A Painted Flower A Day

2007-12-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

12/31/07

2007-12-31T14:38:00.000-05:00

Sandwich Making Woman At Star Provisions. She smiled really big and said, "All right! Thank you!" It was nice.

12/30/07

2007-12-30T06:30:00.000-05:00

Man In Aurora. He was speaking with the barista about how he often speaks negatively and about a Rastafari philosophy of always speaking in positives and how he might should start working towards that ideal. He seemed like a great person to get a flower. He thanked me and said, "It's for today. That's fantastic." The barista asked what it was. He said, "It's a beautiful flower" and the thanked me again. As I was leaving, he asked the barista, "Do you want to see it?"

He got the flower pictured here, from the first white batch.

12/29/07

2007-12-29T20:36:00.000-05:00

Server Woman At Flat Iron. She said, "ooohh!!" and thanked me. She asked if I made the flowers individually or in a group. I told her in batches. She got a white background flower from my very first batch of flowers. I saved a couple for the end of the year.

12/28/07

2007-12-28T13:19:00.001-05:00

Server Woman At Azio. She said, "Thank you!". She turned away, but then turned back, did a curtsy type thing and smiled.

She got the last of the last batch of flowers.

12/27/07

2007-12-27T11:04:00.000-05:00

Emelie. Jamie told her about the project a while back. I promised I would give her one, but I will not be seeing her, so I need to mail it to her. She thanked me in advance.

12/26/07

2007-12-26T22:06:00.000-05:00

Kathleen, Wine Woman At Harry's Market. She liked it and thanked me. She said, "The date is on the back!" and I explained why. She thanked me very much.

12/25/07

2007-12-25T00:32:00.000-05:00

Brett, Brodie's Friend. He laughed and said, "This is canvas."

12/24/07

2007-12-24T14:35:00.000-05:00

Server Woman At Bagel Palace. She said, "Oh, very pretty."

12/23/07

2007-12-23T14:32:00.000-05:00

"Neither" Cat Norman. I bought a photo from her to give to Ben and Sara. She said, "Sweet!" and "Very nice."

12/22/07

2007-12-22T14:31:00.000-05:00

Woman Getting Out Of Her Car At Star Provisions. She laughed, looked at it and said, "Well, thank you."

12/21/07

2007-12-21T11:08:00.000-05:00

Man On Bike. He pulled up next to me and asked if I was the flower guy. I am! I got excited cause he knew me. I was going to mail today's flower and I told him I did not have a flower for him, but then I was so excited that he remembered me, I changed my mind and gave him the flower anyway. I had given him another flower at the very same corner. He thanked me.

12/20/07

2007-12-20T11:03:00.000-05:00

Elaine at Dr Tom's. She at first demurred, not seeming to want it. She said, "You are too funny." I gave one to Charlene back in April. Elaine put the two of them together, taped on a coffee mug on her desk.

This was the first flower from the last batch of flowers.

2007-12-20T07:07:00.000-05:00

12/19/07

2007-12-19T10:19:00.000-05:00

Woman In Parking Garage. She jumped a little and said, "No thank you" when I handed it to her. I told her I give one away a day, she took it and said, "Thank you." Maybe the garage was a creepy place to give it.

This was the last flower from the last batch of green background flowers.

12/18/07

2007-12-18T12:13:00.001-05:00

Santa Claus!! He said, "Thank you, sir." I asked to shake his hand and he obliged.

12/17/07

2007-12-17T14:42:00.000-05:00

Faith, Valet Desk Woman At The Marriott. She thanked me.

12/16/07

2007-12-16T10:51:00.000-05:00

Gift Wrapping Woman At The Ansley Mall Toy Store. She thanked me. I tried to give it to the other gift wrapping woman, but she did not want it.

12/15/07

2007-12-15T10:31:00.000-05:00

I gave two away today!

Flower 1: Genius Man At The Mac Store. He smiled and thanked me. He liked it and said something very low like, "Beautiful."

Flower 2: Lila, Jamie's Friend. She liked it a lot and smiled real big. She and Jamie worked at CNN together and Jamie told her about the project back in March. When I told her I gave one away a day, she said, "Oh! You're that guy!"

12/14/07

2007-12-14T10:26:00.000-05:00

Aletha At Six Feet Under. She said, "Awwwwwwwww" and asked, "Is this canvas?" I said , "Yes" and told her about the project. She did a little dance, jumping from foot to foot and said, "I feel special!"

12/13/07

2007-12-13T13:12:00.000-05:00

Man Standing On The Corner Outside The Marriott. He looked at me like he was not appreciative at all. I explained myself and he said, "All right. Thanks."

