"every day a little death." that Sondheim song is on my mental playlist. never know when it'll surface.
over the weekend I experiencd another little death. I was at one of the pools at Inn Exile with the small plastic bag which contain the Century Dimes (TCD). in my writing I use little punctuation. & I can't remember using an excalmation point which gets such overuse it's lost its punch. but I'm forever thinking of new things to do with TCD. so my plan was to use them to form an exclamation point in the resort's steam room.
I automatically count the dimes when I remove them from the plastic bag. it's also my habit to count them before returning them. to my shock I discoverd but 8 of the coins.
immediately I returnd to their last outing. during a performance of "Pee Wee's Playhouse" they remaind in their bag in my pocket. following the show Paul Reubens did a q & a for special fans. I didn't imagine I'd be able to directly involve Reubens in my project & I was right. never a multi-tasker I concentratd on photographng Reubens but at the same time I did take out the dimes. the question is did I remove them from the bag? I truly can't recall. if I did then it's possible the missing coins were swept away by the Club Nokia janitor. if not I lost them even earlier.
after counting the remaining dimes enumerable times I calmd myself & allowd chance to work in the piece.
obviously TCD is suddenly at an end. the surviving 8 are now incomplete -- like seeing the Andrews Sisters on Broadway after LaVerne had died. I expectd to be finding things for TCD to do on my deathbed. but I won't live thru the whole century anyway so 2010 contains an important number for the piece. I'm at ease with the work's demise. it gives me a shove to finish Current Seas which opens with the work.
what to do with the survivors? the archivist in me won't allow them to disappear even if they lack the power of all 10. perhaps I'll commission a jewelry-maker to use them in a bracelet. or find a bookbinder who'll employ them in a limitd edition of TCD. that's a whole new project.
every day a little death... it's more than a song.
3 comments:
I can always count on you to cheer me up!
It's a great story for some to have gone missing in the presence of Pee Wee Herman. I mean, you just can't make the stuff up! I love that story.
I was thinking of being a novelist & stretching the truth with "Pee Wee Herman Eats the Century Dimes." but I'm happy with reality.
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