Saturday, February 19, 2011

Can I Get An Alien?

Spanky Marcel Percy Alien Jones
Photo courtesy of
http://www.pixelperfectdigital.com/
Foreword: Yep, with this post, a foreword is definitely necessary! Below is a series of three separate perspectives on the same experience. Mine (Dawn), and those of my two dear friends, Lisa and Irma Kaye. We all hope that you’ll all take time to read through all three sections, even though it does make for a lengthy post. The whole experience makes perfect sense if you do take the time to read each separate section, through to the end.

We can guarantee you’ll get a chuckle or two and perhaps a new fun word to toss out in conversation! We all three hope that you’ll take time to visit our respective blogs, and to that end, we have posted hyperlinks/links back to each of our blog pages. You’ll find the links at the end of each section, next to our byline. ~ Dawn, Lisa & Irma Kaye

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How it all started:
You know how friendship works. If you're very fortunate, you meet people along your life path and click instantly with them. Your heart remembers them immediately and the connection starts right back up where it left off in the mists of time. Simple enjoyment of one another exists. In short order, you lose sight of when you actually met, because you feel that you've known them forever. Quickly thereafter, Secret Code begins to happen.

Secret Code, you ask? Yes. I'm sure you've experienced it. It is a short-hand language of sorts, cobbled together from a variety of experiences. They're usually loaded with hilarity, prompted by absurdity and become that Insider Lingo between you...a quick reference that only the two of you, or the group of you, understand.

If any of you are connected to me via Facebook, you may have noticed some Secret Code being slung around here and there. One of them has grown into a life of its own, so much so that those of us involved in the genesis of it think it should be shared.

Several months back, Lisa B. and I were commenting in a Facebook thread on Irma Kaye S.'s wall. I honestly don't recall what the focus of that thread was. It was late at night and I was sleep deprived. As a result, I glanced at a comment that Irma Kaye had made and I read it wrong - when I'm very fatigued, dyslexia will creep in and I will transpose letters/words, or I'll just see the whole sentence in a completely wrong manner. Irma Kaye's comment ended with, "Can I get an amen on that?"

I, however, read it as, "Can I get an alien on that?"

In my head, I'm automatically thinking, "An ALIEN? Why would she want an alien? How odd is THAT? WHO in their right mind would ask for such a thing.... OH. Wait, she said 'amen'. Not 'alien'."

In my sleep deprived state, this struck me as too funny to keep to myself, so I typed all of the above in Irma Kaye's thread. Lisa, being her endearing, lovely self took it to new heights of hilarity, running with a revival theme something along these lines:

"Can you get an alien, Dawnie? You most certainly can! *raises hands to the Heavens to testify*. Alien NOW!"

Now, let me also share that Lisa and I have this ongoing game we play that we robbed from the cell phone "Can you hear me now?" commercials.

Lisa: "Can you hear me now? *waits 12 seconds* How 'bout now? Now? No, wait...wait...NOW, now. No, NOW! Right? NOW????"

Lisa and I play this game often, in Facebook posts, email and texting, because it makes us laugh. She morphed that game into the new Alien Game. The new short-hand, Secret Code of same is: "Can I get an Alien?" And in reply, "Alien NOW!"

About two weeks ago, Irma Kaye and I were chatting in yet another Facebook thread and she cracked us both up with this: "When we type (alien now) <--this is our 'inside alien voice'."

Of course, I had to share this with Lisa. Lisa, in turn, responded with: "And 'Alien NOW' is the turning-cartwheels-down-the-hallway-shouting-it-to-the-rooftops broadcasting version!"

So, my friends, anytime you see me in a Facebook thread, or in Twitter, typing the words, "Alien", or "Alien NOW", or any future version of the word or phrase, you'll know some of the back story. Perhaps you'll be chuckling along with us! Maybe this whole post will have you wondering why you spent time clicking over here to read this, as it isn’t the norm for my posts. Those who know me and my slightly off-center sense of humor will undoubtedly be smiling and laughing.

