Saturday, March 04, 2006

15 Minutes

Today I had 15 minutes to make it from pure sleep to the hotel lobby: from 5:45 to 6:00 AM. I lay still after the first heart-jolting buzzer; I sacrificed some time to inertia, a counterfeit peace. But the phone cruelly rang; the electronic, mystifying voice was Josh, checking if I was awake. I feigned sentience. I struggled over to the armchair and put on my shirt. My pants seemed arduous and I postponed them. Bathroom; toothbrush; toothpaste. My cell phone alarm went off. Its sound was muffled, mournful, as if a phone from another life; time passed (hours, years?) while I sorted out this mystery; where could it be? Ah, reality: it called from between the covers, where I had left it, next to my Sudoku puzzles. I was stabbed as I grabbed my phone, by my mechanical pencil. Blood of Sudoku. Pants on. I decided to try to zip up my suitcase. I was sitting atop, crushing my belongings into a convenient volume, when the phone rang again--my horrible, evil backup wake-up call, loud and vehement, a post-apocalyptic rooster of the pre-dawn. Back to the bedside I flew, picked up the phone, put it down... I fell on the bed, exhausted. And then passed 3 minutes of danger, when sleep's siren called. Now there was no time to waste; everything had to be done at once. Most of my 15 minutes had elapsed simply turning off the alarms I had set into motion. Let us hope our lives will not pass in the same fashion.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well,JD few more days your tour w/ JB will end soon and you'll be back home but of course another alarm clock to struggle,another 15 min.to yawn or to sleep back...
It's the life of a celebrated pianist on the road.But then you've got to torment yourself w/ the other pleasures in life.

Looking forward for your homecoming....Can't wait to see you in one of your performances here in NY........

Anonymous said...

Poor Josh even had to wake up BEFORE 6:00! Did he get any sleep at all! As much as I appreciate your great performance (in Bass Hall), I still wish you two could take a break, spend some time doing nothing. Take care!

Anonymous said...

Poor Josh even had to wake up BEFORE 6:00! Did he get any sleep at all! As much as I appreciate your great performance (in Bass Hall), I still wish you two could take a break, spend some time doing nothing. Take care!

Anonymous said...

Millions of people wake up at or before 6 for less gratyfying jobs. They of course do not paint this in exqusitely overdramatic, neurotic blog colors. The passage of Time, the stressful yet chic life of the elite. How cliche. It even makes me crave the endless musical analysis.Some substance please, something original.

Anonymous said...

Loathsome? Waking up in the morning is loathsome? Not waking up is loathsome beacause of a mortar on your house. You have completely lost perspective claire (if you ever had one)

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

"Loathsome? Waking up in the morning is loathsome? Not waking up is loathsome beacause of a mortar on your house. You have completely lost perspective claire (if you ever had one)"

You call that loathsome?! I'll see your mortared home and raise you someone who has a mortar dropped on their home AND then the septic system backs up - on a holiday weekend, no less!

(Wheeee! This is FUN!)

Priscilla said...

That sounds like me every morning..except my Sudoku puzzle is electronic..