The End of the Day

(The setting is a small countryside cafe. It is the end of the day, a waitress in her mid-forties is cleaning up around the counter, the cafe is empty except her. Suddenly Nick walks in, he’s in his mid-thirties.)

Waitress: (To Nick) Hi there, how are you today?

Nick: I’m fine, the guy down the road said you make dynamite coffee.

Waitress: Did he say that?

Nick: He did.

Waitress: Was that Charlie?

Nick: His name might’ve been Charlie, I didn’t quite get it.

Waitress: Did he have a white beard, with gut out to about here?

Nick: He did at that.

Waitress: Yeah that was Charlie.

Nick: Well was he wrong about the coffee?

Waitress: He wasn’t wrong, we usually do serve a good cup of coffee, but you came at the wrong time. You see when you want our best coffee, it’s best to come before two o’clock that’s when it’s still fresh. You’re coming at four-forty, it’s near the end of the day, you’ll be getting the four-forty coffee which is just about as good as anyone who can throw a pot on the stove and turn the burner on.

Nick: Well I’ll have whatever you have.

Waitress: You can have it, I’m just saying don’t expect much, it being four-forty and all. Coffee has a short lifespan.

Nick: Like a fly you might say.

Waitress: Like a what?

Nick: A fly, they only live for twenty-four hours.

Waitress: That’s an odd comparison, but I suppose judging by lifespan, it sort of makes sense, although I’m not saying that our coffee should be compared to a fly generally. We got a clean notice from the health inspector just last month. Not a speck of flies in the place, and he enjoyed our coffee too.

Nick: Well that’s a ringing endorsement.

Waitress: Of course he did come before two o'clock, which as I said before is when our coffee is at our best.

Nick: Well I’ll just have a cup of whatever you have left, and I won’t complain at all.

(Nick sits down at a table while the waitress goes behind the counter to pour the coffee.)

Waitress: I’d expect you’d want cream and sugar with your coffee, it makes it go down easier that way. It hides the aftertaste which there will be some, it being four-forty and all.

Nick: Sure cream and sugar would be fine.

Waitress: How many lumps?

Nick: One is good.

Waitress: May I suggest two, what with the aftertaste and all?

Nick: Sure I’ll go with two.

(Waitress comes around with the coffee and puts it on the table.)

Waitress: Here you go, will there be anything else?

Nick: I did have a hankering for a piece of pie when I came in, do you have any pie left?

Waitress: Sure we got pie; it’s been out all day, probably dried up something fierce.

Nick: What kind is it?

Waitress: Well our specialty is strawberry rhubarb, we’re known throughout the county for our strawberry rhubarb pie. It’s probably the best strawberry rhubarb pie I’ve ever had, and you might think that’s a biased remark coming from somebody who works here, but mister I would not be telling no lie if I were to tell you it is indeed the best pie I have ever tasted. But we don’t have any of that left, that sells out real fast around here, usually gone by two o’clock, I’d say if you came before two o’clock we’d have some. We do have apple pie though; our apple isn’t as good as our strawberry rhubarb, we don’t specialize in it or anything, it’s pretty much like any other apple pie you’d get at a cafe such as this, unless you go the Roy’s bakery about twenty minutes down the road, he grows his own apples on his farm, and his apple pie is definitely something to write home about. But he closes at five just as we do, even if you leave right away, I’d expect you’d be out of time, so I guess you’d be better off just having our apple pie.

Nick: Sure, that sounds good.

Waitress: And I did mention that it’s dried up something fierce, it being the end of the day and all?

Nick: You did mention that.

Waitress: So don’t expect anything too extravagant.

Nick: I won’t.

Waitress: Would you like a newspaper to read?

Nick: Sure.

Waitress: We have today’s newspaper, but it being near the end of the day, it’s almost like yesterday’s news. There’s probably been other news happening throughout the day that you could probably look up on the television or the Internet faster than reading this old paper. Most of our morning people come in reading today’s newspaper, because for them it’s still new, for someone coming in at the end of the day, it’s now like an old newspaper. (Looks at it) Someone seems to have finished the crossword in it and everything, you can’t even do that. Usually by this time, we don’t have any customers so I just throw this paper in the recycling, I was actually just about to do it before you came in.

Nick: Well I’m sorry to ruin your routine.

Waitress: Oh not at all, we’re open till five and until then, we remain the most hospitable to our customers. I’m just warning you, it’s all old news.

Nick: Well that’s alright, it is the end of the day and all. I show up, drinking your day old coffee, eating your dried up pie, and reading your out of date newspaper. I suppose it doesn’t make a lick of sense for someone like me to come in at this time, when you’re ready to close up and everything.

Waitress: No I suppose not, but I’m not gonna judge you, I’ll give you what we have, and hopefully that will hold you over. You travelling somewhere?

Nick: Just passing through. Just had a hankering for a cup of coffee and a piece of pie.

Waitress: Well next time you’re passing through, and you get the same hankering, may I suggest you do it before two o’clock? Cause like I said, our coffee’s the best before two o’clock. And we might have some strawberry rhubarb left for you too.

Nick: I’ll plan to do that next time, thanks.

Three Obsessions of the Week

1. Poetry Readings by Tom O'Bedlam: I first heard of him courtesy of Roger Ebert who tweets about him all the time. He's got one of those great voices that seems soothing yet commanding. He has his own channel on Youtube I suggest you check it out.



2. Plastic Bag: The best film I've seen so far this year is about a brown plastic bag. It's 18 minutes long, is narrated by Werner Herzog and it's wonderful. Above you can watch all 18 glorious minutes of it.



3. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: I kicked off my summer reading spectacular with probably the one book that epitomizes summer for young boys. In sixth grade I was assigned to "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and I was only 90 pages away from finishing it when for some reason I stopped, I'm not sure why but I always wanted to go back and read it, and then perhaps read the rest of Mark Twain.

My Summer Book List

I love reading, I consider it a passion. This year I want to read more books than ever, so I decided to start a list.Here is a list of books I hope to have read by the end of the summer, I'll let you know how it went in September.

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" By Mark Twain (Currently reading)

"Fanny and Zooey" By J.D. Salinger

"Harry Potter and Deathly Hollows" By J.K Rowling (Yes can you believe it, I haven't read it yet)

"Little Dorrit" By Charles Dickens

"The Wrong Side of Paris" By Honore de Balzac

"Short Stories" By Anton Checkhov

"Catch 22" By Joseph Heller

"East of Eden" By John Steinbeck

If I have time ("The Hunchback of Notre Dame", "Crime and Punishment", "Les Miserables", "For Whom the Bell Tolls")

There we go, wish me luck.

Nostalgia: Positive and Negative and a little philosophy to end on

I few days ago, I was feeling nostalgic, I was thinking about the past, my old glory days of high school, if one could call them glory days. I suppose I was mostly thinking of the people I knew back then, all of them I'm somewhat sorry to say I have not kept in touch with at all. My last link to the old high school days ended about five years ago, although it seems like a lifetime ago, that last link deserves a blog entry of its own which I shall save for another day perhaps when I'm not quite sober.

However I digress, I decided to use the magical tool of Facebook just to see how some of my old clan was doing. I wasn't sure what I was thinking, perhaps I was trying to see if time had actually stood still since the last time I saw these people, or more realsitically perhaps to see where their lives were at compared to mine.

I was a little nervous at my endeavor, I realized my life hadn't reached its full potential, I would consider myself as someone who is generally happy but has yet to find his place in the world. I know people today who seem content with their lives, who seem to have gotten exactly what they wanted from the world. I can't help but envy those people, perhaps I'm making assumptions here but they to me have always looked to have found they answers they were looking for.

