(Untitled)

[furzicle]

(Written to the promtpt of "unconventional" for Livejournal idol)
Ode to Unconventionality
Or
The Unconventionalist’s Creed
Do Not be like Everyone else. That’s boring! Refuse to rush out and buy the latest trends and fashions. That is the club of sheep who crave to be exactly like each other. Red shirts are in vogue now? Do not feel compelled to

Comments

[viagra]

This was really nice! There's a lot of value in this, especially for someone that already tries to break the mold - it can be hard sometimes to go through life the way you REALLY want to that can REALLY make you happy, and it's harder still to figure out whether you like something because you like or you like something because society wants you to.

[furzicle]

Trends are like crushing floods that sweep you up in them. Unfortunately, I think most are oblivious to why they think something is cool.

[engarian]

This has some very interesting precepts, many of which I agree with. Nice take on the prompt.

- Erulisse (one L)

[furzicle]

This is what I tried to write in comments to your post: Now I'm very curious where you went to school. I graduated in '71 in LA (California.) I remember the first Earth Day. Do you remember how everybody brought hand-painted lunch boxes to school to support Earth Day? We had the same stupid dress code. One day they let the girls wear pants but ALLEGEDLY one girl wore jeans (Nobody I know has any idea who it was; we suspect it was a rumor created by the administration) and then that was the end of that experiment. I didn't smoke but I did vote for Shirley Chisholm in the first election 18-year-olds could vote in. Also, I was in the band and orchestra and had been first chair all along. Started flute in 4th grade.

[engarian]

I went to school in Denver, Colorado, graduated in 1972. We didn't do lunch pails, but like I said, almost half of our almost 1000 students walked out and took the long walk to the Convention Center - approx 7-8 miles one-way. Our school was closed by race riots in my Senior year (made the cover story for Look Magazine that week, and I still have that issue). When we reopened, we were on split schedule, the cafeteria was closed, and our schedules were majorly shifted. I didn't mind - I wasn't in the history class I didn't like any more, and instead had a history prof that was interesting.

Our school did NOT let the girls wear pants at all, so we decided to do a protest and wear them - not jeans, but nice slacks. We all got suspended for the day.

I didn't vole for Shirley Chisholm, but I was a dues -paying member of the Black Panthers.

I started cello in 4th grade.

We have SO much in common! LOL

- Erulisse (one L)

[roina_arwen]

Amen to this! Nicely stated!

[furzicle]

Thank you! Even though your 100 word limit on your other writing endeavor was ridiculously restrictive, I do think we improve when we limit our work to the barest minimum. This piece turned out that way for me. The brevity does help drive home the point. (Though, as writers, we always feel we have more words to add--important words!)

[roina_arwen]

In general, my writing is mostly in the 400-1100 word range, but I rarely “aim” for a specific word count. I’m waiting to hear back regarding round one for the Flash Fiction challenge (1000 word maximum) as round 2 runs the weekend of 8/12. Whee!

[banana_galaxy]

I found myself smirking along and then thinking, "But maybe I want to be unconventional by not following your structure of how to be unconventional!" which I hope was intended, because I do get the sense that there are people out there who tell others in more rigid ways about how to be a rebel/unconventional/unique.

[furzicle]

The hippie era comes to mind!
ie, "If you want to be unconventional, wear tie-dye, ripped jeans, and use prescribed lingo, like 'Peace man.'"

[d0gs]

I really love everything about this but especially these lines:

Don’t squander yourself.

Put your unconventionality to its very best use.