Life is not always meant to be ponderous and serious, I think. Indeed, Life is punctuated by those bright moments of hilarity, irreverence and sheer silliness between friends. I'm blessed beyond belief with this strong network of Sister Friends - that family that we choose, as opposed to the family we're born into. I managed to be doubly blessed that both my blood family and my heart family are populated with equally beautiful souls. I look about me quite often and marvel at the richness of friendship and family that surrounds me, and the love that flows. These people love me and accept me for who I am, quirks and all, and I offer the same acceptance towards them. These little funnies add flair, nonsense, color, verve and pure fun to each encounter and lift the heart and spirit as a result. I am a better person for having each of these special women in my life.

Eventually, I'm going to meet both these wonderful ladies in person and I'll have photographs to share. Lisa and I happen to be similar in complexion, which is of the ultra-fair variety. Milky pale skin is what we're talking about. Lisa claimed a while back that when we DO try to do pictures together, we'll probably break technology with our fairness...the digital camera eye will struggle so much to capture our images without a glare being thrown off our skin. I fell out laughing on that one, and you can see why I love her so much. Zany humor makes life so much more enjoyable!

Lisa is going to add her side of the story to this post, and I look forward to reading her thoughts. Then Irma Kaye will finish the series with her thoughts. I'll close my section with a favorite quote that I feel defines this little story:

You that would judge me, do not judge alone this book or that, come to this hallowed place where my friends' portraits hang and look thereon; Ireland's history in their lineaments trace; think where man's glory most begins and ends and say my glory was I had such friends.  ~ William Butler Yeats

~ S. Dawn Sievers, Healing Morning blog
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As the massively successful Paul Harvey used to say, “And now the rest of the story.” (at least my part)

I’ll never forget the night Alien came into being. I saw Dawnie’s comment and threw my head back laughing. I could hear her “voice” in the post, and Irma could too, and the teasing commenced! The next thing you knew three ladies separated by large amounts of geography were united in laughter, we were for that silly little comment thread not thinking of anything but giving each other joy and fun.

As Dawn pointed out, not everything in life needs to be a contemplative serious thing to teach us a lesson, and in the midst of that thread, we all learned that lesson again. Dawn’s life is a concentration of serious things being self employed and searching for the truths of this world and the next. Irma is her twin in those aspects, and me, well my exploration of grief and loss isn’t feather light either. In the midst of the “Alien” though, none of us were thinking about any of the weight or the distance, but were unified in laughter and light.

It is a lesson that stuck with us, obviously; we have developed our little secret code and have over the last couple months cheered each other with more “Aliens” and their new additions than I can count. It is our way to show each other solidarity, to say ‘I love you’, and to remind each other take a moment to smile (or giggle).

Being the contemplative ladies we are, though, and people who each in our own way hope, pray, and take actions to try to make the world better for us having been there…keeping it secret just wouldn’t do. Nope, not at all!

Joy is one of those things that if you keep what you have, you’ll only have as much as you have. If you give it away, then you have more, and the more joy you give, the more joy you have! Slowly, so not to make everyone think we’ve gone completely crazy, we have started telling the story and bringing new “alien” converts into the fold. That wasn’t enough either! So, we started the idea of a blog post about the experience!

I can’t speak for my sisters, but I know why I was inspired to share this little moment of joy. I wanted people to remember to look for their “Alien” moments. Now, if you want to hop in with us and Alien each other, I’m not going to be offended at all! In fact, I’m going to giggle and laugh with you, in the same unity I do now with Dawnie and Irma. But watching people find their own inside joke will fill me with so much joy, because like our moment it will bring you memories, sisters, brothers, and perhaps a little lighter heart than you had before.

