E.M. Kingston has started a new weekly prompt called The Sunday Ramble. It is based upon a certain topic. She asks five questions about that topic, that we can ramble on however we wish. Today’s topic is “dreams.”
1. Do you dream when you sleep at night?
Yes, I dream, but I rarely remember them for more than a minute or two after I wake up.
2. Do you wish that dreams were portals to other worlds to explore? Where would the portals go if you wished for them?
I don’t know about dreams being portals to other worlds, but I would say they might be doors to my subconscious or perhaps windows into my imagination. I wish that I could remember my dreams better than I can.
3. If you could talk to anyone in your dreams, who would it be and why?
Actually, since I probably wouldn’t remember the dream, I don’t have an answer. That said, I do remember one dream with Abraham Lincoln, but I have no idea why.
4. What is the greatest dream you have ever had? (If you do not dream, share something great that has happened in your life.)
I have a recurring dream in which I can fly. I start walking, lift my arms toward the sky, and suddenly I’m heading up, floating above the ground, rising above the trees, looking down at the landscape below. It’s exhilarating to be free from the tethers that bind me to the earth below. I have no idea how I gained this incredible ability to fly, and while I’m up there savoring the experience, I am occasionally troubled by what might happen if this amazing gift of flight were to leave as suddenly and mysteriously as it appeared. But it never does, and, when I wake up, I am saddened that it was but a dream.
5. Do you believe that dreams have a purpose?
I think dreams help our unconscious minds sort things out and process our experience and perhaps even filter and store our memories.
The idea behind Who Won the Week is to give you the opportunity to select who (or what) you think “won” this past week. Your selection can be anyone or anything — politicians, celebrities, athletes, authors, bloggers, your friends or family members, books, movies, TV shows, businesses, organizations, whatever.
I will be posting this prompt on Sunday mornings (my time). If you want to participate, write your own post designating who you think won the week and why you think they deserve your nod. Then link back to this post and tag you post with FWWTW.
This week’s Who Won the Week winner is someone you probably never heard of. His name is Alexander McLeish of Massachusetts. He was recovering from open heart surgery and received a get well card from a friend. In that card were three scratch-off tickets.
As McLeish scratched off the letters on the crossword lottery ticket, he revealed the word “heart” on the bottom row of the puzzle. That scratch off card was a winner. But not just a winner, a $1 million winner!
According to the Massachusetts State Lottery, there are only 10 total prize winners for that amount on the $20 lottery ticket. The odds of McLeish winning $1 million were literally one in a million.
This was actually the second time that the same friend had gifted McLeish a lottery ticket that turned out to a be winner. The first time was for McLeish’s 60th birthday, and he won $1,000.
McLeish said he plans to give some of the money to his adult sons and some to the friend who gave him the get well card with the scratch tickets in it.
So congratulations to you, Alexander McLeish. I hope you’re recovering well from your surgery.
What about you? Who (or what) do you think won the week?
“What did you expect?” Bruno, a frosty tone in his voice, asked Jake. “I’m trying to smuggle you out of the country and you’ll just have to deal with one night’s spartan accommodations.”
Jake blushed, his face almost crimson. “You’re right, Bruno. You’re a veteran when it comes to matters like this and I know you always certify your results. So please accept my sincerest apologizes.”
Also for these daily prompts: My Vivid Blog (expect), Word of the Day Challenge (frosty), Your Daily Word Prompt (spartan), Ragtag Daily Prompt (crimson), E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (veteran), and Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (certify).
For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams leveraged Amy Braun’s suggested to find songs that include nonsense lyrics. I’m going with a song that uses a word that I thought might have been a girl’s name, but it turned out to be a nonsense word: “Sussudio” by Phil Collins.
“Sussudio” was written and performed by English singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as a single in January 1985, and was the first track on Collins’ third solo studio album, No Jacket Required, which was released a month after the single. By July both the single and the album reached number 1 on their respective U.S. Billboard charts.
“Su-sussudio” is a perfect example of a singer substituting nonsensical lyrics in a song in progress as a placeholder and having those nonsense lyrics ultimately sticking. When Phil Collins wrote the song, he was just goofing off with a drum machine, and he simply sang those random sounds over it. Unable to later find real words that fit with the flow and theme of the song, his improvised lyric became a chorus, and nobody really knew why they were singing it or what it meant.
Collins said, “I kind of knew I had to find something else for that word, then I went back and tried to find another word that scanned as well as ‘sussudio,’ and I couldn’t find one, so I went back to ‘sussudio.’”
Collins added, “Then I thought okay, let’s give it a meaning, what is it? The lyrics are based on this schoolboy crush on this girl at school. In the lyrics this boy loves her but they don’t talk about it…how do they know? ‘I know she likes me, I know she likes me, doesn’t know my name, doesn’t know I exist, but I know she likes me.’ That’s what the song is about, so ‘sussudio’ became a name for this person, and since it’s become a name for a horse. My older daughter’s got a horse called Sussudio, and I’m sure there are children all over the world with the name Sussudio, so I apologize for that.”
Here are the lyrics for “Sussudio.”
There’s this girl that’s been on my mind All the time, Su-Su-Sussudio oh oh Now she don’t even know my name But I think she likes me just the same Su-Su-Sussudio oh oh
Ah if she called me I’d be there I’d come running anywhere She’s all I need, all my life I feel so good if I just say the word Su-Su-Sussudio, just say the word Oh Su-Su-Sussudio
Now I know that I’m too young My love has just begun Su-Su-Sussudio oh oh Oh give me a chance, give me a sign I’ll show her anytime Su-Su-Sussudio oh oh
Ah, I’ve just got to have her, have her now I’ve got to get closer but I don’t know how She makes me nervous and makes me scared But I feel so good if I just say the word Su-Su-Sussudio, just say the word Oh Su-Su-Sussudio, oh
Ah, she’s all I need all of my life I feel so good if I just say the word Su-Su-Sussudio I just say the word Oh Su-Su-Sussudio I just say the word oh Su-Su-Sussudio I’ll say the word Oh, Su-Su-Sussudio oh oh oh Just say the word Just, just, just say the word uh Just say the word Su-Su-Sussudio (oh oh oh) Su-Su-Sussudio (oh oh oh) Su-Su-Sussudio (oh oh oh) Su-Su-Sussudio (oh oh oh) Sussudio (oh oh oh) Su-Su-Sussudio (oh oh oh) Just say the word Su-Su-Sussudio (oh oh oh) say the word oh Just say the word Just, just, just say the word
This, That, and the Other 