation of the First Amendment. I should be able to express myself however I want on my own property, right? But for some stupid reason, the damn laws manage to be upheld. Communism is what it is. Still, if you can put even one sign in your yard, we think it should be one of self-expression, not something that a political party has conceived.

Besides, expression should be fun and meaningful. You’re not going to get anything like that from a political party. Draw attention to yourself. Be expressive!