From Makeup to Scented Candles to Freeing Your Inner Freak, May We Present:

So Johnny Weir's 35,644 Facebook fans were milling around on his page the other day, as we are prone to do, posting pictures of Johnny and commenting on people's links to videos of Johnny and analyzing Johnny's latest tweets and bumming glitter-coated cigarettes off each other and just generally making nuisances of ourselves on the information cyberhighway, where we have been known to cause traffic to come to a screeching halt by posting stuff like this, when alert fan Krystal Pacheco popped by to pose this thoughtful question:

How has Johnny inspired you?

And we couldn't wait to tell her. Because Johnny has that effect on people. He inspires us all to the point that we can't shut up about it, so after completely alienating all our real-life friends and family members by quoting every inspirational line of dialogue from all eight inspirational episodes of BGJW, in chronological order--repeatedly--(which doesn't at all bring to mind the phrase, "idiot savants"), we turn to each other on Facebook and breathe, "Johnny just so inspires me! Did you catch what he said to Evan Lysacek at the press conference in Epsiode 108? And wasn't Evan just such a total douche (again)?"

So the responses came pouring in. There were so many to choose from, and the blog space is so limited, what with the towering stacks of Johnny photos and the snarling chained mongoose in the corner, that I am only able to present a baker's dozen, picked at random, a lovely little bouquet of wildflowers for our favorite wild child (you can find the full meadow of blooms here).

These are all pure sparkly poetry and need no embellishment from me.

Pat Goewey: He reminds me to believe in myself, never give up and keep it real.

Allison Fowler: I'd always been afraid to be myself, and Johnny inspires me to not be afraid and just "fly my freak flag high" :) cuz Lord knows my flag is a freak flag. ♥

Glennisha Elliott: It's OKAY to be different ... and to tell people who want you to conform to F off!

Russ Gunther: Be true to yourself, and the people who REALLY matter in your life will always love you for you.

Krystal Pacheco: ... Johnny has lit the fire inside me! And my fire smells like Diptyque candles! Johnny's favorite! ...

Allison Shea: ... Johnny is not perfect, but he's real and down to earth, and a genius. And he's so full of life! And you look at him and think, what the hell am I doing? I didn't ask for life, but I'm here! So I'm gonna live it too! That's what he's done for me.

Amy J. Sorter: He has inspired me to remember who I really am. He also inspires me to be "me" with dignity and grace. ... And yeah, I just went to the MAC counter at Nordy's and dropped a couple hundred on new makeup! Thanks Johnny for renewing my interest in SHOPPING! (Read Amy's excellent blog entry on Johnny as a depression cure here.)

Deborah Slockett: He is a true inspiration to me and my mom because he doesn't sugercoat anything and he has made me feel free to be myself.

Lindsay O'Day: ... I think the way he takes care of himself is amazing and I want to be that way. Oh, and I'm releasing my inner freak.

Jaspar N. Votapek: As a musician ... when I watch BGJW and follow his journey, he makes me feel less alone--and puts my heart back into the artistry of my playing ...

Beatriz Zenk: He makes me laugh which is a nice thing because we don't laugh as much as we should. He likes to laugh and it is infectious. Actually, I'm infected and that is good.

Nicole Davis: "Out of the ugly, I think the most important thing in life is to make something beautiful." Johnny does just that, is undeniably beautiful, and takes great pride in cultivating inner and outer beauty. Plus, he's kind, eloquent, intelligent, humorous, and warm in a way that feels way too rare to me ... He reminds me that those qualities are precious and undervalued. Lastly, it's all about those eyelashes. [blink, blink] 

Reia Temari Kan: He has taught me, and I'm sure many others ... that going through life as anyone but yourself is truly a waste. So I thank you, Johnny, for being such an amazing person, and an inspiration to so many of us. Thanks for being you. ♥

Again, the full thread of responses is here, and well worth the read. They're all wonderful and thought-provoking and a real tribute to Johnny.

As for me, Johnny simply inspires me to:

do more

be more

love more

LIVE more.

And also, to vacuum more. In case he should ever drop by. I want those vacuum lines in place to make him feel really at home. :)

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If you would like to say more, but with actual flowers,

please go here and be a part of the upcoming

BIG fan thank-you to Johnny!

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copyright 2010 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved