Go Smilingly amid the noise and haste
of cyberspace, and remember what joy
there be in the service of Emo-Jo.
You are a child 😎 of the Cyberverse,
a gift of the Great Keyboard Operator,
no less than the Hash Tags and the GIFs;
you have a right to be here. So, be ever
of good cheer as a proud descendant
of the Rune, and the Hieroglyph.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
never doubt that internet is unfolding
. . . as it should.
You were formed in the ancient womb
of Cuneiform, for the expression of
heartfelt emotion ❤️ … and it was good.
A calligraphy of post-modern destiny.
The happy confetti of micro graffiti.
Give no credence to the smug and the
pompous critics, of artificial intelligence.
Self-satisfied elitists and self-appointed
protectors of the Lingua Franca. Whilst
the humble Emoji spreads the love 💞
beyond language barriers, and borders.
Naysayers of no consequence are but a
vexation to the true spirit of Emoji-ism.
As you strive for smiles, and high ideals,
be yourself, an Emoji of great heroism.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you
from sneaky sudden Muppet misfortune.
Do not distress yourself with such dark
Walt Disney inspired imaginings, and
those who insist on living in the
copperplate past. Never knowing that
it is no Emo-Jo way to go, nor the taste
of Emoji love; as perennial as the grass.
So exercise caution in your online affairs
for the internet is full of trickery. But let
it not blind you to what virtue there is.
With all it’s sham muppetry, and broken
Disney pipe dreams, it is still a beautiful
Cyberverse. Be cheerful.
Strive to be ever smiley 😁
~ The Emo-Jisiderata
After some pondering, Mr. Smiley Face
went back to sleep, and was dreaming
again. He dreamt of being carried along
in Little Red Riding Hood’s basket …
whilst she went shopping for something
nice to take to Grandma’s house. Little
Red Riding Hood’s mother had kissed
her goodbye that morning, saying . . .
“Don’t dawdle along the way, and don’t
go picking up strangers. That shopping
mall is a most dangerous place!”
But Little Red Red Riding Hood never
paid any heed to the things her mother
said. With Mr. Smiley Face riding ever so
happily in her basket, they arrived at the
mall only to land in a Black Friday riot.
A myriad of Muppets were grabbing
the lot and running out. A big bad wolf,
in a blood stained Walmart T-shirt,
had been trampled underfoot, and was
being carried off. Little Miss Muffet was
in the melee, swinging a shopping cart
for all she was worth. So for safety, they
ducked into the food court. In the corner
was Little Jack Horner, busking. All
dressed up as a Rastafarian Santa Claus.
A shock of dreadlocks hanging down
to his toes, and singing reggae … badly.
At a nearby table were three little pigs
eating sushi. As Mr. Smiley Face was
carried past, they turned to him as one,
and with a gasp squealed, “Daddy!”.
Little Red Riding Hood, having had a
good look towards the little pigs’ table,
exclaimed, “The smile on their cute
little piggy faces is unmistakable!”.
With those words ringing in his ear,
Mr. Smiley Face awoke trembling in fear.
Yet, he could still hear that reggae beat,
loud and clear in his room? It seemed
to be coming from his i-Phone . . .
🎶 “I can see clearly 👀
now the rain has gone 🌧️
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds ☁️
that had me blind 🙈
It’s gonna be a bright bright
bright sunshiny day 🌞” 🎶
“How could I have forgotten? That’s my
good friend, Sargent Peepers’ ringtone.”
Mr. Smiley Face said to himself, as he
quickly grabbed his i-Phone off the shelf.
At the other end of the line was a very
excited Sargent Peepers 👀 shouting,
“We’ve finally got him! . . .”
Words and Photography:
David B. Redpath © 2019
“Common sense and a sense
of humor are the same thing,
moving at different speeds.
A sense of humor is just
common sense, dancing.”
~ Clive James
( * Profuse apologies to Max Ehrmann,
author of the Desiderata 😎 )
Salvador Dali painting
‘The Face of War’.