I had a friend once who I believed was the smartest person in the world. She often told me I did too much thinking, she probably had a point, I liked to over analyze things and that probably hindered me from enjoying myself from time to time. She had a way of looking at things simply, she was still intuitive, clever, and thoughtful, but she didn't let anything get in her way from being happy. The last time I heard from her, it sounded like she got exactly what she wanted, there's not doubt in my mind she found her happiness, and I know she would want me to feel the same, that was just the kind of person I remember her being.

I suppose my venture into nostalgia the other night was simply because I was missing that feeling from my youth. I was missing the time I shared with those people, bad memories ended up overtaking that time in my life, I sometimes forget the good ones.

I decided to look up some facebook profiles of these people just to see how they were doing and just to see if they were happy. I was no disappointed, most of them it seemed have moved on and gotten married. One of my best friends from high school who was a hockey nut even has his own radio hockey show which I have now become a fan of on Facebook. Some of those who have gotten married have also seemed to have kids as well. I felt very happy seeing their photos, some of them I knew would get married and have kids, it just fit for them.

Afterwards, a great feeling of relief and sadness came over me, I suppose it came from the idea that all these people I knew who represented my youth had grown older, time had not stood still for them, I saw them as adults now with more resposibilities than they ever had in high school. Part of me wanted to pick up the phone and give them a call, but it was so long ago, our lives are now different, I guess I wanted to keep them as a memory, as part of my youth.

I haven't really talked about my past with the people I know today. I'm not sure why that is, I guess there are still things about it I still find difficult to talk about. I suppose my past hasn't really come up in conversation which could be another factor. Perhaps the past is just something that could best be remembered with the people you lived it with, or maybe it's just something I was to selfishly remember on my own. There is still a lot about my past I don't like to remember, but most of it is something I can now look back on with fondness.

A few nights ago I decided to watch a film by Jean-Luc Godard entitled "Vivre Sa Vie". It was a new film I hadn't seen before, in it, there is a scene where the lead character is having a conversation with a philosopher. The two begin to talk about love, and philosopher says that love is something that must be searched for. I suppose it is difficult to know exactly what love is, it made me think of all the people I have loved in my life, I can honestly say the people and things I love dearly matter the most to me today, but I can also honestly say my search isn't over.

Three Obsessions of the Week

1. Dr. Who (David Tennant's last hurrah): It's been awhile since I've been so emotionally attached to a television character, but when I finally saw the final episode of David Tennant's The Doctor, I almost lost it. I share with many an affection for Tennant, for me he is my doctor. Others have tried to comfort me saying Matt Smith who plays the new doctor is terrific as well, but it's too soon, to say that is like when your dog dies and your parents say "it's okay we'll go down to the pet store and buy you a new dog. I don't want a new dog, and I don't want a new doctor. The series was kinda getting a bit sloppy in parts during its fourth season, but Tennant stayed remarkable and I know he's not really dead, but I'll miss him.



2. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata: I've been listening to more classical music than ever before. I've acquired a taste for it, and it puts me at ease. Beethoven is I guess the obvious choice for anyone getting into classical music. I've heard "Moonlight Sonata" before, but this may be the first time I really listened to it. On a side note, I've also been listening to Debussy's "Claire De Lune" a lot lately as well. Maybe my obsession is about the moon instead.

3. "The Universal": "The Universal" is the name of the play that I wrote. I am currently in rehearsals for it, we open July 8th, I'm directing it, so of course I would be obsessing over it, it's my baby, my small, modest, little baby, and I'm putting it out for all to world to see. I'm not expecting a large crowd, I'm hoping people will like it, I suppose that's always the hope. I know I'm happy with it, and I suppose that's really all that counts, I hope it will leave an impression, and all I can do is make it presentable and hold my head up high.

My Three Obsessions of the Week

I'm going to be starting a new series in my blog, which I stole from another blog I read Kim Morgan. Every so often, Morgan likes to obsess over things and she writes about them. Oh those great obsessions that overtake our lives, in a way they sort of make it all worth it doesn't it. Anyway, here are my three obsession for this week.



