The late late show with Taavi Cole
Top Ten Tuesday
My midnight baby is punch drunk on the couch, in and out of sleep. He drifts off for a minute, and I think I have an idea for a post, but then he props himself up on one elbow to ask me a question and I lose my train of thought. This is not atypical for a Monday night, and it can go on for hours, and I know it's not good but here I am...
I'm tired too, and tempted to snatch Taavi up and smuggle him into bed right now. Ooh, he's a warm little thing, and curling up beside him is so cozy and toasty and nice.
And truly, my mind is like jello, so I decide I'll just ask you some late-night questions. But Taavi keeps spouting random questions of his own and now his and mine are all mixed up:
- Do you watch late night TV? Who is/was your favorite late-night host?
- Can you get me a blankie and a pillow?
- Do you ever eat cereal late at night? What kind?
- Remember that spooky house?
- What time do you usually go to bed? What time do you have to get up in the morning?
- Do you know "Mary Had a Little Lamb?"
- Do you have a teenage boy (or were you ever one) who wanders up from his bedroom at 11:30 p.m. and says, "I'm hungry" and then eats a bowl of cereal followed by a bowl of lentil soup, all washed down with a glass of milk? How do you keep enough food in the house??
- Do you like to go to sleep to silence, music, white noise or what?
- Have you ever seen a whale before?
- Name three things you might step on if you have to get out of bed in the middle of the night.
- What song is that?
- Do you read before you go to bed? For how long, or how many pages? What did you read last night?
- Do we live on two planets? Or one planet? Do we live on Earth? I wish we could go in outer space and see where Earth is.
- What did you dream about last night?
9 comments:
I just learned that Mary Had a Little Lamb has four verses. Who knew?
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day,
That was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school.
And so the teacher turned it out,
But still it lingered near,
And waited patiently about
Till Mary did appear.
Why does the lamb love Mary so?
The eager children cry;
Why Mary loves the lamb, you know,
The teacher did reply.
PS: I've seen humpback, fin, minke (new england), grey (off vancouver island), and orca (alaska) whales. I've felt humbled and honored each time.
1. Do you watch late night TV? Who is/was your favorite late-night host?
I love Jon Stewart but Stephen Colbert makes me laugh the hardest.
2. Can you get me a blankie and a pillow?
Anytime, anytime. What's your preferred thread count?
3. Do you ever eat cereal late at night? What kind?
I'm a soup guy myself. Usually organic chicken & wild rice as comfort food.
4. Remember that spooky house?
Yes, I will never forget it. The three of us swore to god we saw a shadowy, misshapen figure shamble into the garage that night from our vantage point on the roof. Scared the bejesus out of us...
5. What time do you usually go to bed? What time do you have to get up in the morning?
Ha! Loaded question. Later than you both I assure you. And I usually get up only a few hours later. With old age comes a certain lack of sanity...
6. Do you know "Mary Had a Little Lamb?"
Indeed, she did. But, did you know that lamb's name was "Chops"? ;^)
7. Do you have a teenage boy (or were you ever one) who wanders up from his bedroom at 11:30 p.m. and says, "I'm hungry" and then eats a bowl of cereal followed by a bowl of lentil soup, all washed down with a glass of milk? How do you keep enough food in the house??
As a teenage boy I once ate an entire jar of jalapeno peppers at midnight and at 1:00am I began projectile vomiting for a half hour. That's how you keep food in the house: get sick on it once and never eat it again!
8. Do you like to go to sleep to silence, music, white noise or what?
All of the above plus crickets & cicadas...
9. Have you ever seen a whale before?
Several. But the most memorable was off Cape Cod in a 32' sailboat one summer. A humpback surfaced right next to the boat. She was so close you could reach out and touch her. Amazing (and scary!).
10. Name three things you might step on if you have to get out of bed in the middle of the night.
Anubis, Marley or Tosca (our cats...)
11. What song is that?
Why that's our neighbor playing his electric guitar right now. He's no Stevie Ray Vaughn but he'll get there...
12. Do you read before you go to bed? For how long, or how many pages? What did you read last night?
All the time. Currently I'm reading 'Men & Cartoons' short stories by Jonathan Lethem.
13. Do we live on two planets? Or one planet? Do we live on Earth? I wish we could go in outer space and see where Earth is.
I believe we live on infinite planets all the time; every action you take makes a new planet every moment.
