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Reflections of an Octogenarian


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When it comes to TV, summertime is re-run season.  For me it's a time to stray from the channels I usually watch because I've seen all of their episodes more than once. 

 

I still haven't gotten into sit-coms or drama series.  I just look for quick fixes, and that can involve reality shows. But I only watch one type of reality show; the talent competition ones; or  the untalented competitions, as the case may be.  What I have observed while watching these shows is a simple lesson.  A lesson that is not new but one that TV enhances and dramatizes because it exposes  the power of reactions.   

 

I have become a regular viewer of a show called The Shark Tank, a program where people appear who have an invention or business venture they want to launch or expand but need large monetary loans to implement their dream.  The judging panel consists of 4 astute, successful financial tycoons who harshly evaluate the presentations of the contestants and decide whether or not they want to go into business with them by investing the money being requested which amounts to anywhere from $50,000 to $1,000,000.

 

One by one a succession of wanna-be entrepreneurs come forward and wade into the "tank", full of confidence and enthusiasm as they demonstrate their products or explain their ideas in hopes of getting one of the "Sharks" to advance the money being sought in exchange for a percentage of their enterprise. Most of these propositions are rejected but not before the hopefuls have been raked over the coals  by the panel members who deconstruct and ridicule their ideas or make insultingly low counter offers for financial assistance. 

 

So right before the camera we see beaming faces deflate into humiliation and bright smiles fade into disappointment. Eyes moisten, lips quiver as negativity does its cruel work. Heads bowed, tails between their legs, the would-be winners are reduced to losers and leave the stage, their hopes dashed by the stark reality of honest criticism. 

 

Contrast this to the contestants in whatever venue they appear who have impressed those critiquing them.  With their talent validated, their anxiety vanishes and their nervous demeanors are transformed by the glow of happiness.

 

With all that we know about the complicated human psyche, the impact of two simple actions can never be underestimated because they starkly demonstrate the power of language.  Words are weapons that anyone can wield, and they can exert a profound effect on individiuals, no matter what their station in life. No one is immune to the Ego virus.

 

Like magical incantations, utterences of REJECTION injure, and the sounds of PRAISE heal.  

 Somebody once said, "life is the question, love is the answer".  Someone else intoned: "the truth will set you free".  And let's hear it for whomever murmured "silence is golden."  And, of course, "one picture is worth a thousand words". Words, words, words...  

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Octogenarian?

Lol, is that one of those fad diets where a person is restricted to eating octopus?

Anyway......





((Pioneer takes off his glasses and sits forward in his chair))


Nice pictures.....if they're REALLY you, lol.

Infact ...

((rubs chin with a sly grin on his face))


If I had been around then and met you before you got married, I may have been tempted to "exorcise" some of the devilishment out of you and put you on my "team"....lol.

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I assure you that the person in that photo collage is really me, Pioneer.  For you to question  my credibiity is why, back in the day, you could not have enticed me to be on "your team."   -_-   

 

Now, as this octogenarian was saying...stfu.  :P

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Your far-fetched attempts at being witty are never on point, Pioneer.  That's because they are irrelevant and silly, as opposed to being funny.   

 

I can tell something about you, too, and I don't need to see your picture to sense that you are a dud, - and I don't mean dude.   

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Ooooh, Troy. Enough already.  This is more of myself than I want to share.  I really do prefer anonymity although It does occur to me that because of my views being controversial and atypical of a woman my age,  some may suspect that Cynique is a fictional character who is the figment of someone's imagination. 

 

But I am who I am.  I just can't help it if I never got past being that girl with the bangs and pearls, a 17 year old high school graduate, ready to go out and face the world. Some might call that arrested development.  I just attribute it to my core personality never changing. I am a natural born skeptic who graduated to being a cynic, - currently an octogenarian who sees the world through the eyes of an iconoclast, believing that everything new, is old. 

 

My favorite program the Science channel, has done shows exploring the nature of reality.  One of the posulations favored the idea that those who people brand as pessimists are really those who are more in touch with the real world.  Too many others get caught up in viewing it through rose-colored glasses, a sphere where wishing will make it so.  But, in reality, life is a bitch which promises you nothing...

 

...and speaking of bitches, you didn't post the picture which I think captures the true essence of whom I embody.  B)  Maybe I'll do that myself. 

 

Meanwhile back to Obama's dilemma.  On second thought, the prospect of an Iraq re-play in Syria, summons my weary cynicism and shifts my focus to more trivial things like what Halle Berry will name her expected baby.  How about "East" - or "Who" - as in who gives a damn?  

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Thanks, Troy. No biggie.  I am clueless as to who, if anyone, even keeps up with Cynique or cares about her personal life.  Lurkers are so nebulous and reluctant to post.  I could just be talking mostly to myself. when I express my opinions here.   So maybe I'm overreacting.  

 

My grandchildren have no idea about the alter ego I assume on this site.  My kids are just vaguely aware of this activity and I don't encourage them to follow my online activities.  This is a place where I can come and be myself, free from the scrutiny of those who are more comfortable with me being "Mommy" and "Nana" as opposed to an individual who marches to her own drumbeat and has no interest in being a Goody 2-shoes PollyAnna.  :P    

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