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November 30, 2015:

MOTHBALLS

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, can we just have a conversation about mothballs? I remember when I was a wee bairn that everyone had closets that smelled like mothballs. But we don’t have that smell these days, so have mothballs become a thing of the past? First off, how exactly do the balls of a moth keep things, well, I’m not actually sure what mothballs do or did. The female moths must have been horrified that all the male moths were having their balls removed so they could be in someone’s closet. Oh, I see – they’re not the real balls of a moth, they’re just CALLED mothballs for some reason. They were and are (yes, you can still buy mothballs) little balls filled with pesticides and stuff, supposedly to keep actual moths and other such things from your clothing. I am currently sixty-seven years old, and in all my years do you know what – I’ve never seen a damn moth near my clothes or my closet. But the smell was rancid. They also supposedly were good for repelling snakes, mice, and squirrels. Certainly they kept ME repelled. I may buy a box of mothballs just so I can photograph myself with said balls. I think that might be a fun photograph, don’t you? But the real thing is why am I actually talking about mothballs – what the HELL am I going on about mothballs for?

Yesterday, I slept fitfully and probably only got seven hours of sleep. I didn’t fall asleep until after three, and I awoke a few times, but stayed in bed until eleven-thirty. Once up, I did the usual things – stuff on the computer, work at the piano, and some writing. Then our musical director came and we went through all the holiday show music – that went very fast. I was dismayed only because he was sick. And now I’m feeling a little weird, because I’ve now been around sick people several times in the last week, so send excellent vibes and xylophones for no sickness whatsoever and the second miracle. As a precaution, I’ve been popping Sambucol, Airborne, Coldeez, and I will NyQuil as soon as I finish writing these here notes. Anyway, the session went very quickly, as he played last year’s holiday show, so more than half of the arrangements were already done. He left and I sat on my couch like so much fish.

Yesterday, I began watching a Danish motion picture on the Flix of Net, entitled A Royal Affair, starring the young lady I’d liked so much in Ex Machina, Alicia Vikander. It’s a historical film about Denmark in the 1700s under the rule of the mad (insane) King Christian. I knew nothing of the subject matter and I enjoyed the film very much and was completely involved in the story. Ms. Vikander is really great in this movie, which was up for an Oscar for Best Foreign film three years ago. Gabriel Yared co-composed the lush score and it, like the film, is also terrific.

Then it was time for the birthday dinner at The Smoke House with my friend, whose belated birthday we were celebrating. I was a very good boy – a small cup of clam chowder and a Shrimp Louis and only two tiny pieces of the garlic cheese bread.   We had fun, then I came right home and watched the rest of A Royal Affair, which I highly recommend. It’s on Netflix right now.

After that, I just relaxed and hoped that my throat doesn’t take a turn for the worse – it feels like it could go either way right now, and I have no time for this sort of thing. I also wrote the first few pages of the new book – just rough, but when I start on the first, I’ll already be on my way, which is what I like.

Today, the new interim helper will be by at ten – depending on how I’m feeling, I may go back to bed. After that, I’ll eat, jog if I’m feeling up to it, which I hope I will be, hopefully pick up packages, and then we have our first Kritzerland rehearsal in the evening – because of the wacky schedule, what should be two rehearsals has turned into three or four, but they’ll be much shorter than usual, so that’s good.

The rest of the week is meetings and meals, more rehearsals, more writing, more work at the piano, and seeing a couple of things, I think.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, eat, jog, hopefully pick up packages, and have a rehearsal. Today’s topic of discussion: What things around your house creeped you out as a child. For me it was the stuff my mother kept in the kids’ bathroom shower – too scary to talk about – but tubes and rubber things. Also the vacuum cleaner in the den closet. Also mothballs. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping I am never put in mothballs.

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