14. What did you dream about last night?
Barack Obama as president...
I'll try and guess which questions are from you and which are from Taavi...
Do you watch late night TV? Who is/was your favorite late-night host?
Yes Beth, but not as much as before. For me it's always been Letterman, but I'm just a fan and never have been a fanatic.
Can you get me a blankie and a pillow?
I could Taavi, but by the time I got it up to you I'm sure someone else will have already done it for you.
Do you ever eat cereal late at night? What kind?
No Beth, but if I did it would probably be honey bunches of oats.
Remember that spooky house?
No I don't Beth...ahhh... Taavi. (You got me on this one).
What time do you usually go to bed? What time do you have to get up in the morning?
Beth... this one varies with the responsibilities I have coming up the next day. I've been known to retire as early as 9 so I can work a full productive day the following morning. Sometimes I even go around 7 so I can get up at 2 am and get in some real productive middle-of-the-night-work done. Other times I will drink beer until it's gone, playing my guitar until 3 am. At any rate, on school days I'm up by 7 always to get Ant off to school, and then depending on the previous scenarios I may do my 10 second "commute" or return to the bedroom for hours.
Do you know "Mary Had a Little Lamb?"
Yes, Taavi, I do now thanks to East Coast Bethany.
Do you have a teenage boy (or were you ever one) who wanders up from his bedroom at 11:30 p.m. and says, "I'm hungry" and then eats a bowl of cereal followed by a bowl of lentil soup, all washed down with a glass of milk? How do you keep enough food in the house??
Beth... I just have the pre-teen 10-year-old, but I can see the situation coming up. Currently, we have a problem because of "The Pill" ...it kills his appetite during the day, and usually returns around 7 pm with a vengeance. Sometimes he doesn't realize it until bedtime. Mornings are a big meal for him as well... today, 5 eggs with cheese.
Do you like to go to sleep to silence, music, white noise or what?
Beth... definitely some kind of repetitive noise. Preferably rain on pavement and window panes, but most of the time its just the noisy fan and the rush of air over the sheets.
Have you ever seen a whale before?
Yes Taavi. They're over rated... don't loose any sleep over it.
Name three things you might step on if you have to get out of bed in the middle of the night.
Ok Beth...
1. Anthony (depending on the night... he likes our floor sometimes)
2. My "Sketchers" boots that I left in two different places.
3. Any one of a number of guitar-pick sized objects that may or may not be a guitar pick.
What song is that?
Tavvi? "Just Like Greta" by Van Morrison.
Do you read before you go to bed? For how long, or how many pages? What did you read last night?
Beth, sorry, hardly ever any more. My night table lamp burned out.
Do we live on two planets? Or one planet? Do we live on Earth? I wish we could go in outer space and see where Earth is.
Taavi: Right now, just earth, but someday, two or more. You're too young now, but have your mom watch "The Astronaut Farmer". Follw your dreams.
What did you dream about last night?
Beth? I don't remember... probably bills and elemetary school problems.
-John
Do you watch late night TV? Who is/was your favorite late-night host?
I like re-runs of House.
Can you get me a blankie and a pillow?
Yes. I would love to.
Do you ever eat cereal late at night? What kind?
I used to. It had to have lots of sugar or Grape Nuts.
Remember that spooky house?
I remember the spooky boy who lived in the house.
What time do you usually go to bed? What time do you have to get up in the morning?
I try to stay up until 10 PM. I have to get up at 6:30 AM. I don't know if it's advancing age or what, but I cannot sleep much more than six hours anymore.
Do you know "Mary Had a Little Lamb?"
Yes I do.
Do you have a teenage boy (or were you ever one) who wanders up from his bedroom at 11:30 p.m. and says, "I'm hungry" and then eats a bowl of cereal followed by a bowl of lentil soup, all washed down with a glass of milk? How do you keep enough food in the house??
Yay for the tweener air fern girl!
Do you like to go to sleep to silence, music, white noise or what
I do like to sleep with background noise like crickets, waterfalls, urban seas, whatever.
Have you ever seen a whale before?
Not live, no.
Name three things you might step on if you have to get out of bed in the middle of the night.
Bedclothes (e.g., pillows, blankets....), school books, and shoes. We always have shoes all over the place.
What song is that?
The Animal Planet theme song.
Do you read before you go to bed? For how long, or how many pages? What did you read last night?
