(July 2/17) “A Sunny A-ha Moment: ‘Shine On Me, Shine Me On’”

Context: Fear not, Wonderfuls…I’m still on a rainbows and sunshine upswing!  Nagging self-doubt is no longer an arch (*for pun’s sake, pronounced ark*) nemesis out to impede my growth.  However, for the sake of levity, I’m using Poe-thetic licence to reflect retro-angst…

(*And yes, whispered-knowledge, I’m fully aware that downs are an inescapable part of the ups—but I trust you’ll allow me this trick of the (sun)light; for I can’t bear to entertain notions that I’m “Still Crazy After All These Tears” * 🙂 )

Here goes…

Time for another—Well, well, “The Farmer and Adele”—confession, Wonderfuls.  You see, the seeds of this post were sewn weeks ago, I had every intention of saying, “Hello”, and I remember it like was yester-“Hay-where did the time go?!”

A beaming sun was egging me on as I milked my natural “Hi”; and the opening was going to reference tv show, “That Girl”—who, back in the day, was the epitome of someone who had it all together…

(Her contemporary counterpart is, “That Guy”.  I’m sure know the cheesy type—Convinced he’s shining himself in an admirable light, he asks listeners if they can identity the go-getter who accomplished a dubious achievement; then points both thumbs at himself and announces, “This guy!”  He doesn’t get that, if anything, his boastful punch line leaves others fantasizing about landing one….Hawaiian style.)

Any old who…here comes the make-believe:

Ready to chart my progress, my energies were redirected by work demands and a reminder that June-uary’s “Rainy days and Mondays” always get me “early to bed and up-too-early-to-wise…”

So, having accepted that, no matter how hard I squeezed and concentrated, my creative juices had been reduced to a trickle of pulp fiction, my celebratory twist on the “That Girl’” theme had me singing a different tune.

Couched (potatoed) in a reverse “Green Acres” context, I imagined myself to be Pearl Haggard—a beleaguered country bumpkin who, in moving to the city, entertains all manner of citizens with her attempts to make/have sophisticated connections.

The lyrics of her soundtrack would begin,

“Who can turn a light on all her trials?  Who can take a challenging day and easily make it her perma-style?  Well, it’s you Pearl, and you can’t blow it, with every little groove in your rut you just know it.  Duds are all around, no need to fake it…”

Well, that (back-handed) positive re-frame shook something loose, and my imagination regained its enthusiasm…

(* “Speaking of faking it”, announces random thought number gazillion in as many moments, “Wouldn’t it be funny if you came up with a bit where your alter(-me) ego is determined to discover the keys to sustained self-confidence?

And, said keys are magical maracas that rattle others to the point of convincing them they (not she) are the ones full of beans …

But, in the mean time, our heroine reminds herself to “Fake it ‘til you shake it”? *)

So, Fantastics, above digression notwithstanding, here follows a series of tandem randoms meant to keep us on course as we take a brake-the-cycle-of spinning my wheels.

For instance, while I admire Paul Simon’s (1975) lyrical vows—an inarguable call to disciplined action and determination—the lateness of today’s post makes clear that my best intentions don’t include anything as ambitious of “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover”…

As good as it gets is my A-ha moment that there’s no time like the present to procrastin-8…and then kick it up a botch by giving it half of what I’ve got.

Here’s what that looks like:

1.“Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Bliss”(ful Ignorance)…

A hippy-dippy, “Stick-your-head-in-the-sand, man”-approach whereby you quickly get sucked into slumber by the ostrich–I mean turkey dinner you certainly didn’t cook, but wolfed down in record-breaking time.

Alternatively….

2.“Imitation is the sincerest form of flatt(on-your-back)ery”…

Impersonate a fed up  ray of sunshine who’s over the moon—given a recent eclipse of the heart—thereby justifying pulling the cloud cover up your my head and settling in for a day of waiting for night to fall…at which point you’ll sound the (“I’m in such a rut!” ) alarm and exhaust yourself while doing nothing but keeping nighttime company.

3.“Birds of (Whatever) stick together”…

Online chat with like minded slacksters who are only casually acquainted with putting on their big boy or girl pants/rising to the challenge of adulting (these interactions can be done face-to-face, but the awkwardness of trying to ignore the elepants in the room goes against the avoidance grain).

4. Take a page from Harry Notter (*exuberantly youthful—my pen name could easily be Squid the Kid(der), for ink is in my veins-…it’s my “defence against the dark parts”*).