12/12/07

2007-12-12T03:32:00.000-05:00

Romeo Cologne. He hugged me and said, "Thank you. Thank you my friend."

12/11/07

2007-12-11T06:18:00.000-05:00

Samsha At Dunkin Doughnuts. She laughed, "HM!", smiled and looked at Tim.

12/10/07

2007-12-10T15:51:00.000-05:00

Homeless Man. He asked for 30 cents. I gave him 50 cents and a flower. He said, "Oh all right. Thanks."

2007-12-10T07:06:00.000-05:00

12/9/07

2007-12-09T22:24:00.000-05:00

Shareef Cousin. He laughed. He went to the Supreme Court last Monday and sat on the front row, right in front of Alito and Ginsburg! Wow!!!

12/8/07

2007-12-08T22:22:00.000-05:00

Woman Riding Down The Escalator Out Of The Atlantic Station Movie Theater. Karl and Thor kept getting in her space and she seemed annoyed. She laughed and thanked me.

12/7/07

2007-12-07T16:18:00.000-05:00

Plant Watering Man. He said, "All right! Thanks!" I told him to have a good weekend. He said, "All right." and read the back of the flower.

12/6/07

2007-12-06T11:28:00.000-05:00

Woman On Her Bike Waiting For Red Light To Turn Green. I said, "It's cold." She said, "It's crisp." She inflected both words leaving me to think she did not really think it was that cold. I gave her the flower and she thanked me. I do not think she had a convenient place to put it, but rode off before I saw what she did with it.

12/5/07

2007-12-05T20:23:00.000-05:00

Security Guard Woman Where I Work. She smiled and thanked me.

12/4/07

2007-12-04T13:25:00.001-05:00

Woman Eating Her Lunch Where I Nap. She smiled and said, "Thanks."

12/3/07

2007-12-03T16:28:00.000-05:00

Teller At Bank. She said in a flat tone, "Isn't that nice." I do not think she was very excited about it.

12/2/07

2007-12-02T15:48:00.000-05:00

Carolyn(?) at Utrecht. She said, "Yeah! That is awesome." She helped me figure out how many feet 92 inches is and how many feet 4 yards is. I told her about the project and the up coming show. She liked the idea a lot.

12/1/07

2007-12-01T18:07:00.000-05:00

Counter Woman At Smarty Pants. She thanked me, said that it made her feel special and asked if I had anything to say about the flower. I told her I give one away a day. She said, "Really? And you waited till 4:30 and of all the people you saw today, you chose to give it to me!? I feel very special." She read the date on the back and that made her happy too. She really liked it. Good stuff.

11/30/07

2007-11-30T13:40:00.000-05:00

Sam At The Hair Cutting Place. He said, "Ah! Isn't that nice."

2007-11-30T07:04:00.000-05:00

11/29/07

2007-11-29T11:46:00.000-05:00

Woman Walking Down Hilliard Street. She said, "Don't try to sell me anything." She took the flower and said, "Give me a cigarette honey." She read the date and thanked me. I rode away and a man a few yards down asked if I was giving away five dollars a day. I said, "No, a flower a day." He thought $5 would be pretty nice. His friend said, "Look what I have!" and pulled a small bottle of Seagram's Gin out of a bag. I was confused and I said, "What's that?" He said, "Liquor! I have twelve of them! Three dollars each." I told him I did not have any money. He said, "Well, go to the tilly and get some money and come back. I'll be here." I was tempted, but I didn't.

I thought it was interesting that he told me to go to the "tilly". When I was a kid, one of the first ATM's was called Tilly. My mother used to say, "I need to bang Tilly" when she needed some money. I wonder if he was calling the ATM "Tilly", if he was referring to the bank in general or to something else.

11/28/07

2007-11-28T23:12:00.000-05:00

Bartender Dude At The Flatiron. He said, "Oh. Sweet!" Then he said, "I'll keep it here at the bar." We clapped.

11/27/07

2007-11-27T13:18:00.000-05:00

Waitress Woman At Azio. She thanked me and said, "Aren't you nice." She noted that the date was on the back and said, "My son will like this." I asked her why and she said, "He likes it when people are real."

11/26/07

2007-11-26T11:37:00.000-05:00

Mary Lin Mom. Her daughter and Karl were both late for school. She asked about my holiday. My Thanksgiving was great! I gave her the flower and she said, "Thanks. That's sweet." I asked about her Thanksgiving. She went to Ohio to visit family. Ohio had snow flurries!!