Yep. I can stay awake for about 20 or 30 minutes. I read a Laurie King murder mystery.
Do we live on two planets? Or one planet? Do we live on Earth? I wish we could go in outer space and see where Earth is.
We all live on our own plane.
What did you dream about last night?
I do dream. I slept too hard last night to remember anything. I usually dream about the same house at night. It's the house I grew up in in Houston. It is now about 1/2 an acre big with courtyards and endless stairs. Way more interesting than the mock Spanish suburban home in reality.
Forgot to sign the last blog entry....
Stephie
1. Do you watch late night TV? Who is/was your favorite late-night host?
Hardly ever since Johnny went off the air. But John Stewart makes my little black heart go pitter-pat with delight every time he skewers a blow-hard.
2. Can you get me a blankie and a pillow?
Only if you get me a beer.
3. Do you ever eat cereal late at night? What kind?
No. Milk and sleep don't mix anymore.
4. Remember that spooky house?
I LIVE in that spooky house.
5. What time do you usually go to bed? What time do you have to get up in the morning?
Between 10:30 and 11:00 most nights. Get up at 5:30.
6. Do you know "Mary Had a Little Lamb?"
I know Mary and I can verify that she did, indeed, have a little lamb.
7. Do you have a teenage boy (or were you ever one) who wanders up from his bedroom at 11:30 p.m. and says, "I'm hungry" and then eats a bowl of cereal followed by a bowl of lentil soup, all washed down with a glass of milk? How do you keep enough food in the house??
I was one, but I never had that monstrous appetite. Perhaps that's why I weighed a whopping 92 pounds in 10th grade!
8. Do you like to go to sleep to silence, music, white noise or what?
Silence but for the sweet breathing of the kids and Nancy.
9. Have you ever seen a whale before?
No, but I've seen a whale after.
10. Name three things you might step on if you have to get out of bed in the middle of the night.
Shoes, Legos, Carpet.
11. What song is that?
"Rapid Roy That Stock Car Boy"
12. Do you read before you go to bed? For how long, or how many pages? What did you read last night?
HA!
13. Do we live on two planets? Or one planet? Do we live on Earth? I wish we could go in outer space and see where Earth is.
Two planets. Mine and GW's.
14. What did you dream about last night?
Kangaroos.
1. Rarely, because if I'm not blogging late or (lately) at the movies, then I go to bed and read or SLEEP. I used to love Letterman, but now my heart belongs to Jon Stewart.
2. Yes, but our guest bedroom (aka, Taavi's room, but he never sleeps there) is quite a mess so... sorry!
3. Yes, usually after softball games. And usually it's Special K with Strawberries (or simply, as Taavi named it a year or two ago, Strawberry Kind).
4. I must commit this to memory because they're about to tear it down: there's a big, rickety house on our block, with falling clapboards and peeling paint, boarded up windows and broken down steps. When we walk by at dusk it oozes spooky. I am going to miss it.
5. I go to bed any time between 9 and 1, very inconsistent. I wake up at 6:45 on weekdays. On Saturdays and Sundays, I wake up at 6:45 and am SO happy I don't have to get up. I wake up again at 7:00 or 7:30, and get up at 7:30 or 8:00, and sometimes I'm the only one up for a while.
6. Not as many verses as East Coast Bethany!
7. Caiman's appetite is jaw-dropping! I hope this means he's going to be taller than me and Hugh. Because otherwise I'll always feel guilty about the short genes we landed him with.
8. Hugh got me addicted to the fan, and now it takes a long time to fall asleep if it's too quiet. I used to love going to sleep with music on...
9. No, not a live one. But John, I think you may not be giving them enough credit. I used to think that being excited about seeing dolphins was girly in a unicorn-loving sort of way... until we saw four or five of them from a boat off the Napali Coast. The sight made me all tingly, and I had a nearly irresistible urge to dive into the sea and swim, swim, swim to them!
10. Hmmm... Boo (the cat), and any one of 64,000 small, pokey plastic toys. Okay, dirty socks are also a possibility.
11.Cake, Short Skirt/Long Jacket, and this video CRACKS ME UP!
12. I read to the kids for sure. Last night, it was Heaven with Eli and Mercy Watson Fights Crime with Kai, Taavi and Eli. I'm reading a YA novel right now called The Book of Dead Days.