Picture Credit: Pictorial Press
Heeeyyyy I was at that mall too King Gidora and I were dropping eggs on the shoppers! Small world indeed. You should consider returning that book though….
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The last overdue remnant of my
misspent youth! Anyway, I don’t
think that library would want it
back. Chairman Mao’s Little Red
Book has gone out of fashion.
Even in China!? But I do wonder
has China caught on to that whole
capitalist Black Friday thing?
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Hmmm I think yes but on the downlow; they’re NBA fans aren’t they?
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As long as the players do, and say
what they’re told 🏀 Perhaps they
could try having a Black Friday Sale
in Tiananmen square? 🤔
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Ooohhhh I’d like to get his and hers tanks!!! My tank would be pink with MOMMA written on the sides
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If solar powered, tanks would
make great all terrain vehicles
for the tough Aussie outback.
With “Tanks for the Memories 💘”
festooned on the side 😎
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Sorry RP petrol forever, although a tank covered in solar panels might be pretty badass.. let’s talk to Musk!
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Elon is busy getting me off the
power grid, and then into space.
He said we can get to Mars,
without leaving a carbon footprint 👣
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I’m already on Neptune baby! No feet of mine leaving prints…lol
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By the Rings of Neptune 🔱
I be there real soon 💫
After a quick stop over on
the dark side of the Moon 🌚
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Cool I’m on the Arago with B Burroughs hurry…
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Well, if he’s anything at all like
William S. Burroughs, the author
of the Naked Lunch, don’t let his
dead fingers talk. He’s just a wild
junkie boy, with a soft machine.
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Wait what no no no soft!? Are u kidding me???!!! I was mislead!
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I guess you’ll just have to read the book.
But I don’t encourage that sort of thing.
William S. Burroughs’ writing can be a
bit extreme.
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That’s the cool part ssshhhhh.. dont go dound spreading it
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My dead fingers ✌️won’t talk🤞
Unlike that Addams family Thing 🤚
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Ok good that’d be freaky 😱
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:’)
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👍
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Very cleverly done!
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Thanks, Taruna 🙏
I’ll pass that on to Mr. Smiley Face.
It’s his story … on my blog space 😎
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Thanks David… I didn’t catch that it was your site..🙄😉
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Yes, Mr. Smiley Face is so
ingratiating, it’s hard to say
no to him ☹️🕶️
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The smiley faces bring out the joy in your creation and your trips. 🙂 I love the smiley faces. 🙂
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Thanks for that, Charlie.
Mr. Smiley Face’s prime directive
is to bring joy, and spread the love
… being an Emoji 😎
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And speaking of joy and smiley faces.
This song is for your post. 🙂
Pharrell Williams – Happy (Official Music Video)
🙂
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Thank you joyfully, Charlie …
🎶 because I’m happy 😎
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I love that song and also the weird al parody to it. 🙂 I don’t know if you know which song I’m talk about.
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I can relate to
Weird Al Yankovic
because I’m tacky too 😎
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🙂 hahahahah!!! Awesome.
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But there is not Mr.Smiley.
That person are doing the postpartum😁
My. Mr.Smiley does not like it.
What is in the past?
Go ahead and smile, dear!!
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It’s all Mr.Smiley Face’s story, Aruna.
Nothing to do with me 😎 But I do
appreciate your concern 💛
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I was teasing your Mr.Smiley😁
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It has been seriously suggested
that I, and Mr. Smiley Face 😎
… go see a therapist? 🤔
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Okay.sure.😎i will go.😊
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Clive James would have appreciated this. Ditto Jonathan Miller. Thanks a d cheers. Sarah
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Greatly appreciated, Sarah 🙏
You would never guess, but I was
raised on the sarcastic wit of the
late great Clive James 😎
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I liked his work very much and think his mind was the equal of the Jonathan Millers. But Clive James was the more remarkable because he did not come out of the gilded Oxbridge bourgeoisie. And, through ten years of terrible illness, his mind and spirit held their own. A shining man. Sarah
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With the passing of Clive James
and Les Murray recently,
Australia, and the world, has lost
two great wordsmiths 😪
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This was once again emojitastic.
