Sunday, August 25, 2013

2013-0629 Letter/Audio


Hi All –

I have attached an audio file to this e-mail.  Hopefully you will find it helpful.  I have written a story for you as follows:

It’s my own fault, really.  My insomnia last night, that is.  Sure enough, I had gone to bed with wet hair, even though I knew better.  My evening shower had been delayed, you see, because my wife needed me to run an errand for her and, being the chivalrous husband that I am, I acceded to her wish and told her that I was at her disposal.  Had I refused, of course, she might have kicked me to the curb and I didn’t like spending time in the doghouse.  Now you may not know this, but I happen to be an aficionado of antique tintypes and Kathleen had mentioned that there was a collection on display at the museum.  She promised to procure two tickets for us but there was a catch to this offer.  (Isn’t there always?)  Anyway, the catch was that I needed to run an errand for her.  She had a big project due the next morning and had forgotten to buy something for it.  So here in the eleventh hour, she asked me to go out and make the purchase which I did (becoming her knight in shining armor).  And so the upshot of all this was that there I was with my wet hair, trying to catch some z’s.   

 I mean, really, how hard is it to go to sleep?  It should be duck soup, a piece of cake.  Nothing to it!  But no, I lay there tossing and turning, trying to pin down the reason for my restlessness.  I had followed Annie’s advice, except for eating before going to bed.  Well, I was hungry!  I had this insatiable appetite that evening so wolfed down everything in sight.  The result was that I was one happy camper! You would have thought I had a hollow leg!  I haven’t eaten that much since I was a teenager and my mother referred to me often as a bottomless pit.  So I admit that I did eat before going to bed but you can’t begrudge a starving man a crust of bread, can you?  You may wish to argue with me about this, telling me that I should mend my ways if I want to sleep at night but must we haggle over every little infraction of Annie’s advice? 

As I mentioned, I had tried other techniques for getting a good night’s rest.  I had even tried reading a book before retiring to act as a soporific but the book I chose, “Grisly Tales of Horror, Luridly Illustrated”, induced me to cower under the covers with the lights on.   I thought there was a slim chance that I might listen to some soothing music and be lulled to sleep.  My radio was at hand so I turned it on but was met with an  incessant cacophony of noise reminiscent of cats being tortured.  Some hard rock or metal band, no doubt. I changed channels and found an opera where somebody was singing in incomprehensible Italian about why plumbers charge so much.  Mercifully, it was almost at an end because the fat lady was singing (well she SOUNDED fat!) and then she quit.  Maybe she had to go see a man about a horse.  More likely, she was carried off by a flock of deaf birds of prey who wouldn’t be bothered by her singing.

Finally, I gave up on sleep and came out here to write this email to you all.

Take care,
Kevin





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