11/25/07

2007-11-25T21:12:00.001-05:00

Man Sitting On The Gas Pump At The BP. He asked, "What's this?" His voice was incredibly hoarse. He then said, "Thank you."

11/24/07

2007-11-24T13:46:00.000-05:00

Woman Sitting In The Sun At Apres Diem. I told her she was going to get hot sitting in the sun. She said she did not care. I gave her the flower, she laughed and said, "Thanks."

11/23/07

2007-11-23T17:10:00.000-05:00

Man Walking His Baby With His Wife. She said, "Ooo! Thanks!" He said, "Thanks. It's really nice."

11/22/07

2007-11-22T11:19:00.000-05:00

Woman Leaving Huddle House. She wished me Happy Thanksgiving. I gave her the flower and she said, "I appreciate it."

11/21/07

2007-11-21T20:12:00.000-05:00

Server Woman At The Standard. She said, "Thank you so much." Paige said I should explain the project more. I am not so sure about that. I do tell the recipients that I give one away a day. Anything more than that seems to be asking for a bigger reaction.

11/20/07

2007-11-20T09:28:00.000-05:00

Man On Smoke Break At The Best 4 Less. He just looked at it. As I drove away he was holding it behind his back.

2007-11-20T07:03:00.000-05:00

11/19/07

2007-11-19T17:33:00.000-05:00

Man Drinking A Beer Outside Pacific Rim. He said, "Ah. Thank you."

11/18/07

2007-11-18T17:41:00.000-05:00

Bartender Woman At The Standard. She said, "Hey! Thank you!" She said something else too, but I forget what it was.

11/17/07

2007-11-17T12:20:00.000-05:00

Woman Returning From Emptying Trash At Hass. She laughed and said, "Thank you"

11/16/07

2007-11-16T14:43:00.000-05:00

Tim. He said, "Where's my frickin flower" so I gave him today's. He said, "Sweet man. Awesome." He tried placing it on the wall of his cube, but just laid it on his desk and said, "That's cool." Then he said, "Sorry I had to ask for my flower."

Later he said, "My day's complete now that I have that flower. My life is complete"

11/15/07

2007-11-15T09:38:00.000-05:00

Man Riding His Bike To Work. He said, "This wind is brutal." It was. I gave him the flower and he said, "Wow!" Then he asked, "May I asked what it is for?" I explained and he said, "cool".

11/14/07

2007-11-14T07:17:00.001-05:00

Homeless Man Who Asked Bill For A Cigarette. He said, "Cool. All right." Bill said, "Today's your lucky day. You get a flower and a cigarette." The man said, "Thank you."

11/13/07

2007-11-13T09:42:00.001-05:00

Woman Standing On The Corner Near Georgia State. She looked at it and said a very little, "Aw."

11/12/07

2007-11-12T13:22:00.000-05:00

Security Guard Woman At Bottom Of Escalator By The Museum Of Design. She just laughed and walked back toward her desk.

11/11/07

2007-11-11T20:18:00.000-05:00

Greeter Woman At Kroger. She said, "All right" and thanked me.

11/10/07

2007-11-10T15:20:00.000-05:00

Man Standing At The Corner Of 7th Street And Peachtree. He thanked me twice and said, "November 10th. It's marked! That's pretty cool." He thanked me again and said that is was cool again. He thanked me again before I crossed Peachtree.

2007-11-10T06:59:00.000-05:00

11/9/07

2007-11-09T07:59:00.000-05:00

Teacher Woman At Soulshine. She asked, "What is this?" Thor helped me explain. She thanked me and said, "It is precious." When we left she thanked me again for the flower.

This flower is the first of a batch of flowers made from left over canvas.

11/8/07

2007-11-08T16:22:00.000-05:00

Leigh-Anne. She asked what the date was as we were walking to get coffee. Since the flowers have the date on the back, I pulled out the flower to check. She said that today's flower was prettier than the one I had given her. On the way back from coffee she said, "I really want that flower." She asked if there was a rule against having duplicates, I said, "No" and I gave it to her. She said, "Yaaaay!" and "It is really pretty!".

People really liked the black flowers. This was the last black flower.

Leigh-Anne emailed me: "So, I looked at the original flower you gave me and it is dated May 30th…so it was 5 months ago…but even better you gave it to me on my second day with the company…smooth!"

Ha. I am smooth.

11/7/07

2007-11-07T13:13:00.000-05:00

Doug Kane. He used to work where I work, and I saw him while he was visiting. He said, "Cool. I appreciate it."

