The Necessity of Play

OK, I know that I am not alone! The googledoodle over the past few days has been a joyous distraction as I have struggled to finish my syllabi for next Fall. I keep trying to write little songs, but the reality is that I have very little control with the mouse pad on my laptop. I can't seem to keep good time (my violin teachers never gave me exercises for finger strumming on my laptop!), and the limitations of the string combinations confound my creative impulse (OK, I listen to way too much 20th century music). However, I find such joy in the play that I keep returning to the googledoodle to, well, doodle about. :-)

Then I was reading in the NY Times and noticed that the man who created Mad Libs died this week. Leonard Stern was a TV writer and producer for most of his life. He wrote for such shows as "The Honeymooners," "The Steve Allen Show" and "Get Smart." According to the NYT article, he came up with the idea while writing for "The Honeymooners" but it wasn't until "The Steve Allen Show" that Mad Libs came to life. Stern convinced Allen to introduce each of his guests with a Mad Lib, inviting the audience to contribute their nouns and adjectives to the mix. Stern once relayed one of his favorite introductions: "And here is the scintillating Bob Hope, whose theme song is 'Thanks for the Communist'!"

• Obituary for Leonard B. Stern

When I think of Mad Libs, I am taken back to my childhood, especially middle school and high school. My friends and I used to sit around for hours thinking of funny adjectives, verbs and nouns, creating silly stories. So many bus trips were spent passing Mad Libs from person to person and then reading the crazy story to the whole bus. We would all break into hysterics as words were used out of context and out of place to create non-sequiturs and the occasionally too true statement about one thing or another. Mad Libs helped my friends and I--throughout our adolescence--to play and relate together. Laughter and bonding are what I remember.

And so I have to say thank you to google, Les Paul and Leonard Stern. You have all helped us to stop and play in the midst of our very busy and serious lives. Thank you for the laughter, friendship and music.

If music be the food of play, strum on!