Fantasies Fulfilled

Have you ever dreamed of seeing your name in lights on Broadway, or of making the front page of the New York Times, or having Hugh Heffner call you to ask you to be a Playboy bunny?

I am a member of quite a few egroups, most of them related in one way or another to writing. One of those groups is The Writer's Life, founded by Dorothy Thompson. The other day Dorothy found a software program that allowed her to bring all of the members' dreams to reality. You can see the results on the webpage she has created at http://www.dorothythompson.net/Writersville.html
It reminds me of an incident the other day when I was watching BookSpan on TV. There was a fellow on, talking about some political book he had weritten. He was a US Congressman from Georgia. Ho, hum. Bo-ring! Until--and my ears perked up--he said "I graduated from high school in Deer River, Minnesota, in 1960." Wow! That's the same high school I graduated from--and even the same year! I waited until his name showed up again on the screen: John Linder. I remembered John Linder! I knew John Linder! We both made the National Honor Society the same year. We used to talk in the hall when he was a hall monitor and I collected the attendance sheets from the various classrooms and took them back to the office. I hurried to the cedar chest to get my yearbook. Sure enough, there he was! He was (like me) a little chunkier, a little (OK--a lot) older, and we both have a bit less hair. I laughed when I looked at the "Hall of Fame." John Linder was on there. For what? He was voted "Most likely to succeed." Well, I guess they were pretty much right on the money.

As I reflected on John Linder's success--and my own--I thought of the old song, "If They Could See Me Now." I imagine most of you know it, but just in case you don't, the words are at the bottom of this blog.

OK, so I'm still not rich. I'm getting "famouser" by the day. And as I sit here and think about what Dorothy has done to me, I have to wonder if she has really made my dream come true, or is this Ivan's (my "other half") fantasy?


If They Could See Me Now

Tonight at eight you shoulda seen
A chauffeur pull up in a rented limousine!
My neighbors burned! They like to die!
When I tell them who is gettin' in and goin' out is I!
If they could see me now,
That little gang of mine,
I'm eating fancy chow
And drinking fancy wine.
I'd like those stumble bums to see for a fact
The kind of top drawer, first rate chums I attract.
All I can say is "Wow-ee!
Looka where I am.
Tonight I landed, pow!
Right in a pot of jam.
What a set up! Holy cow!
They'd never believe it,
If my friends could see me now!
If they could see me now,
My little dusty group,
Traipsin' 'round this million dollar chicken coop.
I'd hear those thrift shop cats say:
"Brother, get her!
Draped on a bed spread made from three kinds of fur."
All I can say is, "Wow!
Wait till the riff an' raff
See just exactly how
He sign this autograph."
What a build up! Holy cow!
They'd never believe it,
If my friends could see me now!
If they could see me now
Alone with Mister V.,
Who's waiting on me like he was a maître d'
I'd hear my buddies saying:
"Crazy, what gives?
Tonight she's living like
The other half lives!"
To think the highest brow,
Which I must say is he,
Should pick the lowest brow,
Which there's no doubt is me!
What a step up! Holy cow!
They'd never believe it,
If my friends could see me now!
What a step up! Holy cow!
They'd never believe it...
They'd never believe it,
If my friends could see me now