When was the Last Time You Made an UglyDoll?

Photo used with permission, by hahatango.

I'm a sucker for a good love story. Let me share one I learned of this past holiday season.

Our son Sam, now 5, added "UglyDoll" to his very short Christmas wish list. Since my knowledge of what's hot in childhood toys is stuck somewhere around Cabbage Patch Dolls and Monchichis, I had to do a little research. Turns out UglyDolls are creatures like you see in the photo on the left - nonsensical creations with misplaced eyes, horns, extra appendages, etc. They are, as the website reminds me, Hip and Hug-gable.

In doing my UglyDoll research, I came across the story of the dolls' creators, David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim. Here's how Wikipedia tells their story:

It started with a letter David Horvath wrote to Sun-Min Kim just after she had to move away due to a student visa expiring, long before they were married. That letter had a cartoon of his character Wage at the bottom saying: "Working hard to make our dreams come true so we can be together again soon" next to it. That dream was to tell stories through books and toys. As a surprise gift Sun-Min sewed a doll of Wage, and sent it to David in the mail. David showed Wage to his pal Eric Nakamura, owner of the Giant Robot magazine and store, who thought David was pitching him a product and immediately ordered a few more for his shop. David wrote to Sun Min asking her to sew more, while sending emails with stories about Wage, Babo and Ice-Bat's first ever adventure ...

Terribly romantic, don't you think? These are the sort of things we do when we're madly in love: send letters filled with cartoons, sew handmade creations, work to make your dreams come true. Grand gestures of love.

So here's your question of the day, When was the last time you made an UglyDoll?

Now I can't sew to save my life, and drawing isn't my thing either. But I'm capable of my own sort of grand gestures of love. I made a few, about 10 years ago. And just because we aren't separated by miles, or in the early years of our romance, doesn't mean Cliff doesn't still deserve an occasional UglyDoll. Find a grand gesture and surprise your partner this week.