WordCandy Sweet Blogger Roundup: Imagination

As I write, members of my household have all gone their separate ways in search of a big screen television, Buffalo wings, and every kind of snack chip and dip imaginable. Two professional football teams and Beyoncé are warming up (or so we are to believe) for arguably the single biggest entertainment event of the year. And me? I am sipping a hot cup of Crème Earl Grey alongside freshly baked bread with apricot jam and enjoying rare, but complete silence.

Years ago, I celebrated the Super Bowl with family and friends as any sensible child would. True football fans piled on top of one another in a cramped living room and gobbled up platter after platter of Totinos frozen pizzas while watching the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys pummel each other on the field. (I don’t recall if either team was favored, only that both were despised because the hometown Minnesota Vikings didn’t make it that year.)

Along with the other sensible children, I sat in an equally cramped side room (eating the same frozen Totinos) and watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Despite Mr. Wonka’s edgy quirks and the still-lingering discomfort that comes of not being able to fully parse his moody disposition with any degree of certainty, I felt as though I’d fallen into his chocolate river, surrounded by sweetness and everything good for the tongue and the eyes. Through the thick bowed glass of an old tube television, I saw colors so rich I could have sworn I tasted them. I put my nose to the screen and wished to go behind it like Mike Teevee, even if it meant being broken up into a million little bits only to be put back together in miniature and sent to the taffy pulling machine to be restored.

But for a few moments, there with my mouth watering at the wonder of it all, I considered how even that might be a fair exchange for a walk down the path of Everlasting Gobstoppers. That Mr. Wonka–he had a way of plying my imagination with sweets. And I suppose in many respects, that’s what he was after.

Sometimes, I imagine the hardworking folks who pull the taffy levers to make the delicious confections in WordCandy as running machines like Mr. Wonka’s. And when they go to work and put on their bright white overalls, they find chocolate notepads on their desks and candy canes in their pencil cups. They chew Three-Course-Meal gum for lunch under trees bending with the weight of sweet desserts, guzzling Fizzy Lifting Drinks for a chaser. And from what our Sweet Bloggers pulled off the candy shelves and posted this month, all that sticky work pays off.

Some sweet words from our users:

Sometimes I suffer from toxic choice syndrome. I need to be more abundant, as in, if I like a confection, go ahead and ship it! If I like another one, I can ship it, too! I need to remember these sweets are calorie-free. I can indulge in as many as I like!  —Sheila Lagrand

I enjoy the new surprises that are always popping up on WordCandy. New quotes from Rumi are my favorite right now. I especially like that I can now get “ready mades” on Tumblr. Keep on growing! —Lexanne Leonard

The humorously inspiring business category has been my favorite. For this month, at least! —Monica Sharman

So much fun! I can get caught browsing the images on Tumblr for longer than I care to admit. —Shawna Ervin

Sprinkling tidbits of sweet is made so easy here, I share often. —Karin Fendick

I continue to love WordCandy’s expanding categories and I have often found the perfect combination of verse and photo to share with others or to inspire myself. —Holly Grantham

We loved seeing your candies on the web this month. Thank you for sharing the sweetness of these poetry, movie and business quotes:

Darrelyn Saloom: Malone’s Mad Love

Karin Fendick: Yes to the Next

Shawna Ervin: A Journalistic Love Story

Holly Grantham: On Love

Sheila Lagrand: Choose

Heather Truett: Pick Me

Lexanne Leonard: Come With Me

Chris Yokel: If You Know What You’re Going to Write…

Donna Falcone: Do You See? You Are Love

Get Organised: Friday Productivity Quote

Elizabeth Marshall: The Cowardly Lioness Finds Courage, The End

Be sure to take a look through the new Rumi Lollies category, and if you need just a quick day-sweetener, stop by WordCandy’s delicious Tumblr site for ready-made photo cards. (I stumbled onto the archive page the other day and was positively gum-struck with all the delectable treats.) Keep sharing your sweetness all month long. We look forward to the next sugar-studded roundup in early March.

Photo by Aih, Creative Commons license via Flickr. Post by Will Willingham.

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Will Willingham

Director of Many Things; Senior Editor, Designer and Illustrator at Tweetspeak Poetry

I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel, Adjustments, is available now.

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Latest posts by Will Willingham (see all)

• Summer Break & Take Your Poet to Work Day - July 17, 2021
• Adjustments: A Belated Bicentenary Party for John Keats - March 4, 2021
• The Reindeer Chronicles Book Club: You’re Cutting a Tree in Almería and Getting a Storm in Dusseldorf - February 17, 2021