Two references to unpack in that title, but first . . .

“Smiley” (Or, The Most Happy Staircase) – Anthropomorphism at the Grohmann Museum

. . . here’s a photo I took the other day around 2:15 PM of the atrium staircase at the Grohmann Museum (where my office is). If you look at it just right, taking in the two windows (eyes) and the curved “arch” of light shining on the railing’s strands of wire (smile), doesn’t this staircase landing look like a “smiley face”?

I love it when I notice stuff like this. Just a little day-brightener to add a lift as I go about my business 🙂

We all know the smiley face referred to in this post’s title—not only from the many years it has graced products from throw pillows to tote bags to coffee mugs but also (ever since the advent of digital communications and the invention of emojis) from emails, social media posts, and even occasionally more serious documents like job application letters! But, in case you’re curious to know more, like me, here’s the Wikipedia article documenting this happy little icon’s complete history (although I must add that Wikipedia calls it an “ideogram” instead of an “icon,” to which I can only say that the gradation of meaning between those and similar terms like “pictograms” and “symbols” is a little beyond my knowledge set): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smiley

The second part of this post’s title is an allusion to a 1956 Broadway musical that was apparently quite popular, The Most Happy Fella. The original production of this musical ran for 14 months, and it was also broadcast live in 1956 on The Ed Sullivan Show, on the same night that Elvis Presley made his second appearance, coincidentally.

The most famous song from the musical was “Standing on the Corner,” a really catchy tune that you’ve probably heard before if you are *of a certain age* as they like to say euphemistically.

I remember hearing this song on the radio when I was a child, although 1) I’m not quite as old as the song’s age would imply and 2) radio programming seemed a little different when I was young (or, more likely, “popular” music constituted an entirely different variety of song types than it does today). I also remember recognizing this song in the “I Love Lucy” episode where Lucy and the gang go to see “The Most Happy Fella” on Broadway.

Anyway, that’s my post for today: A smiling staircase and a cheerful song and a happy emoji here at the very end to seal it all up with good vibes before I hit “publish” and send it off into the world 🙂