I've been included in a Minnesota anthology "Under Purple Skies", now available on Amazon!

My second chapbook, "The Second Book of Pearl: The Cats" is now available as either a paper chapbook or as a downloadable item. See below for the Pay Pal link or click on its cover just to the right of the newest blog post to download to your Kindle, iPad, or Nook. Just $3.99 for inspired tales of gin, gambling addiction and inter-feline betrayal.

My first chapbook, I Was Raised to be A Lert is in its third printing and is available both via the PayPal link below and on smashwords! Order one? Download one? It's all for you, baby!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Wherein I Mourn The Loss

Welcome to Thursday, ladies and gentlemen, the 80% worker’s Friday, where we ask ourselves questions like “What year will it be when a four-day workweek becomes the norm? and “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?”

No one said they were good questions -- they're just questions.

In preparation for the weekend, a quick consult with the iPod leaves us two songs short; and you know, I’m always a little spooked when one of my songs isn’t on “playlist.com”, but two? Two missing songs? What does it mean?

Long Division by Death Cab for Cutie
London Calling by The Clash
Black Betty by Ram Jam
Na Na Na Na Naa by Kaiser Chiefs
Why Don’t We Do It In The Road? by The Beatles
Listening Man by A Band of Bees
Everybody’s Everything by Santana

Clearly, this calls for the internal application of Bloody Marys. Erin and I will be at The Spring at noon on Saturday, if you’d like to buy us a couple…

So! Where was I?

Ah, yes. Today’s topic. Those of you following along may assume that the “loss” mentioned in today’s title refers to my colleague Sandra and her move from Minneapolis to Chicago.

See yesterday’s blog.

And once you’ve seen yesterday’s blog, give yourself a big ol’ check mark, cuz you is wrong, O Faithful Reader. This is not about Sandra.

There’s more to life than friends, you know.

Sometimes there’s pillows.

While Sandra is still gone – sigh – the loss I refer to is the same pressing issue I’ve had on my agenda since July.

My pillow. Would you believe I miss my pillow?

Remember when you were little and you swore that if the house ever burned down you would save your pillow first?

What? Oh, come on! I wasn’t the only one who thought this, was I?

Hmmm.

My poor dumb pillow, all fluff and lumps and head-cradling perfection, inadvertently abandoned at a hotel; and poor me, all fluff and lumps and a head needing to be cradled, too embarrassed, for some reason, to have called and asked for it.

“Have you seen my pillow?”

Seems childish, duddin it?

Maybe it’s time to let it go. Stop thinking about what was and concentrate on what is.

Do you think they have pillow-loss support groups?

22 comments:

ellen abbott said...

OMG Pearl, you abandoned your pillow?! Well, then you got what you deserved. I would never forget my pillow. Shoes now, shoes have been overlooked at a hotel, but never my pillow.

Gigi said...

I just can't sleep without mine. Glad to know I'm not the only one who drags mine into hotels too.

Jess said...

Loosing a pillow was one of the single most traumatic things that has happened in my life. Forget the fact that I lost it due to a car accident and there was blood all over it...I tried to STILL take it...I have had my pillow now for...hold, minus two, plus three, carry the four...yes, 13 years now. It is just getting to its perfect state. I am sorry for your loss. Might I suggest a Latex Foam Pillow (http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_096B4043000P?keyword=foam+pillow)

Jess said...

and to clarify, my 13 year old pillow was NOT the bloody one...and I was pissed about having to break in a new pillow.

Indigo Roth said...

Hey Pearl, condolences over the pillow oversight. I leave things behind all the time, though thankfully never an irreplaceable emotional one. I most recently left a bag of chocolate on a ferry, and (amazingly) they tracked me down and called me. "We have your chocolate!", said the chirpy employee. I was delighted; it was expensive. "But we have to destroy any foodstuffs we find, so we can't send it to you!" I never did work out why she called. Anyway, read you soon, Indigo.

DevilsHeaven said...

DUDE! I feel your pain. We love our pillows SO MUCH, we took them to Egypt. I've lost a pillow in the past, finding a new one was hell.
Good luck.

Douglas said...

I am sorry, I thought the Tootsie Roll Pop question was a critical one. Forget the pillow. Except if you have that dream about eating a giant marshmallow...

Green-Eyed Momster said...

I would have called and asked for my pillow back. You never know...it might not be too late.

Serioulsy, I lost a silver hoop at a bank that I visit twice a month and I didn't think that anyone would turn it in but they kept it and I asked for it on my next visit and now I have a nice pair of silver hoop earrings again.

Want me to call and ask if they've seen your pillow? I will!

Hugs!!

Kurt said...

I don't like to think of myself as an 80% worker. More like a 142% Slacker.

Tamsin said...

I always plan to bring my pillow on trips with me, always forget to, and always miss it desperately when I do.

anon said...

The first time my family home burned down I saved my blanket. I love that blanket.

My sister, who I always call Shirly Whirly Girly, believe it or not, saved the TV, the tea-pot and the toaster.

She's much more goal-oriented than I am.

Black Betty demands that you tie one on this week-end. Maybe in a British pub?
Thats where all the best pillow loss support groups hang out : )

Suzy said...

I once took a bunch of CDs to Amoeba on Sunset. They have the largest inventory of new and used music anywhere in LA.

When I finally got to the front of the line (there is always a long line) the guy went thru my CDs and held one up.
"Death Cab for Cutie?"
I nodded.
"Really?"

I had no idea whether he was mocking me for having it or for selling it. Fool.

Unknown said...

After I read this I ran upstairs and hugged my pillow..and then cranked Deathcab for Cutie...

"Drinking champagne from a paper cup
is never quite the same"

that's a lot like sleeping on a pillow that ain't yours...

Amy W said...

I feel your pain. I do. I travel with pillows in tow and always have... to camp, to college, from town to town, from country to country. My saggy old feather pillow that is probably older than me and more full of dust mites than feathers remains a faithful member of my bedtime accoutrements. Along with my sleep mask, eye drops, and a third between-the-knees pillow.

I'm so sorry. Good luck finding a new old friend to sleep with....

troutay said...

I would never have saved my pillow but
the lazy stuffed kitten I got when I was three would be very important!

Liz Wilkey (a.k.a. A Mom on Spin) said...

I am sorry for your loss.

Will there be a memorial service?

Ann Imig said...

There is nothing more elusive than the perfect pillow.

Seriously.

Mike said...

"Why don't we do it in the road" with "Black Betty"! Lmao!

H.K. said...

After complaining about neck problems to a chiropractor, he told me I should get rid of my pillow...the pillow that has been with me forever. I got rid of it, bought a new one and my neck problems stayed.

I changed chiropractor's, he made me toss my favorite pillow! :(

Kavi said...

First it was Sandra. Now its the pillow. Hmm.

Your life is going the interesting way...Pearl !

:)

Carol said...

I'm sorry....I'm going to have to ask....what on earth is a Tootsie Pop?

Got some good tunes there!!

C x

Jeanne Estridge said...

When I moved to St. Paul with my 65-pound Aussie-German Shepherd mix I inadvertantly left her food and water dishes at a Ramada Inn. (Funny story -- that was her first ride in an elevator. When the tiny room began ascending, she crouched on the floor and you could all but hear her thinking, "Oh, no! It's the end of the world!") Anyway, I called and they mailed them to me....