11/6/07

2007-11-06T13:50:00.000-05:00

31 Year Old Worker Man At Army Surplus Store. Very slowly and while reading the back of the flower he said, "W W J D." I laughed. He then said, "Oh splendid. I know some very splendid people I could give this to."

11/5/07

2007-11-05T19:07:00.001-05:00

Counter Man At Utrecht. I handed it to him, but then hesitated and said, "Did I already give you one of these?" He said that he did not know but they have one in the store. I gave it to him and he thanked me. I packed my stuff up and he thanked me again.

11/4/07

2007-11-04T11:46:00.000-05:00

Man Taking Photos Of Insects. He looked at it over the top of his glasses, laughed and thanked me. He said that he was very lucky. Later he showed us a butterfly. I thanked him and he said, "You give me a flower, and I'll give you a butterfly.

11/3/07

2007-11-03T14:06:00.000-04:00

Boyd. He raised his eyebrows, opened his mouth, and seemed to want to speak silently for a moment. He then said, "Thanks." He looked at Karl and said, "Very good. Very good."

11/2/07

2007-11-02T07:16:00.001-04:00

Rowan. He is in love with his iPhone and he wanted an "iFlower". I rebelled against this idea, but he is a friend and he really wanted it so I wrote "iFlower" on the back along with the date. He said, "Oh, it is different.", pointing at the flower and tracing the stem with his finger, "It is a little curvy." He got up from his desk and said, "I have to show Nancy." He said something about how Nancy had a regular, boring flower, but he had an iFlower.

11/1/07

2007-11-01T09:26:00.000-04:00

Nancy. Yesterday she and Rowan fussed at me for not giving one to them. When I gave the flower to Nancy she said, "You did not have to give me one because I asked." She thanked me and asked why I gave them out. She said, "Aww. We forced you to do it. Isn't that sad."

10/31/07

2007-10-31T13:22:00.000-04:00

Server Woman At The Starbucks At Kroger. She thanked me,looked at the flower, paused a moment and thanked me again.

10/30/07

2007-10-30T14:07:00.000-04:00

Dr Polizos. He said, "Thank you. Very nice." He placed it on a shelf between his desk and his assistance's desk.

2007-10-30T06:56:00.000-04:00

10/29/07

2007-10-29T09:10:00.000-04:00

Sarita (sp?). I asked her about her scraped up car and guessed correctly that she did it in a parking garage. She asked who my son was. She knows Karl and said that her daughter was in the same kindergarten class as he. I gave her the flower and she thanked me very much.

10/28/07

2007-10-28T13:45:00.000-04:00

Park Worker Man. He read the date and said that it was his birthday. He corrected himself saying, "I just had a birthday, so this is..."; he made a fist and shook it suggesting this was a sweet bonus to his already excellent birthday experience.

10/27/07

2007-10-27T18:47:00.000-04:00

Man Waiting At The Salvation Army. I was going to give it to one of the workers, but I could not get his attention. I mentioned this to Man Waiting and he laughed. I told him he got the flower and I handed it to him. He thanked me.

10/26/07

2007-10-26T14:23:00.000-04:00

Woman Sitting Outside The Imperial Hotel. She asked, "What's this for?" I told her. She said, "ohhhh. Thank you."

10/25/07

2007-10-25T10:35:00.000-04:00

Frank The Book Seller. He said, "Thank you sir!". Kathleen was there, and she said, "That's it, you won't have anything to put on your blog." Of course I do! Frank! Frank The Book Seller is on the blog!

10/24/07

2007-10-24T07:22:00.000-04:00

Woman Eating Alone At Fellini's. At first she seemed a little confused. I told her about the project and she asked why. I told her to get over social anxiety. She said, "Really? That's the greatest thing I've ever heard." We talked for a moment. She really liked the project. When I left, Karl and Thor ran inside and talked to her. I did not hear what they said, but they talked for two or three minutes. I asked Karl what they talked about, but he said he did not remember.

10/23/07

2007-10-23T13:32:00.000-04:00

Jack At The Hair Cutting Place. At first he was skeptical. He said, "What's this? and "Why?". That made me nervous, but I explained a bit and he thanked me. He liked that I said that "Today was his day." He shook my hand and said, "Thank you very much".

10/22/07

2007-10-22T19:50:00.000-04:00

Kiyon At Trader Joes. He said, "Thanks. That's hot"

10/21/07

2007-10-21T11:47:00.000-04:00

Dee Dee. She is a Wal Mart cashier and I went through her line two days in a row. She remember me from yesterday. I gave her the flower and she said, "All right." She started to read the date on the back, said, "Oct", then said, "Why, thank you" and winked.