1. David Tennant:: I'm not ashamed to admit it, but I am having a bit of a man crush on David Tennant right now. Currently I'm enjoying Mr. Tennant in everything I see him in. I am now watching his seasons as The Doctor in "Doctor Who" where he's so magnetic, and charismatic you wish he could play the role forever. Recently I've just watched Tennant's rendition of "Hamlet" on BBC which I thought was riveting. His first soliloquy almost brought tears to my eyes. Tennant is one of those actors who throws himself head first into a role, but what I could sense in both as The Doctor and Hamlet, he brings his own charm and wit to it as well. I know once I see him regenerate into the next doctor, I'll be a wreck for a long time.



2. The Beach Boys Pet Sounds Album: God what a horrible cover, but what a gorgeous album. I've loved The Beach Boys since I was a kid, their music is a part of my growing up. It's summer, and their music epitomizes this season better than anyone else. Today was the first day where it actually felt like summer outside, the sun was out, the grass was green, it was one of those perfect looking days. I decided to indulge myself in the "Pet Sounds" album and it brought back some fond memories of childhood, and of my teenage years when the music really spoke to me. No one can write ballads quite like Brian Wilson and the gang, and no one can write really positive music with so much alienated undertones as well, brilliant.



3. J.D. Salinger: If there was a writer who's work I wish I found little earlier in life, I think it would be J.D. Salinger. 2010 for me is the year I finally read "Cather in the Rye" and I found it to be a brilliant book, as most people do when they first read it. The writing is so natural, it's actually like Holden Caulfield is sitting in the room next to you telling his story. Afterwards, I wanted to read more of Salinger's work right away, getting his "Nine Stories" and "Fanny and Zooey" almost immediately. There is some good reading ahead for me.

Wrestling with Hamlet

I've been going back to "Hamlet" time and time again in some form or another since I was in Junior High. I'm constantly obsessed with it. I have read "Hamlet" more than anything else in my life, there's something about it that stirs me to no end.

"Hamlet" made me fall in love with Shakespeare. Like all students in Junior High, Shakespeare was the criterion in our English class. The first play we studied was "Romeo and Juliet", then it was "The Merchant of Venice", then "Macbeth", but "Hamlet" was still far off.

In my drama class in Junior High, we were given scenes to do that were to be performed in front of the school. The only thing that was assigned to us that was Shakespeare was the balcony scene from "Romeo and Juliet". I didn't want to do that scene, I never really connected with those two young lovers from Verona. I asked my teacher if I could do another Shakespeare scene and requested "Hamlet". She agreed, and with me playing the lead, my partner would play the part of my father's ghost.

This would be the closest I would ever come to playing "Hamlet" on stage, I pretty much had no idea what I was saying, my partner actually had more lines than I did. My one monologue is still one I can remember by heart, I'm not good at memorizing monologues, but this one has stuck with me, I even recited it as my monologue to get into theatre school.

Perhaps it's the fact that being young makes one relate to Hamlet, and his troubles. He was always the one with the most angst, the most melancholy, the most brooding intensity. I always found Hamlet to be the most tragic of Shakespeare's tragic figures, however I've been told when I get older I will find King Lear to be the most tragic.

Hamlet is of course the cream of the crop for actors to perform, and I must admit it has been a dream of mine to portray him on stage. I've become a bit more realistic as to what parts I'm able to play and what parts I'm not. I can't see Hamlet in the near future for me, but I haven't given up complete hope.

I've seen many different filmed versions of "Hamlet", most recently the BBC version with David Tennant (Who's already my hero as Doctor Who), I've only seen one stage version which was performed by pseudo-Shakespearan actors, they didn't really pull it off.

