So here’s the thing – I HATE exclamation points. I never (ever) use them in my writing unless I’m creating dialogue for an excited child. And even then, I use them in the singular. I feel that exclamation points are a cheap substitute for taking the time to describe the real emotions they are supposed to represent. They are an easy way out.
For these reasons I’m sending my online life to rehab for its abuse and addiction to them. Because here I use them all the time. They suffocate my emails. They negate the comments I leave on other people’s blogs because I can’t seem to control their unnatural “excitement.” And these !!! posts? Let’s just say that a certain friend of mine has accused me of trying to start a “punctuation revolution.”
But !!! is something I enjoy because it pokes fun at my own snobbery in writing. It’s freeing. It relates, in three little symbols, how deeply I feel about something. You see !!! and you know it’s happiness. Or craziness. Either is acceptable.
To me, the truest !!! is random. Unexpected. Unrelated. And in the case of the Things that Made Me Happy this Week, recreated. Because after a month of crazy living, we wanted to take things slow. We planned nothing. Enjoyed everything. And then relived…
Hugging Nanny.
Cutting the *perfect* watermelon slice.
Painting chubby toes.
Loving Daniel Craig.
Witnessing her master at 5 what I couldn’t do until 5 and 20.
Walking her down the aisle.
Bringing our own beer to a park party in butterflies.
Reveling in carbonated goodness.
Wearing PJs two sizes too big. (Her, not me.)
Feeling contentment when she leans back on me and stays there.
Sharing of the most prized possession.
A punctuation revolution? Probably not. But a happiness revolution? Let’s just say I’ve ALWAYS been a hippie at heart.
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What makes you
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!!! = Intentional Happiness
Check out more !!! at Momalom, and link up below and we’ll check you out!
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So many fun and sweet !!! moments :)
Love that picture with the veil… too cute!
The !!! tucked into the waistband of her pull-up and those chubby toes made my heart happy. The watermelon and chopsticks made me hungry. Looks like it’s been a fantastic week (over punctuated or not).
My fave picture is walking her down the aisle. In pull ups. It’s just too perfect.
There’s nothing like a real Coke. And a hug from Nanny (or Gramy, in our case). And chopsticks? I still can’t use ‘em. Wow!
And an eloquent hippie at that. See I just had to resist the urge to add a ! at the end of that sentence. I’m like, I write and edit professionally (sometimes you wouldn’t know it from the mistakes on my blog – but I always say, writing and editing are two different things and the same person can’t do both), at any rate, I loathe the use of ! professionally. They don’t have any place in the kind of writing I do. But like you, in the blogging, tweeting, facebooking world, I tend to have a love affair with them. What does that say about us?
And the watermelon photo? Well, it made my mouth water. Yummy! (Okay, see it just fits after that word.)
But but but I like exclamation points! Now what is a girl to do??????
!!!
I am the SAME way. I normally hate exclamation points and I moreso hate the excessive use of them. Along with question marks – ONE will do…I get it. But my blog and my emails – I’m a punctuation whore.
Like you, I don’t use ! in my “serious” writing, but on my blog? Man, I sneak that little guy in all the time. I think a Punctuation Revolution is a brilliant thing.
Oh, that little butt, clad in a Pull-Up. I never thought I’d find Pull-Ups cute again, but 2 has converted me.
I am the worst at using those little punctuation points…really bad in fact.
And those PJ’s two sizes too big? So cute. Are there snowflakes on them? :)
Great photos – I love the Stieg Larsson books and have the last one next on my reading list having so enjoyed the first two.
I’ve been wearing PJs two sizes too big. Losing weight is so great, I haven’t gotten new ones. As I climb out of bed and hike up my jammies, it’s a good reminder for the next day.
Did you plan the warning sign under the book? Very clever.
I enjoyed this post with a real coke!!!
I’m sure someone has asked this before, but how do you get the effect with the pics? Is it a setting on your camera or a setting on the blog pic uploader?
You can get the effect two ways. 1) using photoshop or 2) an app for the iPhone called “hipstamatic.” (the iPhone app is only $1.00. Waaaay more affordable and easier to use.)
I LOVE painting chubby toes, girls and boys alike. Graham is always getting double takes for his purple toenails and pink fingernails but fuck it, he’s three.
Your !!!’s are awesome, not one cheesy overexcited thing about them. And I will join you for a !!!beer next week. We on?
YES! I’ll be up on Friday morning. Will you be doing after-parties every night?
Perfectly painted chubby toes ALWAYS deserve !!!
I absolutely adore the picture of the girls hugging you. And the walking down the aisle picture. Love.
And how do you get that awesome affect on your photos. I love that. They look so vintage.
Love your !!! things. Happiness is contagious and I love that you are a hippie at heart. The chubby nails are adorable.
I’m a punctuation snob too. Terry Pratchett wrote in one of his novels, “Multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of a diseased mind.” And I’ve always, amusedly, agreed.
And yet I use them in my online life constantly too (more so since stumbling across the fabulous concept of intentional happiness). I think it’s the distance that separates us from people we come to feel close to. Exclamation marks, exaggerating our emotions, are an attempt to bridge the distance, I think.
Or else we’ve all gone mental. Could be that too.
Love the carbonated goodness and glad you didn’t use a diet coke. The picture of her in the veil – priceless.
Ahhhh, the refreshing carbonated beverage of goodness! We ARE soul sisters!
A Punctuation Revolution that I can agree with. : )
I love carbonated goodness, in diet form.
Looks like a wonderful week. Besides the punctuation revolution, you’re starting a happiness revolution, teaching people to seize happiness wherever they can! (that deserves an exclamation mark)
I think it’s wonderful not to take ourselves to seriously. At least a punctuation revolution would not involve any bloodshed. I’m all for it.
That’s a whole lot of awesome. Really great !!! pics! Especially the PJs. I love a kid in jammies. The bigger (and cozier), the better. :-)
I love the painted toes and the butterfly beer bucket!
I love this punctuation revolution and am so glad you started it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am playing catch up on blogs and comments, so my intentional happiness post will be a double one, when I get to it..; Love the chubby toes, the watermelon, and revolution…
Hope you enjoyed every second!
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