150 Reasons to Smile

/ Glen Donaldson

There were at least a few ways that came to mind when considering how best to celebrate SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK publishing it’s history-making 150th post – the one you’re now reading. They included –

Hiring a white stretch limo, taking myself off to a fancy restaurant and eating and drinking the night away.

Rounding up a bunch of my favorite subscribers/commenters and shouting them all to an open bar down at Pyscho Suzi’s Tiki Garden.

Letting out a long slow breath, like I didn’t even know I’d been holding it in, and nodding with a slight smile.

In the end I chose to go with the final option because – you know – understated. Rather than getting all paralytic at the bar and then ludicrously moving around a lit dance floor like my limbs were made of cooked spaghetti, this more low-key approach allowed me time to reflect and more properly take in the occasion, like this…

Part of that reflecting had me thinking about age and the feeling of reaching milestones. Once you’ve racked up a certain number of years on the planet some of us find it handy to have a list of ready-made snapbacks responses to those sometimes socially awkward inquiries – “How old are you?”. Now and again, goddammit, you may not feel like playing ball and spilling the actual number.

In those circumstances sassy retorts like these become useful –

Age is just a number and mine is unlisted.
 

I’m 9183 days, 3 hours and 22 minutes.
 

Age doesn’t matter unless you are cheese or wine.
 

Don’t you mean how YOUNG am I?

Thing is I haven’t had to put anyone in their place with use of one of these lippy wisecracks. I am completely happy for people to know my blog age. In fact, excuse me while I shout it from the rooftops one more time. I’m 150 posts old today!

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any merrier, a glorious email arrived in my inbox. An email from no less than Scott Morrison. That’s Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Or ‘ScoMo’ to his friends – of which I obviously am now counted among.

I nor anyone else should be naive about the elevated status such a ‘trophy’ well-wishing message can bring it’s receiver… so to heck with modesty. I will share it (proudly) with you all now –

Dear Glen,

Allow me to be among the first to congratulate you and SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK on the occasion of publishing your 150th post.

My staffers inform me that within blogging circles such a milestone, while modestly regarded, is nonetheless still compared to that first time in a couple’s relationship when one partner may inadvertently bear witness to a blushworthy moment of flatulance on the adored other’s part.

Awkward it may be, yet properly handled it is not cause for dissolution of the union but rather provides an unlikely bonding moment that signals the relationship is ready to proceed on to a more deeply human, exploratory and committed phase.

Having established a foothold in the hearts and minds of readers, so too SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK seems ready to embark upon the next phase of its mission to bring quality blog content to readers for the long term (shall we say at least ’till the next election?)

Having just a few days back also notched my 150th (150 meetings for the calendar month) – I believe I can relate somewhat to the feeling of satisfaction you are feeling now it is all over… er, I mean – the feeling of satisfaction now you have reached this important waypost.

Here’s to you and all that you have achieved and will achieve in the hopefully COVID 19-free years to come.

You’re an inspiration.

Liberally yours,

The Honourable Scott J. Morrison

30th Prime Minister of Australia

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Ps. Forgive me for observing but I get the sense that SWS and LNP are both from the same political alphabet soup tin – if you get my meaning.

Perhaps my people can talk to your people (ok, I know it’s just you, so… my people can talk to you) come next election time about a little bit of ‘you scratch my lower lumbar I’ll scratch yours’ mutual favorable publicity.

I’ve had the odd back-rub in the past from both political friends and foes alike (even one from a duffer who claimed he was just removing lint from my shirt) and I know how beneficial they can be. Let me know if this sounds interesting.

Carpe Diem.

Our Scomo really is one big lovable and well-meaning teddy bear on a political stage crammed with moth-eaten cabbage-patch dolls – isn’t he? I treasure those congratulations from him, while choosing to overlook his obviously poorly advised and supremely self-serving postscript borrowed directly from the Political Manipulators & Scallywags handbook.

And now, as one is apt to do on occasions such as this, it’s time to travel back through the dusty blog pages of SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK history and nominate my..

MIRACLE AT THE DRIVE-THRU (Feb 2017) What made this trip to Maccas so memorable? Order yourself a Big Mac re-read HERE and find out.

THE GREAT WRINKLE MACHINE (June 2017) Well… someone’s gotta be the smarty pants! A prankster does what he does best HERE

CASE OF THE MYSTERY LETTER (June 2017) How exactly did I find myself reading a jail prisoner’s handwritten letter? The key to cell block A lies HERE

BAND T-SHIRTS – HOW OLD IS TOO OLD? (Oct 2017) Cool? Ridiculous? Ironic? You be the judge HERE

WHEN FASHION MEETS ICE-CREAM (March 2018) You won’t see Scenic Writer’s Shack speaking too often about ladies handbag fashions. But you might HERE

GOODIE GOODIE GUMDROPS! (March 2018) ‘Scenic’ bravely peers inside the Oscar nominees complimentary ‘Goodie’ bag and comes away floored, breathless and not a little hankering HERE

A SWING AND A MISS (March 2018) What do ghosts and golf courses have in common? Quite a lot if you believe Scenic HERE

THE GREAT VANILLA SLICE RIPOFF (June 2018) Scenic led the way with this daring foray into investigative journalism – exposing what could be labelled ‘The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Internal Pastry Layer’. Prepare to have all your treasured cake shop memories shattered HERE

WHEN NO MEANS NO (Sept 2018) Ok, so you try approaching YOUR wife or partner for permission to adorn the family car with wrap advertising about your beloved blog and see what response YOU get. Relive the pain of rejection HERE

INTO THE SNAKEPIT OF FRIENDSHIP (Feb 2019) Friends come and go but enemies last a lifetime. Right? Wrong? Sometimes? Plunge down the rabbit hole and mull it all over HERE

A big thank you to all the people who have followed this blog over any portion of the last three and a bit years. Writers write to be read, plain and simple. Without you guys there would be no ‘Shack.‘

A special gesture of appreciation is reserved for the readers and followers who go that one extra step and ‘like’ or, better still, comment on a post. Your engagement with topics lights up a part of my brain that makes me feel connected and fully awake. I call them ‘minty moments’ and I simply love them. Thank you again and please… keep doing it!