I suppose the language has always been intimidating for me. I never really understood how to read Shakespeare until we did it in our acting class. It did become easier for me to recite it, but still there were parts that I couldn't understand. I remember doing a speech from "Henry V" in front of my instructor, and apparently I was saying the speech all wrong. I didn't like that feeling, I wanted to understand what I was saying, later I did a terrible audition for the Stratford school in Ontario. I felt embarrassed and out of my league, and since then I've been a little gun shy when it came to Shakespeare.

Still "Hamlet" keeps returning to me, like the ghost of his father, I've always respected to work of Shakespeare and admired him, in my humble way I've always wished to come up with something that was even a minuscule bit as poetic as what he wrote. I think "Hamlet" is the one play by his I understand the most simply because it is the one play I've read and seen the most. The story is so engaging, but I think it's mostly the character, who is so conflicted in so many ways and so deeply layered. I suppose Hamlet represents to me the most, all those universal questions we ask ourselves, it's all there in the "To Be or Not to Be" speech, which I won't dictate to you just now as it is so familiar. Even though that speech has been done to death, when spoken by the right actor, I can't help but be moved by it in a very philosophical and spiritual way.

My favorite quote of all time actually comes from "Hamlet", I'm not sure if I ever shared that with anyone but it's "There are more things in Heaven and Earth Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy". I usually take out the Horatio bit, but basically I state that quote as my belief system. There are so many things we do not know, and perhaps will never know, that we can't possibly take everything at face value. Hamlet wrestles with the mysteries of life and death like all of us, it's a vast universe out there, and we don't know how it was created, or if anything is out there. At times I remain skeptical, but sometimes I catch myself wondering, and wishing, perhaps it's all in vein, perhaps not, to be or not to be, that is the question.

There are so many things about "Hamlet" that I could delve into. I suppose I appreciate different things about it in different phases of my life. When I was younger, I think it was his melancholy and loneliness I latched onto being a fellow alienated party myself. Today I think of Hamlet as a great thinker who contemplates the same things I do. There's always a reason for me to go back to it, and as long as it gets played, I will always love it.

This Blog Entry asks you to listen to The Beatles and Nothing More

I won't be the first to say it, but The Beatles were the greatest band to have ever lived, that's a stated fact, I'm pretty sure that's in the constitution actually. There's no debating it, if you debate it, you will be mocked and laughed at by music lovers all around.

There's no getting around it, The Beatles just did it better than anyone, and there are some days I really miss them. Today is one of those days so tonight I popped in "Abbey Road" and reminded myself of their greatness. Reminding yourself of someone's greatness is comforting, like for Shakespeare, you can read "Hamlet", or for Hitchcock, you can watch "Vertigo". It puts me at ease, there are certain masters that just take you to school and you keep learning from them no matter how many times you revisit their work.

The Beatles were like the people's band, everyone liked them, they were hard to resist, they got you with simple pop melodies, and sing a long lyrics that just made you feel better.

My CD player in my car is shot, so I have to turn to the radio for music and I'm so disillusioned at what is playing, I sometimes can't stand it, I have to turn it down.

Call me a dinosaur, or an old grump, (I'm 29 and to me that's not old although I'm reminded by my younger peers it is) but today's music is just a bunch of noise, and EVERY DAMN THING SOUNDS THE SAME!!!!! IS IT JUST ME? AM I THE ONLY ONE TO NOTICE THIS? I CAN'T BE I JUST CAN'T BE!!!!

I think The Beatles will be around forever, but I'm a little worried when I see some younger people not even get a reference to one of their songs. Beatles music should be like lullaby's to the younger children, they should be as familiar as nursery rhymes, when did they start forgetting.

Do yourselves a favour, pick up every Beatles album known to man, no reason, other than it will make your lives better, you'll be happier and better adjusted human beings, trust me.

You rational (or so-called rational) people are probably telling me I'm overreacting, I assure you I am not, not at all, not in the least, nuh-uh, no way. I am looking out for your interests, this is all I will say on the matter. Now quit with your lousy music and listen to The Beatles. That is all.

Claire De Lune

Very content.