Whose Idea Was This?

It's true, ideas are fleeting.  And, they can't be rushed.  They're their own little entity, stopping by when they please, leaving without even a hint of a ta-ta.  And they never come when you invite 'em.  If they were a pet, they'd surely be a cat.  So that's what I'm up against every couple of weeks, having to find an idea and then flesh it out in time for my self-inflicted bi-weekly blog deadline.  Sometimes it's a piece of cake, the work seemingly effortless, other days it can be frustrating beyond belief, with nothing coming to the fore, or worse, initial hopeful concepts waning to the point where there's not enough meat on their bones to warrant the minimum 750 words necessary for the piece. 

So, yeah, it's a one-sided relationship, with me constantly on the short end, waiting for Mr. Big Shot Idea to make the scene, hoping, in the end, fortune grants me enough time to do a decent job.  And you know what, friends?... I've had it.  Reached my boiling point.  I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore.  Indeed, this sad little scenario has played out long enough, so I'm doing what I should've done a long time ago; I'm taking things into my own hands.  It's high time Idea met its Waterloo. That's right, today, Monday, August 25th, well before my deadline of Friday, September 5th, I'm pushing the issue, calling Idea out.  

Okay, here's the deal: I'm a big fan of Wordle and Quordle, play 'em daily, so I decided to use today's games as the blueprint for this week's blog.  Because Wordle only has a one-word answer, I've opted to use it as the topic for the piece.  And then, for the body of the composition, I'll take Quordle's four-word answers to three separate games: the Daily Classic, the Daily Extreme and the Daily Sequence--twelve words in all--and make them a mandatory ingredient in telling the story.  That way, there's no waiting.  I'm free to start today.  I'm finally my own boss.  'Bout time, too.  Huh, wait'll Idea gets a load of this!

That said, here's what I'm working with: Wordle has decided that "mirth" shall be the topic (uh-oh), with the Daily Quordle providing: "geeky, chief", jiffy" and "shalt" (omg, that's biblical; what the hell do I do with biblical?).  The Extreme Quordle contributed "diary, sauce, avert" and "hyena" (a wild freakin' animal?).  And, finally, the last batch of words offered by the Sequence Quordle: "bossy, panic, total" and "mango".  Great, this is what I'm stuck with (feel free to look 'em up for Aug. 25th on britannica.com to see that I'm on the level here).  So we've got fruit, a wild animal, a biblical word and a whole bunch of complete non sequiturs.  What could possibly go wrong?

Alright, so "mirth", defined by Merriam-Webster as "gladness or gaiety as shown by or accompanied with laughter", is pretty much what I expected.  Actually, my first thought was "Who even says that anymore?."  In checking its practical usage against the word "the"--which is used a whopping 7% of the time--"mirth" is applied about as frequently as one witnesses a wing fall off an in-flight 747 and maim a dalmation.  Its earliest origins are pre-12th century, deriving from "myrgth", of Germanic origin, the definition related to the adjective "merry" to mean "cheerful and lively."  So, yeah, this is one old-assed word, the kind that should've made it into the Ten Commandments, as in "Thou shalt not bear false mirth against thy neighbor."

Jeez, look at me, 600 words in and I've only described "mirth" with a total of two of the necessary twelve words, "shalt" and "total" (I'm so screwed).  Back to the topic, I'd be remiss if I didn't emphasize that the real key to understanding "mirth" is that it's not about an isolated incident; it's an attitude where you're allowing yourself to be swept up in fun. And it's not just momentary; it lasts a good while, in contrast to Idea's fleeting hyena-like laughter over the panic he's caused with his chief attempt to avert this geeky writer's all too public diary submission deadline.  Having to put up with such sauce from a bossy, mango-brained muse hasn't been easy... Hey, check it out, managed to get this done in a jiffy.  Take that, Idea!  Whadya' know, I think I'm experiencing mirth!...

So, yeah, I've had time to think and... what if this whole Wordle/Quordle thing was Idea's doing all along?  What if for once he showed up early to do me a solid?... Aw, hell, you just know, either way, he's gonna take credit for it.