“Afloat” Image. Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo Show.
This volcano looks happy! Lots of brightly colored dots coming out of its center! Certainly not harmful, destructive gases, lava and fire! But jelly bellies and grapes and bubbles!
These exclamation points above, both in the collage and in my opening paragraph, are not just because I am an exuberant person.
The printed sentence has no inflection. No tone of voice to soften a neutral comment that could be misinterpreted to mean something harsh. No tone of voice to explain something in a compassionate way. We have two options when we text or email someone. We can end the sentence with an exclamation point or a period.
At the risk of sounding a little nutty, I would rather end a sentence in an exclamation point than have someone take my sentence to mean that I am angry, sad, or dismissive. (It has been researched that an incredibly high percentage of friendships end by friends using the internet or phone to quickly jot down something that is misunderstood.)
In this busy time where the days are sucked from our lives, I think it’s better to sound a little cheesy than grim!
Hollis Hildebrand-Mills 
I’ve never used so many exclamations as I have since I started blogging. You are so right, it just adds that warmth of tone.
This is a lovely warm collage, both in subject matter and in humour.
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As always Denise, very thoughtful! See there’s that exclamation point!
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Well written! Impressive! Wonderful!
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Thank you!
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Beautiful words, my friend! I wholeheartedly agree with you!!!! How serendipitous of us, our brains unknowingly linked across the ether of time and space 🙂 Have a wonderful day & Happy Halloween eve!
Cheers,
Tyler 🙂
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I know, Tyler, I was sitting in the chair, getting my hair cut, when I read your post! The old “great minds think alike” came into play! We actually posted the same thing on the same day! 🙂
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Like the idea of a happy volcano – went to Vesuvius once and that was a happy experience, if not a little tiring!!
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You are lucky to have seen Vesuvius! I love the name, don’t you?
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I so agree Hollis. Thanks for the smile. Love your work.
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Your’e welcome and thanks for the compliments!
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Seems like a perfect Halloween collage! The theme, color and even candy! Don’t forget large font and the feeling it gives!
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Thank you! Yes I did forget about people using the large font. Sometimes I use the large font for emphasis and I forget it means I am yelling!.
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I picture myself standing at the bottom of that volcano of yumminess with my mouth wide open. 😉 (No exclamation point on purpose, but the reflection was nonetheless excellent and a relevant point in this age of faceless communication).
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You are right. Words can communicate too! Happy Halloween! I hope you get lots of jelly beans and good stuff!
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Thanks, Lord knows I have a sweet tooth!
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Reblogged this on Hollis Hildebrand-Mills and commented:
Number One Reblog
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I think this is very you! It’s not one of the prettier ones, it’s one of the more challenging ones, because it is things you wouldn’t expect to see together.
Nice to see it again.
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Thanks, Denise!
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I love the happy volcano, Hollis. Rarely do I use exclamation points in my novels, but when I compose e-mails to friends, I’m guilty. 🙂
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Yes I think we have to be.(guilty of using them) Too much is lost when it’s just the printed word. I’m going to say something heavy here: The internet has no integrity. It’s up to us. (!)
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I agree!
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