You are indeed a wise Sensei of Emojis.
Or at the very least a wise ghostwriter of Mr. Smiley Face,
(assistant) Sensei himself. So much to ponder here!
Emojis are the gurus of the new age indeed.
Loved the Sushi-eating pigs, also. Am sure Dali
would approve of the surreal, mindbending imagery
you create, Mr. Redpath. Love it, as always! 🙂
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Much Emo blessings to you, Gypsy.
I am but a padawan of Emojism.
Salvador Dali is the true spiritual
inspiration of the Emoji incarnation.
Fortunately for Mr. Smiley Face’s
sanity, those three little offsprings
🐷🐷🐷 were only in his dreams.
For such hybridisation 😱 is strictly
banned by the Code of Emojism.
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Much gratitude to you, the blessings just arrived in a box
with Emojis attached
Dali is well matched
to your padawan learning
as his work inspires a yearning
to break out of habitual ways-
so Mr. Smiley Face better stays
pigless and free
a truly vibrant and inspiring Emoji
give him a hug from me
and may you also be
very well, and have a swell
day, oh yay 😂 🤗
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You too, Gypsy 🙏
The Emojo is strong with you 💪
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Thank you very much 😊🙏 I´ll take it (trust the Emojo is a good thing :P) 🙃
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Such profound wisdom shared here…
I’m all…At One With The 🌠🔭🔮🎠🎶🍑🍒🌙🌞🌌🌃🗿⏳♊💥💦🔥
Know what I mean?
💋💘
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I’m having a profound feeling
at furtively guessing, Fiery 💥
May the joy of Emo-Jo’s flow
be with you 🌊😎🌀☔⚡💛
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haha I love this…so clever.
And love the CJ quote.
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Thank you very much, Vanessa 🙏
As a fellow Aussie 🇦🇺 I’m always
assured that you’re onboard with
my irreverence 😎 Since I was
taught to think 🤔 by the likes of
Clive James and Barry Humphries.
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haha indeed! Such a loss 😔
I met Barry Humphries years ago while working in the Festival Theatre in Adelaide…such a gracious person. And so funny. Maybe i have told you…ugh my memory is not great…stop me when/if I repeat myself lol.
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No, you had kept that a secret 🤫
John Howley’s (the painter) family
are good friends of both Edna
Everage, and Barry Humphries.
They kept promising to introduce me
to them, but it’s never happened 😪
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You mean introduce Edna to Barry, or you to them? 🙂
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Me to both of them, simultaneously 🤔
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That definitely sounds like something worth filming 🙂
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Yes, I’ve always felt that ‘The
Adventures of Barry Mckenzie’
was the pinnacle of Australian
culture. ‘The Adventures of
Mr. Smiley Face’ could be the
renaissance of Aussie cinema 🤔
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I’d buy a ticket 🙂
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There is so much depth here, I wish I were back in college. I would dig in deep and write a critical analysis of it–with end notes!
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Yes Liz, academia has been
far too dismissive of Emojism.
A cultural phenomenon that will
outlast Reality TV and the posting
of Selfies. The English professors
seem to take offence at the very
appearance of Mr. Smiley Face 😎
Much like middle age monastic
scribes with the introduction of
the Gutenberg printing press 😱
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I must be some sick and twisted individual because I went into the academic library database at work and searched for “emoji scholarship.” Lo and behold, there is a book published by an academic press on the semiotics of emojis: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-semiotics-of-emoji-9781474282000/.
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Nothing sick or twisted about
seeking the deeper truth behind
the Emoji phenomenon. In an age
of mass information saturation
and complex cultural change
(future shock), the humble Emoji
symbolises humanity’s inner
yearning for simplicity. Freedom
of expression without the fear
of misinterpretation, and political
correction.
