Ahhh... interspecies love... :)

((((HUG)))) for you Rick.
Hope verything is O.K.otfid

Big {{{HUGS}}} for you! I hope all is okay and a hug just sounds good today :)

Did you really have to ask?!

Super huge hug from me to you, and I know you are virtually hugging me back. :-)

Your post made me think of the movie Crash, specifically the quote:

"It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."

The same could be said for the city of Toronto!

I think the thought of needing to give hugs and needing to receive hugs is something that we all too often overlook. Hugs again.

I hug you if you hug me too!!

Lisa: That just sounds dirty! And about such a cute picture too!

Mackey, Mel, KS..: Thanks bunches. Yesterday was one of those "in-between" yukky days. I wasn't quite miserable, and I wasn't feeling top of the world either, y'know?

Angela: Funny that you should mention that. I must admit that I'm guilty as charged. I come from a family that definitely is NOT touchy-feely. When we visit each other, we shake hands instead of hugging, and I think I kinda miss it, so I'll often go to a crowded mall or something and probably intentionally bump into people sometimes (you know, the "Oops, sorry!" kind of bump). Pretty pathetic, eh?

While I was teaching, I'd often see a student (male or female!) have what I used to call an "Aha-insight" moment--- their eyes would light up, they had a glimpse of their future career, their confidence doubled - man, that's what I used to teach for, right there. I always wanted to give them a big, innocuous, well-done hug. But of course in this day and age, I'd be out on my ass faster than Superman could pick his nose with a sexual assault charge against me. I always ended up feeling like I could hardly even smile at them and say 'well-done' in case someone thought it was favoritism or something. That kind of bullshit really annoys me.

Sounds like you've been holding back your natural emotions. Back when I was in highschool, I felt so lost and misguided at times that I really felt like my teachers were my only friends. I always wanted to hug them but I felt like it was inappropriate. Just know that some of your students probably wanted to hug you as well.

I can relate, my family never lays a finger on eachother. Asians are very reserved. That's why I'm a hug monster with my friends...and I bump into people frequently when I walk. I used to attribute it to clumsiness, but it was probably my need for human contact.

Whew, I gotta stop rambling on your blog! Seems like my comments are always too long!!