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.
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12 Comments
Over efficient much? hehe I wonder if the fact that you feel you have to set so many alarms reveals something about your life? Gosh 5:45? That’s evil! Cruel and unusual punishment! Of course, I say that now … I’ll probably have to do the same thing a few months from now depending on my college schedule. Or if not then, then when I’m out of college trying to keep from starving living in a cold, rundown neighborhood in New York trying to make it in musical theatre (I was joking with my friend Panda today about the “musical theatre diet” – not only do you lose weight because you have no money for food, you also get to cultivate a passion!) I’ll be waking up at 5:45 every morning trying to make a living and pay off my college loans.
Just think – in fifteen minutes you could think about all the things you could have done in that fifteen minutes this morning!
Okay, I think everything I just wrote was absolutely pointless. Enjoy or ignore. 🙂 hugs
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……..
“And what if you were told, “One more hour”? — Elias Canetti (The Secret Heart of the Clock)
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!
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!
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.
anon – At least Jeremy can make something as simple and mundane as waking up at 5:45 in the morning extremely interesting and colorful. Jeremy sees expression in everyday life. He doesn’t need to search for something interesting to write about – it’s happening right in his own life. Jeremy is an artist and views his life through an artist’s eyes. Only a true artist could paint such a lively picture and present such imagery about a loathesome ordinary occurence. I find that to be original.
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)
lol It’s loathesome in the very first second of waking up, when you have that “Ugh” moment – after that, yes I’ll agree it’s wonderful to get up in the morning and have the day to look forward to.
Basically, this is how my morning goes – I wake up at 6:45, sit in bed for a few minutes trying to force my eyes to stay open, hop in the shower, get dressed, eat, and then head off to school. Now that is definitely something to get uo for in the morning. Maybe I’m nuts, but I actually like school – good classes, good friends. So yes, I am very glad I wake up every morning. I think I would prefer waking up around 8 instead of 6:45 because I am so out of it at that time in the morning (well at least it’s not 5:45), but after that second of annoyance, waking up is good. So yes, you are correct. Congrats
And yes, it’s good to be alive in the morning, I’ll give you that too. Though I have to admit that’s not the first thing that crosses my mind when I wake up.
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!)
That sounds like me every morning..except my Sudoku puzzle is electronic..