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A muppet riot @ Walmart. 😖 Pigs eating sushi. 😳 Santa in dreds. 😊
Don’t look Smiley! Scars for life! 😵
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Yes Victoria, Mr. Smiley Face’s
head has been in a whirl since
being transubstantiated onto
this third dimensional world 🥴
As I keep telling him;
“🎶Hey, Smiley 😎
it’s a wild world 🌍
Hard to be by
just upon a smile 😁”
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Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.
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I loved the poem, David! And I think I’d like to marry Mr Smiley. Is he free?
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Now that you ask, Basilike 🤔
Mr. Smiley Face is wondering
that himself. Back home in Emoji
Land he served as a Warrior-Monk
with the elite ASSES (the All Smiling
Special Emoji Services, a top secret
covert operations unit), and was
sworn to celibacy ☹️ But now that
he’s transitioning into the Third
Dimension as a real boy, that’s a
whole new situation 😎
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All celibacy and no play makes Mr Smiley Face a dull boy, as they say.
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I know that our intrepid Emoji has
been dreaming of a white Christmas.
It’s too bad he’s stuck in Australia
where it never snows in December ☄️
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Lucky him!
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A great work for Smiley-Face to compose as he and Kamal cross the Desert of De-Rada.
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I’m afraid Mr. Smiley Face’s Aussie
adventure may soon be over. He’s
just received some intel pertaining
to his top secret mission, ‘Kill Elmo’.
Emoji Military Intelligence seems to
be on the ball. Unlike the local mob,
ASIO 😎
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Hahahaha!!!🙃🙈🌈🧸🙏🏻😻💓 yes…beautiful. :))
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Thank you most emojilstically, Nina.
Greatly appreciated 💃💖🗝️🎠🤠
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💟 you are most welcome, David. I believe you are onto something here. 👍
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With this Mr. Smiley Face saga
I have been accused of being on
something? 🤪 It’s so unfair, Nina 😎
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😇🙃😈🙃 life is funny like that…teehee.
Thank you for spending time visiting my blog, David. It is sincerely appreciated. And I enjoy your sense of humor, Mr. Smiley Face. Where to next??
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Well, that’s a top Emoji Militarily
Intelligence secret, but it may or
may not be Barcelona 😉💃🕺
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Excellent! Looking forward to the next adventure and (ahem) encounter.☺️
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Love kitty on the newest post.
The “golden member” is impressive! 😳
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Yes, Stefan (my No. 2 son) is alway
out to impress.
That pic was taken in a Japanese park
dedicated to the male appendage, and
full of such sculptures.
The Korean mountain kitty was last
seen hiding out in a cave, after being
invited to Yum Cha 🐱
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What is Yum Cha?
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A Chinese brunch, often including
kitty dim sum. Koreans usually opt
for the alternative canine themed
cuisine 🐱 🐶 😰
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Yikes. They eat dogs AND cats?
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It’s an acquired taste.
But after a bowl of fried grasshoppers?
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Well, my SO is a VN veteran. He ate dog in VN. He said it was good.
I look at my Orange Hemingway, Ollie and…just…no.
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Today’s Special
Noodled Poodle 🐩
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😆
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This certainly raised a smile, well said.
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Thanks Paul 👍
I’ll ask Mr. Smiley Face 😎
to throw a Muppet on the barbie
for a fellow Aussie 🇦🇺
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On Ya mate
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Mr. Smiley Face enjoyed a lot in dreams. 😀
The painting is awesome and the quote. 🙂
Creativity at its best.
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Glad you enjoyed this, Kritika 🙏 💛
Apparently, Emojis in their natural
habitat never sleep. They’re always
on duty, ready to serve if selected
by the Keyboard Operator. So . . .
dreams are a whole new experience
for Mr. Smiley Face. He does seem to
be making up for lost time 🕶️😔💤
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Black Friday riots! OMG! The wannabes and has-beens trying to make friends with Mr. Smiley Face which not good for his image. Yep, daymares and nightmares too realistic these days. And so it goes…
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