Consequently, I could answer any and all invitations with,

“Sure, why—Not!” (a la Wayne’s World style…a converse, “Yes Man”, ploy meant to lend legitimacy to irresponsible (day-in-the-life) choices).

And, on that unambitious note to self (and anyone kind enough to listen), so ends today’s tale, Dazzlers…a tongue-in-cheek  peace (-out) offering meant to mitigate any hard feelings about my extended absence.  I hope it gives you cause to smile–and that, if you can relate, find solace and humor in your challenges 🙂

As ever, Terrifics…I’m grateful for your company, compassion, and understanding.

God bless you and your loves.

Affectionately,

Truly 🙂

P.S. Context for most of my wordplay: A-ha is a Norwegian band who has a (1985 hit), “Take On Me (Take Me On)”, allowing for my “Shine on Me, Shine Me On” pun (to “shine someone on” is to deliberately deceive them with a story, statement etc.); Poe-thetic license is my “poetic (/pathetic) license” pun (defined as fabricating and/or exaggerating to make a dramatic/creative (sad-sack) point); “Still Crazy After All These (Tears)” is a nod to Paul Simon’s (1975) album “Still Crazy After All These Years” (my pun/reference to working through pain in order to find ones purpose); “The Farmer In The Dell” is a (1820) nursery rhyme, and singer Adele has a (2015) hit with “Hello”; “That Girl” is a (1966-1971) sitcom; Hawaiian Punch is an old school fruit drink–my fav as a kid; “Rainy Days And Monday’s” is (1971) brother/sister duo, Carpenter’s, hit and “early to bed, up-too-early-to wise” is my nod to ancient adage “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”; pulp fiction is defined by Dictionary.com as “sensationalized, poor quality fiction”–making for my (orange) juice pulp pun; “Green Acres” is a 1965-1971 sitcom where a socialite marries a farmer, moves to the country, and endures all manner of comedic culture shocks/calamities; Mini Pearl was one of the characters on (1969-1971) country variety show “Hee Haw” and Merle Haggard was a renowned country singer; “full of beans” is an old school expression defined as “full of nonsense”; tandem refers to two or more things arranged one after the other–as in tandem (two-seater) bicycle; “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” is 1975 hit from Paul Simon’s aforementioned album (“Still Crazy After All These Years”); “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of (Bliss))” (instead of “This”) is my Eurythmics pun…I love their (1983) hit song;  slacksters is my slacker/pants pun, setting the groundwork for not being able to ignore the elephant (lack of ele-pants) in the room; Harry Notter is a Harry Potter Pun (obviously) and “defense against the dark parts” is my nod to “defense against the dark arts” class; Wayne’s World is a 1992 movie starring two slackers–and one of their inside jokes would go something like, “Sure we’ll join you for a rousing game of bowling….Not!”(this is a hypothetical example that sprung to mind); “Yes Man” is a 2008 Jim Carrey comedy where he has to say “Yes” to everything.

P.P.S. June-uary isn’t my pun–but it speaks to a fickle cycle of New Brunswick weather….so hot and bright one day–frigid, rainy, damp and cold the next!  Having said that, we have the most fantastic sunny days I’ve ever seen or felt, and July and August don’t hold such unpredictable surprises.

P.P.P.S. I almost forgot, “That Girl’s” theme twist is tied to the theme song of  (1970-1977) sitcom, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”;  I misremembered (yes, that’s a word :)) and thought Moore’s theme song was “That Girl’s” song…making for “That Girl” theme had me singing a different tune pun. Here are the actual lyrics I twisted…

“Who can turn the world on with her smile?  Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?  Well, it’s you girl and you should know it, with each and every little glance and movement you show it.  Love is all around, no need to waste it.  You can have the town, why don’t you take it.  You’re gonna make it after all.”

 

48 thoughts on “(July 2/17) “A Sunny A-ha Moment: ‘Shine On Me, Shine Me On’””

  1. I’m smiling as I read every line accompanied by the most lovely music created by your wordplay, it’s “rolling in the deep” and ” i like it”!
    I have been thinking of you and I’m thrilled to have found some down time to catch up, seeing your post show up on my feed is kismet, that’s for sure! I hope this finds you “walking in sunshine, woohoo”!