~ Lisa Brandel, The Widow Lady blog
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And finally:
So, now after reading Dawn and Lisa's brilliant telling of our "Alien" story, I think everyone is up to speed with the awesome silliness of our great inside joke. I treasure both of these women so much in my life and am grateful to the internet and Facebook for connecting me with both of them in the first place. Though we are placed at very different places on the US map and have had varied life experiences, that doesn't seem to matter. We are three peas in a pod, no doubt, and sometimes you just know. When I was reading their posts today, this quote popped into my mind:

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one. ~ C.S. Lewis
How wonderful it has been to have met these extraordinary, brilliant and at times downright hilarious women. It's amazing the camaraderie, support and love that grew out of that snapshot in time, from a silly little inside joke. Can I get an Alien now? :)

~ Irma Kaye Sawyer, The Bright Star Blog

26 comments:

  1. Ladies, you CAN and DO have an ALIEN! Love ya all this was soooo fun! <3

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  2. Can I get an Alien? I am saying that in my OUTSIDE Alien voice by the way.

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  3. And I round out the chorus w/ an equally enthusiastic Alien NOW!!! I had so much fun doing this with y'all, and I'll be keeping an eye peeled on both your blogs so I can comment in return.

    Btw, how stinkin cute is our Alien? I love his gapped teeth and his little pot belly. :)


    Love you both! <3

    Dawnie

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  4. I love our little Alien. So what should we name him?

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  5. Lol. Love it! Thank you for sharing.

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  6. oh its so good...enjyd... i think whenever i read ny alien article,i may get remembered this one......

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  7. Irma Kaye, he does need a name, doesn't he? We must give this some thought!

    Jim, I'm glad you enjoyed the post, the story and that it made you laugh!

    Crajay, what a perfect thought about future alien articles! I loved it! Thank you for making me smile w/ that comment. :)

    ~ Dawn

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  8. Got a chuckle out of that one girls :)
    When I finally made my way to Facebook and read all the FB jargon…. I felt like an alien. Had to get my teenage daughter to interpret all the acronyms and lingo: “BTW I’m a SAHM.”
    I asked, “What’s a SAHM??? Oh, a stay at home mom. Okay. For the longest time I thought LOL meant “lots of love,” so here I am writing “LOL” after a condolence :(
    Oh well, u LAL.

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  9. Debra, I can so relate to the culture shock of FB for new people. I went through it myself, but I was lucky to start getting acclimated about 2 years ago before it got quite as advanced as it is now. I'm glad - we're all glad - that you enjoyed our silliness w/ the Alien! It provides us with endless entertainment and is always morphing into new versions.

    I admit it...I have no idea what SAHM means. Some of those acronyms still mystify me!

    Much love to you, sweet lady! Thank you for the wonderful comment! :)

    ~ Dawn

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  10. Spanky Marcel Percy Alien Jones, to be specific. ;-) He's a noble kind of alien, after all.

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  11. Well as a mere male, I haven't quite connected with all the above. So I'll just go shopping, then do the cooking and maybe the vacuming will get done.

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  12. SPANKY! *CACKLES* You girls have an ALIEN from me on that!
    @Jim...LOL Sweetie just replace any female adjective with your own and you'll get it. The bottom line is...don't ever completely grow up and lose the ability to laugh and chuckle with your friends and family over silly things--that is where we create life and memories <3 Alien, my friend <3

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  13. I have to improve my english, but I like your post. I have myself something to share. I follow your blog to better understand it.
    you can find my blog at:
    http:monblogdereflexions.blogspot.com
    cheers

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  14. Jim, dying laughing at your comments! I don't know that there's really that great a divide between the sexes when it comes to applying the Alien. Lisa addressed it beautifully w/ her reply, I think! "That is where we create life and memories." <--Alien to that one! Thanks for visiting and adding to the hilarity here today. :)

    Lise, you're just so on target w/ your thoughts, as always! I've said similar things over a lifetime - life is a series of those moments that rivet our hearts and minds in a blinding flash. Love you, chickadee! <3

    Pascal, I'm glad you liked the post! And I applaud you for wading through the sheer length of it all, especially given that it's written in a second language for you. I imagine I would do half as well if I attempted to assimilate your first language. I'll visit your blog later this evening. :)

    Love to you all!