2007-10-20T13:27:00.000-04:00

10/20/07

2007-10-20T11:38:00.000-04:00

Vicki's Friend. I can not remember her name! Shoot! She said something really great and then she said, "Is it the only one you gave away today?" I forgot what she initially said and I asked her to repeat it. She said, "I gave you a hug" and she hugged me. Well, that was not what she first said, but that's ok.

10/19/07

2007-10-19T08:53:00.000-04:00

Man On Couch In Octane. He said, "Wow!" and looked at it. Later, as he was leaving, he and the woman he was with thanked me, told me how much they liked the flower and said it was a major topic of conversation for their group. They really seemed to like the flower a lot. It was cool.

10/18/07

2007-10-18T19:35:00.000-04:00

Dawn. She was quiet. She thanked me and smiled.

10/17/07

2007-10-17T15:00:00.000-04:00

Table Cleaning Man. He woke me up from my nap. He said, "Yeah" and kind of grunted. He then said "All right"

10/16/07

2007-10-16T12:45:00.001-04:00

Downtown Ambassador Woman. She thanked me and said, "I will treasure it."

10/15/07

2007-10-15T11:22:00.000-04:00

Woman Who Seemed To Have Trouble Walking. She got on the escalator and I chased her up it. She just laughed.

10/14/07

2007-10-14T18:16:00.000-04:00

Cashier Woman At Apple Stand In Ellijay. She thanked me. The other woman behind the counter asked if I made it. Cashier Woman said, "That is awesome"

10/13/07

2007-10-13T18:14:00.000-04:00

Cashier Woman At Starbucks In Kennesaw. She said, "Ya! Cool! Thanks!"

10/12/07

2007-10-12T13:33:00.000-04:00

Libby. She is a correspondent for Say-Sport. She asked for one but she lives in New York so I am mailing it to her.

Update: Libby emailed: That makes my entire day! Painted flowers are much better than real ones. Less transitory.

You are awesome! Thank you so much!!!

Hugs,
Libby

I got a hug!

10/11/07

2007-10-11T13:25:00.000-04:00

Cleaning Woman At Starbucks In The Marriott. She said, "Thank you very much". She smiled and said, "Thank you."

10/10/07

2007-10-10T12:52:00.000-04:00

Charlie's Friend Taking Him To Pick Up Trucklett. She asked, "What is this?". Charlie explained and she said, "Thank you very much."

2007-10-10T09:52:00.000-04:00

10/9/07

2007-10-09T08:17:00.000-04:00

Booth Man In Garage. He nodded vigorously and said something in a low voice. Something like, "Ok, all right."

10/8/07

2007-10-08T07:59:00.000-04:00

Chef Man On Break Outside The Marriott. I tried to give it to Asian Woman Sitting Outside The Marriott, but she would not take it. I do not think she spoke English well and she would only shake her head and say, "I do not know!". I rolled down to Chef Man and told him that he got today's flower. He said, "No problem".

10/7/07

2007-10-07T09:16:00.000-04:00

Cashier Woman At Zesto's. She thanked me, turned around, held the flower to her chest and showed her co-workers. They chided her saying, "Ah, how sweet" and "You are so special". She looked at the back and said, "It has today's date."

10/6/07

2007-10-06T20:12:00.000-04:00

Frankfurt Germany. Taxi Driver Man From Afghanistan. He pretended to smell the flower and thanked me.

10/5/07

2007-10-05T05:50:00.000-04:00

Frankfurt Germany. Coffee Woman In Internet Cafe. She thanked me in German and said a lot of stuff. I explained the best I could that I give one away a day. I finally broke down and explained what I was doing in English. She said, "It´s beautiful. Thank you."

See? If you do not interupt them eating, Germans love to speak to strangers!

10/4/07

2007-10-04T05:26:00.000-04:00

Frankfurt Germany. Woman Standing And Eating On The Große Bockenheimer Straße. She said nothing and initially did not look at me. I started to walk away, but I could not believe another person would not look at me, so I turned around to check. She had looked up by now and she smiled. Perhaps Germans do not like to be approached while eating.

10/3/07

2007-10-03T05:22:00.000-04:00

Nürnberg Germany. Woman Eating Ice Cream. She said nothing. She did not even look at me.

10/2/07

2007-10-02T04:54:00.000-04:00

Heilbronn Germany. Woman On Train. She has a son who teaches English. She said in her best English, "Thank you. Thank you. Ist gut!" She put the flower in her book. She spoke with us for a very long time.