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    1. I’ve missed you so much…I realized that as I bask in the warmth of your generous spirit…you are just so encouraging and kind…I am really feeling great right now, and it reinforces my knowing that my efforts have value beyond entertaining and keeping myself on track. Thank you, my friend. I will be over to your blog within the hour 🙂 (I have to call my mother and wanted to wait until my post was finished). Thanks again! 🙂

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    1. My apologies! I’m not sure how I neglected to comment/thank you for your feedback. It has been a while (over a month I think). It’s great to be back and to catch up with you and my other friends, here. You may or may not have discovered that I “visited” you today and read/commented. I hope you have a blessed Sunday 🙂

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  6. YEAH!!! I have been longing for a truly post… and this was as fun as ever… I remember Mary Tyler Moore show… but not “That girl”… So I recognized the song… but wondered if I have confused the two. (looked it up before reading the “cheat notes” and the “That Girl” theme song… is kind of dumb… where as the Mary Tyler Moore theme is awesome… actually genius in my opinion )

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    1. Good eye! It wasn’t you…it was my mistake. When I was struck by “That Girl” inspiration (weeks ago), I also thought “You’re Gonna Make It After All” was the theme song. It wasn’t until the very end (when I sought to find out which years the show covered) that I realized my mistake. However, I thought I had covered my bases until your comment….then, I saw that I forgot to make an adjustment (I’ve since fixed it so that others won’t be confused). So, yet again, your feedback has helped (back in my early days of blogging, your admitted confusion resulted in my consistent inclusion of P.S.’s).
      And, yes, song is amazing…really speaks to how I feel about my progress and prospects. Also, thank you for your enthusiastic response to my return….feels so great to have friends who missed my offerings.

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  11. You have a valiant spirit, Truly. Despite the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” (Hamlet), you continue to find humor in the world. That’s nothing less than grace. Wishing you well always, A. ❤

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  12. When I was a teen I was crazy about That Girl – even adopted Ann Marie’s hairdo (bangs and all, and I am not a bangs person). When I got to New York after college and saw the rents, whenever I happened upon a rerun I had to wonder how ANY barely-employed actress got that great apartment! I dated lawyers whose apartments weren’t that nice – lol.

    Fun post, truly.
    xx,
    mgh

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      3. I guess I was when that photo was taken – *with* make-up and hair – but, like most of us when we were younger, I looked elsewhere for “beauty” – never in the mirror (and certainly not before what I always referred to as “spackle” hehehe!)

        I’m older and a bit wiser now (there are more recent photos on some sites with shorter hair that is more me now) – and when I look back I wish I could have appreciated youthful good looks at the time.

        I have read similar comments from film stars looking back at their early work. There is a Kathryn Hepburn quote I love about her own feelings in this regard. Society does such a number on girls, and few of us remain immune to it when we are young and impressionable.

        I knew I wanted to be an actress from the time I was a kid – so, of course, I identified with That Girl. The bangs made me feel closer to my goal — for a while, anyway!
        xx,
        mgh

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      4. If things unfold as I suspect…years from now, you will look at photos of yourself now, and you will see the beauty that you aren’t able to fully appreciate now (that goes for me, too). Hmmm…gives me food for thought….if we only appreciate who/what we are (how much we give, how smart we are, what we look like, etc) once that era has passed us by, we will always miss so many opportunities to celebrate ourselves. I love the way you take the extra time to communicate—it is inspiring 🙂 Thank you 🙂

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      5. I share that thought – I do my best to remember to appreciate what I’ve got going for me NOW because I know there will come a day when I will wish I had if I don’t.

        Thanks for appreciating my chatty side. 🙂 I like yours too – that’s why your blog is so much fun for me to read.
        xx,
        mgh

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  13. My turn to apologise for missing a post, well more akin to something you said about time…I did see it and logged it as something to return to and somehow time inserted itself betwixt then and now and I woke up in “A New Day Yesterday” moment. A case of being Comfortably Numb with a default Simple Mind(s) plundering reality and dosing the world with procrastinating. Smash It Up as The Damned might say…of course it’s easy to say and often less easy to do.

    Another wonderful post and yet touched with those thought process these past weeks have thrown at you. I trust you break is letting your mind chill and enjoy the time with no stresses to speak of 😊

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  14. My,my the wordplay in this post had me grinning away and my grins only grew bigger as it passed. Thank you for this wonderfully written,beautiful,cheering post! Your “sunshine” has reached everyone!

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