The Ballad of Mary-o a/k/a the Monkeephilia Mission Statement.

Mary-o is a blogger, web developer and first generation Monkees fan who recently had something of a spiritual re-awakening. (Don’t hang up yet). During this re-awakening, she re-discovered one of the soulful influences of her childhood – the pop culture phenom known as The Monkees. She was inspired to write about her experiences & recollections and perhaps create a site to uniquely pay tribute to the group & their influence on her and on the three generations of young people who have become Monkees fans.

Monkeephilia.com is that site.

The name Mary-o comes from the Monkees song “Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)” in which the narrator is torn between two girls – Mary (Mary, oh, what a sweet girl) and Sandra (long hair, a beat girl). The writer of this blog is much more a Sandra than a Mary, but Mary-o sounds catchier than Sandra, and is more closely related to mary-o’s actual real-life name. So mary-o is how she’ll forever be known on this site.

Monkeephilia is so named because “philia” means love and if we go to the origin of the word in Greek, it’s a particular type of love. Philia describes a respectful friendship that is mutual, where each friend gives to the other and acts in ways that are best for the other.

Does this mean mary-o is a crazed fan who loves the four Monkees and thinks that they love her back? Emphatically no, not at all.

What applies here is that all artists “give” to the world when they perform. And the better & more soulful the performance, the more they give. As one who has had the privilege to receive the gifts given by these four modern-day troubadors (and their “creators”), mary-o feels extremely moved to give a little something back. So, she offers her high admiration and undying affection to Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith & Davy Jones & even Bob Rafelson & Bert Schneider, in the (somewhat) tangible form of this website.

Lest this all sound deadly serious to you, or perhaps too touchy-feely or too abracadabra-woo-woo, rest assured one of the recurring themes here will be “Let’s not take ourselves too seriously!”.

So…although mary-o does believe in a spiritual dimension (to everything!) and her Monkee-love is heartfelt & undying…we are primarily here to enjoy, laugh, recreate and share a common interest. If you feel at all comfortable, please make an account and share with us via the comments section of the blog. And come back often.

mary-o