Well, dear readers, have you ever had a third of your dining room table just break off and crash to the ground? I ask you, where else on all the Internet can you read such a question? Nowhere, that’s where. A third of my dining room table is no more. It has gone the way of the dodo bird and the dodo bird has gone the way of a third of my dining room table. It was quite shocking, this snapping off of a third of a dining room table, especially a very heavy marble dining room table. I’ve had this table for twelve years now. It’s quite elegant, but I’ve always worried about it because it’s a 52″ round table sitting on a pedestal but not attached to it. So there’s no security for it. I noticed a few months ago that there seemed to be a hairline crack that ran from one side of the table to the other. It was the first time I’d notice it, and I suspect that in one of my moves one of the movers damaged it and forgot to mention it. So, I had a visit from a CD dealer and his business partner, dropping off a few items for me. We were chatting and both of them just sat down at the dining room table, something they’ve never done before. As one of them went to get up he put his weight on his end of the table, which made the table tilt towards him and then in an instant the opposite third of the table just broke off and went crashing to the ground. Thank God I wasn’t standing too close to it because if one of those big chunks had landed on my foot I would have had a broken foot. We were all in shock, and he apologized profusely, but it wasn’t really his fault – it obviously was a disaster waiting to happen. Luckily, it didn’t damage anything, and we got all the pieces picked up and into the outside trashcan, and then we swept up all the little pieces. My poor table now looks quite add and, of course, it’s smaller by a third. So, I drove over to Restoration Hardware to look at new tables. They only had one round one, slightly larger but very nice-looking. But the price was outrageous for just a table (my chairs are fine). I looked at Z Gallerie and Pottery Barn, but I hated everything there. So, I went back to Restoration Hardware to see if they’d do any better on the price. They said no. They also couldn’t guarantee delivery would be sooner than three weeks. I told them I’d think about it. On the way home, I saw that a nice furniture place was open on Ventura Blvd. so I went in. Right in front, they had a simple black wood round table, again, slightly larger. It was the same price as the other table with one slight but key difference – this table was on sale for 50% off. I bought it instantly, and they said I’ll most likely have it by next Tuesday. I’m not exactly sure how I’ll get rid of the rest of the tabletop or the base, but I’ll figure it out.
As to the rest of the day, it was the usual busy day. I got up early, did some work on what I’d written yesterday and added some stuff I’d left out. Then Cason Murphy arrived and we addressed a huge number of packages (I’d say that Mad World is our biggest-seller in terms of website orders), filled out the customs forms, and got the postage on all the packages. Then I went and got some lunch at Hugo’s, picked up one little package and one nice envelope, and came home and began writing. I wrote about eight pages very quickly, then the table thing happened, then when I got back, I wrote another four pages, for a total of around fifteen or sixteen. Then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I finished watching a motion picture on a homegrown DVD entitled The Great Imposter, starring Mr. Tony Curtis, Mr. Edmond O’Brien, Mr. Karl Malden, and Mr. Raymond Massey, as well as a whole slew of wonderful character actors. The film was a big favorite of mine when I was a wee sprig of a twig of a tad of a lad of a youth and it remains a favorite. Robert Mulligan, the director, was so good at this type of film, and Curtis is just terrific as the imposter of the title. I even talk about the film in one of the Kritzer books, that’s how much I like it. But what really puts this film into another stratosphere is the sublimely sublime score of Henry Mancini – it’s one of my all-time favorite Mancini scores – it’s got everything – an infectious main theme, a beautiful, haunting love theme, and great dramatic music. It is inconceivable to me that the buffoons at Universal never saw fit to release this film on DVD. They were doing quite a few actor sets, so why they didn’t do a Tony Curtis set, since he was a Universal player for so many years, is anyone’s guess. It’s shameful but they were too busy releasing movies that no one in their right mind would want to buy. Perhaps one day Universal will hire someone with taste and some of these treasures will finally see the light of day.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below whilst we mourn the passing of a third of my dining room table.
Today, Mr. Handy Man will be here to deal with two things – one is to fix the little place where my muffler scrapes when I’m pulling into the garage – the temporary solution, which has worked fine, is hanging on by a thread, so we just need to fix it permanently. And we’re also installing a dead bolt lock on the garage door, one that can be unlocked from the inside or out. Other than that and a few errands and whatnot, it’s a total writing day with a break for some food.
I also have to call my regular haunts to see if I left my wonderful one-of-a-kind MAD jacket somewhere. All I know is, it’s not here. It would be a shame to have lost it, and I’m hoping I just left it behind at one of my regular jernts. I’ll know today.
Tomorrow, I have to organized everyone’s notes on the long musical – it will probably take thirty minutes, but I’ve got to do it. Then it’s another full writing day. The Mad World CDs will arrive on Friday morning, and we’ll get all those shipped out, hopefully by one, after which I shall – wait for it – write.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, supervise the Handy Man, write, eat, write, and write. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland and try not to have the willies about a third of my dining table not being there.