For the last six months or so Scenic Writer’s Shack slogan has been PEACHY NOT PREACHY. Have no doubts the commitment implied in that motto will continue to be upheld. Now seems like as good a time as any to unveil the new slogan which will help carry this blog forward for its next exciting stage – THE BEST IS YET TO BE WRITTEN. And I really do mean that. Here’s to the next glorious epoch… the next 150!

Ps. It may be SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK’S birthday but you get the presents! Click HERE for a very infecting affecting bonus read.

32 thoughts on “150 Reasons to Smile”

  1. Congrats on your blog milestone! Tell me….did you end up buying the KISS shirt? If so, which?

    (As I type this I am wearing a band tee, so I am obviously biased in this debate)

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  2. The post you’re referring to https://goosefleshsite.wordpress.com/?s=Band+t-shirts
    was written two and a half years ago and no, at the time I didn’t end up buying a KISS t-shirt from the band’s official on-line store.

    However in the new year period I picked up a brand new 2019 KISS – END OF THE ROAD t-shirt for just $8 from my local Target store. My wife has made me take an oath to only wear it around the house and NEVER, EVER out in public.

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  3. Glen, whilst I do not have the official status of your VIP letter from Scott Morrison I would still like to congratulate you on your 150th blog – always interesting and informative…..I look forward to many more………

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  12. Congrats to you Glen on reaching the 150 milestone. So many informative, witty and entertaining reads to choose from that are written in your own unique way. You have a very distinctive writing style that is never boring because it surprises you when you least expect it. However, I personally enjoy the movie reviews the most.

    It can be difficult to share our opinions on movies (or anything else for that matter) to even a single person, so I could only imagine how difficult it must be to share them with your audience. I also admire how you’ve comprised a list of favourites – movies, books, actors, etc. I’ve always wanted to do that but the very thought of it overwhelms me. You’ve put it all “out there” and I think that takes a lot of courage. I know I couldn’t do it; so well done!

    BTW I have the same KISS t-shirt from Target and it’s still in stock. I saw it at Target at Orion yesterday, right next to a Beatles shirt. My dad also got me a Nirvana Nevermind shirt for Christmas (one of my favourite albums). Gotta love the band t-shirts!!!!

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  13. Nah she hasn’t banned me fully yet but I did get into trouble for wearing the Nirvana shirt to her parents house for Boxing Day dinner; apparently it was too casual. Speaking of dressing casually, do you remember when I wore a Beatles t-shirt to work? I’m surprised I didn’t get a please explain over that one lol

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  14. Ha ha!
    I’ve actually defied my ban of wearing the KISS t-shirt in public not once but twice.

    Both occasions were ParkRuns – the most recently being yesterday’s what I’ll call ‘ParkRun’, which in essence was just me running the Rocks Riverside course by myself pretending like I was leading the pack… for once. I think what my wife means when she says I’m banned from wearing my KISS t-shirt out in public is just when I’m out in public WITH HER.

    Well, I hope that’s what she means!

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  15. As a mentor of young Glen or as we special friends know him , GlenDo, my heart surely bursts with pride on the publication of the 150th episode of SWS.
    With spine tingling anticipation I await my weekly fix of the Shack.

    May his creative cup runneth over for another 150 and may we all survive the Chinese Flu to enjoy them!

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  17. The same question concerning the popular topic of band T-shirts above can be made of the ladies for leggings and skinny jeans: How Old is Too Old?
    Skinny jeans–not sure.
    But leggings are forever! They’re just too damn comfortable, regardless of body type!

    “…the feeling of satisfaction you are feeling now it is all over… er, I mean – the feeling of satisfaction now you have reached this important waypost.”
    LOL

    That’s so amazing that the prime minister sent you an email about this–congrats, btw!

    It reminds me of the time I got a phone call from Barack Obama after it came to his attention that I’d increased my typing speed from 99 wpm to 110 wpm and won Fastest Typist Alive at work for 2 months in a row!
    I made a special request, in fact, for this to be the ironic epitaph on my tombstone.

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  18. It’s satisfying to be acknowledged for one’s work and when that praise comes from the highest office in the land, be it Prime Minster, President, Monarch, General or what have you, well… it’s a particular five-star brand of sheen one is left coated with.

    And as you’ve pointed out Stacey, you have first hand experience to know the warm inner glow that results, so I know it’s not just me that covets this type of recognition.

    Thank you for your well wishes.
    Now if we can just pour a lethal dose of super-mix penicillin on this damn virus…

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  19. Super exotic mix of never-before-seen penicillin/antibiotic/oscillococcinum/baloxavir marboxil/zanamivir (I looked up a bunch of antiviral drugs) and throw in beta blockers on top of it, maybe, since it’s SO foreign and weird,they can’t figure it out!

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    • I’ve been tempted to exclude the news from my viewing, but then I’d miss the new ‘instructions’ that appear to be a daily event now. So I restrict myself to just one news broadcast. Otherwise it would be too depressing. Stay safe and well.

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