Songs, artists, and writers come up with songs everyday. To some, it comes with ease; for others, they have to sit and ponder the chords that might go with the song. Even others sit with the guitar in their hands, strumming the chords before the words even come into shape or form.

In the forum, someone came up with the topic on songs that have been in Quantum Leap episodes and how the songs seemed to match up with the tone of the episode. The music that Bellasario placed in the episodes, I think, is just as important as the dialogue and the all out effect of the show. Below are a couple of songs that came from Quantum Leap. In both of these, you can see the meanings behind them – as well as how I know that they deal with me in my life…

To Dream The Impossible Dream

To dream the impossible dream,

To fight the unbeatable foe,

To bear with unbearable sorrow,

To run where the brave dare not go,

To right the unrightable wrong,

To love pure and chased from afar,

To try when your arms are to weary,

To reach the unreachable star,

This is my quest to follow that star,

No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,

To fight for the right without question or cause,

To be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause,

And I know if I’ll only be true to this glorious quest,

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm,

When I’m laid to my rest,

And the world will be better for this,

That one man scorned and covered with stars,

Still strove with his last ounce of courage,

To reach the unreachable stars.

Not only did Sam sing this song, it has meaning to him… as it does to me. Within the past couple of months with the pressure and multi-tasking that I have been doing, I find that I’m one of those Dreamers. I have a quest of my own, as do we all. The more that I think about this song, the more and more that I see myself. I dream what seems like an impossible dream; I bear with what seems like unbearable sorrow (at times or so it seems); I want to right the unrightable wrongs; I love pure and chased from afar (more so than anybody I know – hehehe who else can watch the same movie a hundred times or more and still cry at the end?); I try when my arms are to weary (boy are they ever when your tired of the day to day stuff of real life and you need to relax and write); and to think that I do it because I want to – because it’s rewarding for me – not just for the people who read the stories. It’s my mark on the world, so it needs to be bright as it can be. My unreachable star.

Another song that has been played in a Quantum Leap episode "Pool Hall Blues" doesn’t really have a title, but I call it, "He’ll Be There". It just says it all, doesn’t it???

He’ll Be There

When you’re down and out

And there’s trouble all around you

And it seems like nothing’s

Gonna turn out right

When you just can’t see

Any silver lining

Just put your hands together

And just hold on tight.

He’ll be there

When you need some comfort

There when you need a friend

He’ll be there

When the dark clouds

Are closing all around you

But you gotta believe

When you get down on your knees

He’ll be there to make

The sun shine again.

But you gotta believe

When you get down on your knees

He’ll be there to make

The sun shine again.

THE REASON

I feel that I owe an explanation behind the post that I made on the Al’s Place Web Forum on January 22, 2003. Back on October 16, 2002, I made a debut as Robyn X here at Al’s Place - the reason to have another column … to give Rod a partner on the "Rodernet" to debate all things Quantum Leap-ish. I thought it would be fun. It was something that I could, as the girls say, let my hair down and just have fun with. But as the months progressed, as did my other Quantum Leap activities progressed, I found myself getting stressed out on what to write; how to write it and when to find the time to do it. My routine went from a little span to a wide spectrum - as did my emotions. I found myself not being able to sleep and not having enough family time with my kids. I was doing way too much. I was stressing over every little thing – wondering how I was going to get everything done. My schedule (something that I had actually set up in spans of 30 minutes) flew out the window and I bit at my family.

The projects that I was working on: Quantum Leap: The Virtual Seasons; Quantum Retribution; TSM_Online; Quanta Dimensional Leap; writing with different people on stories formatted for TVS; writing short fiction and non-fiction for the Children’s Institute – a guide/teacher oriented school helping me to try to become published; Rodette Vision; reading Quantum Leap stories for Al’s Place for reviews; TEA’s for Al’s Place; finding time to work on arts and crafts (I do like to crochet and do cross stitch); watching only a few TV shows those being Boston Public, JAG and Enterprise; then normal real life stuff like – keeping the house clean, the laundry done, the kids homework and the family happy. Not too much to do, right?

I was over-taxed and way over-tasked. But I enjoyed my time. But with the yearnings for sleep at some point in the night, I knew that I had to do something or pop. Out of a desperate plea for some relief and a reprieve, I have put off working on Quantum Retribution (notice I said put off and not quit), the reviews and TEA’s for Al’s Place, working in diminished capacity on Quanta Dimensional Leap and asked for forgiveness when I revealed that I had been posing as Robyn X. I knew that this would bring on a tirade of emotions not only from me but also from the Bartender, a very good friend of mine, and I knew what it would cause here on Al’s Place. Emotions flared more in me when within a day when I saw a posting that a new columnist was being called for after I asked for a small reprieve.

I must be one of the luckiest women in the world to have found such an awesome group of friends here at Al’s Place. The nice words, comments and e-mails were just plain sweet. For those people who basically said, "Relax… breathe in… breathe out… relax, MJ. I care about you, just relax. Everything will be okay…" You are the best friends to have – especially to a person who’s emotional existence was on the edge.

It took me a few days to calm down, relax and a doctor’s appointment to get me somewhat back on the right track. Stress and pressure do odd things to people and when not known how to handle it correctly, it will come back to bite you where it hurts the most.

Interestingly, enough, I’ve always heard that it’s darkest before the dawn… and with friends like you guys here at Al’s Place, that unreachable star seems a lot more attainable than it was before.

WHAT’S NEXT?

I’m not sure what’s next in store for the upcoming Rodette Vision. But I am open to suggestions. I’ll keep a look out on the board, and I may even publish here what may be some very interesting news about Quantum Leap: The Virtual Seasons. There have been some new changes at Phoenix Virtual Television where they promote the site. They have some ideas that conflict. And, I’ll keep you guys informed on that aspect. So, unless I get some ideas from the forum… or straight from you guys and gals… I’ll find something to write.

Still reaching for that unreachable star….