    ~ Dawn

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  15. lolol Very funny and a hoot to read ( by the way that is the first time I ever have used the work Hoot ) I have friends from my childhood that I only see once or twice a year but when were together we revert back to 40 years without missing a beat.
    Great post Thank you Ladies and if your ever all in Florida I will take up the challenge to photograph all you fair skin alians

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  16. Jim, friendship is just like that, isn't it? If it's solid, then you always pick up where you left off, and humor is a strong thread through everything. And hey, the photography offer sounds great! I hope you have some nuclear, mystically strong filter for your lens, though. ;-) Alien, my friend, yes indeedy!

    ~ Dawn

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  17. Thanks Alan! This was a lot of fun to write, and the friendship described is endlessly fun for all of us. No doubt we'll continue to come up with new words to add to the FB language. ;-)

    ~ Dawn

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  18. THis makes me sad that I'm not in the cool kids club. ;)

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  19. Marticus, you can join in anytime. I'm not sure if you know Irma Kaye, but I know you know Lisa...and it goes w/out saying that you know me. ;-) Utilize the Alien anytime you feel like it! It will crack me up just from the sheer unexpectedness of it all.

    Thanks for visiting!

    ~ Dawn

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  20. Dawn ~
    You've probably been given one of these before, but I enjoy following your blog and have chosen it for the “One Lovely Blog Award.” You may pick up your award @ http://ponderdeeply.blogspot.com/2011/02/impact-of-tiny-impression.html

    Thanks for continuing to write :~)

    Kathy

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  21. Kathy, thank you so much for the award! It's always nice when someone lets you know they enjoy your writing enough to hand out such an accolade. I'll scoot over to your blog later this evening or over the weekend to visit, and check out this award. Thank you for making me smile! :)

    ~ Dawn

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  22. Now I get to comment on the Alien...
    My husband and I had this happen in the first year of our marriage...nearly 25 years ago I might add. Ours is "moose-face." It was said (or thought to have been said) aloud by my hubby in the middle of a terribly intense argument.

    I could swear he called me - out of the blue - a moose-face. When I exclaimed, "What d'ya mean, I'm a moose-face!!" he couldn't figure out why I suddenly brought up the word moose-face. It was like an old Abbott & Costello "Who's on First" routine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sShMA85pv8M) only in mega-volume, in a car parked next to a public park, late at night.

    We stopped arguing and began to laugh sooo hard we cried and cried. We never did figure out what word he actually said that night. It didn't matter. At times the phrase still pops up and we ROFLOAO along with a couple of friends who've come to know the story.

    It's nice to be reminded of those things - humor relieves pressure and makes life worth living :~)

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  23. Kathy, I was dying laughing in response to your comment! I think every friendship and relationship out there grows that Secret Code, or private lingo, or whatever you want to call it. My Mom's side of the family is rich in this language, chock full of funnies that go back several generations. Your "moose-face" was priceless! I can just picture both of your faces at that crucial moment and I love that you shared it here. It's those little moments that are indelible, yes? I am smiling from ear to ear as I write this reply. Thank you for sharing this lovely memory! :)

    ~ Dawn

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  24. I loved the way the three of you collaborated on this post...It brought home to me the importance of laughter and being yourself (with or without an alien) in friendships...Over the last few years I lost some 'old' friendships because of deep misunderstandings and jealousies. Sad but that's how it is. I know I need to connect with another group of friends and it's only a matter of time before I find my own set of aliens! :) Thanks for the laugh and for the lesson!

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  25. Corinne, Life is definitely an endless series of beginnings and endings. Endings are painful in many ways, and it's sad when those endings are predicated by negative emotions. Jealousy and ego are never pleasant issues to deal with, and they rarely allow for a calm resolution. The good news is that we cannot and do not exist in a vacuum; those vacancies in your life will be replaced and filled with new people when your heart and Spirit are ready to take those steps. But you already know that! :)

    Thank you for visiting and taking time to read through all three versions of the Alien experience. Feel free to adopt and adapt the Alien in your life as needed!

    Namaste',

    Dawn

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