Delicate Arch
If you’ve never done any free association writing, I highly recommend it. You never know what’s going to come out. My topic was, obviously, things I love (or loved).
If you use a pen, the goal is just to keep the pen moving. I was typing, so I set a timer for three minutes and tried to keep my fingers moving. I didn’t edit anything and only went back to add links.
Sometimes it will probably be apparent when one association led into the next. Sometimes it’s totally random and even I can’t figure out how I got one to another.
Then:
Fry bread
Books
Friends
Deadlifting
Thunder
Libraries
Sex
The sound of frogs
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
50% of Jack Nicholson’s movies
Creativity
Curiosity
Alice in Wonderland (the books)
A Gentle Madness
Signed books
My fireplace
Sleeping in on Saturday
Sleeping under a million blankets when it’s snowing
Sledding
Cotton candy
Licorice
Free rice (online game)
Remembering what I forgot
Seeing an old friend
Feeling the anger fade
The Smithsonian
Thundercats (not Snarf, though)
Gumby
The old Twilight Zone shows
Skee ball
Singing
Laughing
Cartwheels
Trampolines
Most Tori Amos
Anagram games
Crossword puzzles
Bejeweled 2
Team Gaggle (the post)
Being first in line at the DMV
Being in the library before it opens
Reading when I should be sleeping
Sleeping when I should be working
Memories of when my dad’s friend Charles took me to the arcade to play frogger
Sitting on my dad’s shoulders when we went fishing
Throwing salmon eggs at mosquitoes on Hidden Lake
Typing fast
Lifting more weight than before
Writing letters
Receiving letters
Getting free books
A new novel by a beloved author
An old novel by a forgotten author
Conan The Barbarian (and the Destroyer)
The NBA Finals
The Shield on FX
Up to Season 8 on the Simpsons
Nibs
Peeps
Sand dunes in Moab
This burrito I ate once in Moab
The walnut tree at my grandparent’s
Delicate arch
The handicapped bars in our hotel bathroom
The first time
The end!
Josh
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome list. You wrote that in three minutes? I’m impressed.
Quite a few of these would be on my list as well.
There were lots of typos. I did go back and fix those:)
Great idea. I get to witness a lot of free association watching my kids. It’s always amaxing to see how a 3 year old’s mind makes connections and moves from one thing to another
First thing that popped into my head when I read your list was having coffee on my patio before everyone else is awake.
I usually see a theme in my lists when I go back. Being alone and having things quiet is a regular occurrence:)
Free association writing (or free-ass, as I like to call it) is AWESOME! and so are EXLCAMATION POINTS and STUFF IN ALL CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AWESOME FREE-ASS LIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow. I wish I was that peppy:)
Coffee, my man. . . . straight-up, unadulterrated, all-out coffee. . . and rockabilly with a little Rollins Band thrown in!
You had a productive 3 minutes! That was fantastic; what a gush of all-things-wonderful. I especially liked the Thundercats reference. I used to pretend my glitter baton was Liono’s sword, and I’d raise it to summon the others…OR I’d pretend it could extend like Cheetara’s javelin. You’re right about Snarf, though…could have done without him and Orko from He-Man.
Some of my first-ever blog posts were free-writes, and good Lord, what randomness those unearth! I like this topic–will have to give it a go!
Awesome list, Josh! I need to do this sometime. I have a feeling that, like your list, mine will end up with quite a few childhood memories and things that I am in awe of.
When life gets overwhelming, it’s always good to take a minute, or three, to think about all these good things.
I hope you’re doing well!
Any excercise that leads to association with Conan the Barbarian and Destroyer must be awesome.
“Crom laughs at your four winds.”