When stuck for ideas on celebrating an occasion, you can count on the Web for help.
International Friendship Day was on August 1. In India, especially in schools and colleges, it's celebrated on the 4th. Tomorrow, apart from tying bands on each other's wrists you can pick up some suggestions from these sites.
Tender Loving Cards
For those times when you feel like expressing your thoughts in verse, but poetry doesn't come naturally: Here's a selection of verses on friendship. Not e-cards in the truest sense, these are pages that can be forwarded to your close pals.
You can browse until you find ones that most match your sentiments. This one's for a friend who understands not just your words but also your silence. My Unseen Friend is apt for all those on your buddy list who, though you've never seen in person, still mean much to you.
You can send this Recipe for Friendship to just about anyone, and just let those special pals consider themselves hugged.
Choose from poems, applets, inspirational messages, thank-you notes and quips like this:
True friendship, unlike love, lasts forever...
...So it looks like you're stuck with me for life!!
Friendship Day
So what'll you be doing tomorrow? If you're out of ideas, this site has heaps of suggestions on showing your friends they are special. Here are some:
- Ring up a radio station and dedicate a song to them!
- Make some new friends by becoming a doer of RAOK - Random Acts of Kindness.
- Present a Friendship Bracelet (made or bought) that symbolises your relationship.
- Call all those old buddies you haven't spoken to in ages.
- Submit a Friendship Tribute to be posted on the Web.
- Make your best pal a tape of all the songs that define your friendship (or ones that you just happen to mutually like!)
- Make your friends a Web page to express your thoughts of them online.
Friendship Quizzes
These short tests could help you determine two things: How good a relationship you share; and what sort of friend you are.
This ChannelOne quiz indicates your loyalty quotient while this one gives you 'a quick glimpse into your psyche, sense of right and wrong, and personal quirks' in a friendship. You can answer these questions to find out how comfortable you are with your best buddies.
The Friend Quiz grades you according to how good a friend you are.
Friendship Force International (FFI)
With the Internet it's easy to make acquaintances in other lands. However, most of these relationships remain online and you may never get the chance to personally interact with your foreign pals.
Becoming an 'Ambassador' with FFI will allow you to make personal contacts in various countries and spend some time with their families. This organisation will plan a weeklong or fortnightly trip to another country and put you in touch with a host selected by them - All in the interests of friendship and peace.
The Friends and Friendships Web
Do you have hordes of casual friends but only a few really good ones? These tips could help you solidify relations and make an easy transition from acquaintances to firm friends.
The site is a useful resource and also deals with pitfalls. If you feel a 'friend' is manipulating you, take this test to find out. In many friendships there could be a conflict between not doing enough and doing too much. This guide will help you draw the line and set reasonable limits.
There's also a 12-step programme on cultivating a friendship.
After all, 'The best time to grow a friend is before you need one!'
WriteAPrisoner
Do something unusual this Friendship Day: Make a prison pen pal. This site has listings of inmates along with photos, personal ads and details of what they are looking for in a friend. It's an American site and most of the prisoners are from there.
'Many of these men and women prisoners behind bars never get letters and spend as many as 23 hours a day in their cell. Some await execution on death row. Others languish in solitary confinement. A pen pal may be the only relationship they have,' says the site.
You can go through the listings and choose someone to write to. The site will print out your first email and hand it to the recipient.
Friendship Poems: Cyber Friends
Although you are a friend of mine
and letters we exchange,
I wouldn't know you on the street,
and doesn't that seem strange?
This is the beginning of Unseen Friend written by Iceman, who says "On ICQ, friendship can be forged without ever seeing a person".
Dedicated to poetry inspired by online relationships, this section includes works like Ode to a Chat Room by Marie Lehmkuhl who met special people there, Net Friend, a reflection on caring for those we haven't seen, and many more.
Friendship Quotations
Alternatively, if you find poems too longwinded you could go through this collection of quotes on friendship, including those by celebrities.