13. When I was a kid, I thought going to astronaut camp would be the coolest thing in the world. Maybe Taavi will go...
14. I dreamed that Tall Jim and Juliana & I and Hugh and a bunch of us were walking down the sidewalk at night, some city block alive with music and people and a little bit of mystery, looking for the pub that our old college buddy Dave now owns. Nothing much happened, but there was this feeling of suspense, and something amazing was surely about to occur... And then, as it so often goes, I woke up.
Do you watch late night TV? Who is/was your favorite late-night host?
Oh, I was a letterman junkie in college, but that was in the days of the Velcro suit and the great watermelon drop, and I think it also had to do with some amount of enhancing substance.
Can you get me a blankie and a pillow?
Well, sure, but I would have to send it a long way, and it may smell of pizza.
Do you ever eat cereal late at night? What kind?
Strange, but true – Special K with strawberries. Cereal is not just for breakfast anymore.
Remember that spooky house?
It was the spookiest; an old woman lived there all alone. We used to circle it and scare each other to bits, claiming she was a witch. Kids can be so cruel.
What time do you usually go to bed? What time do you have to get up in the morning?
Usually to bed by 9-ish, suppose to be up by 7-ish, but these are all only approximations.
Do you know "Mary Had a Little Lamb?"
Yes, very well, my Anna just like you Taavi, loves her a good rhyme.
Do you have a teenage boy (or were you ever one) who wanders up from his bedroom at 11:30 p.m. and says, "I'm hungry" and then eats a bowl of cereal followed by a bowl of lentil soup, all washed down with a glass of milk? How do you keep enough food in the house??
Well, can’t help here. Although I have found that a three-year-old little girl can also find herself quite ravenous at the most un-opportune times.
Do you like to go to sleep to silence, music, white noise or what?
Complete and utter silence.
Have you ever seen a whale before?
I’m with Jonathon on this one. I saw it once, and felt gypped. It was like seeing an iceberg; I just couldn’t imagine everything that was under the water.
Name three things you might step on if you have to get out of bed in the middle of the night.
Being a house of only two; and me an OCD engineer, really only the floor.
What song is that?
I think that is Anna singing a great mix from Mary Poppins and the Wizard of Oz.
Do you read before you go to bed? For how long, or how many pages? What did you read last night?
Always, I made a promise to myself that that was one selfish pleasure I would not give up, even in the midst of mom-hood. I read until I fall asleep. Last night I finished Somewhere Wicked this Way Comes, which I have been meaning to do since Sophomore English, 1982. And I still don’t get it.
Do we live on two planets? Or one planet? Do we live on Earth? I wish we could go in outer space and see where Earth is.
One planet, Earth – for now. And yes you can go, anytime you want.
What did you dream about last night?
Oops can’t remember. I hate that.
jess
Hi Taavi and Beth,
Favorite late night host---exact same answer as Jonathan. OOOH how I miss Johnny C. Best that ever was.
I would love to get you a blanket and pillow. I pick out righteously cozy blankets, but beware, I haven't been happy with any pillow since high school.
I often eat cereal for dinner. I love all kinds, I don't discriminate---its my favorite food.
I DO remember that spooky house. It was on the east side of the Sunnyside bridge in Bonita, across from the X-mas tree farm. We never saw anybody living there, but were certain whoever did, would shoot us where we stood. It's gone now---I am so glad.
I usually go to bed way too late. About 11:30 or 12:00.Only affects me on weekdays when I have to be up at 4:30---always regret it in the morning.
I thought I knew "Mary had a little lamb"--until Bethany set me straight. Feeling a little jipped after all these years.
We had 3 of those hungry teenage boys in our house. It was like they were possessed. They would eat all the time, and sleep till noon if they could. Weird testosterone thing going on.
I like to fall asleep to silence---could handle white noise.
Only whales I've ever seen in person were at Sea World.
If I awoke in the middle of the night, three things I could possibly step on might be: dog toys, dogs or my slippers. Sometimes in the wee hours, I accidentally step on my fuzzy slippers and think it's a dog. Makes my heart explode when I think I've crushed a loved one!!!
What song is that? You'd like it Taavi- It's called "the lion sleeps tonight" You might know it---a fun little diddy that makes you want to wiggle to the "A-Wimba-Wap, A-Wimba-Wap"...back beat.
I never read before I go to bed. I'm a deadbeat...I usually fall asleep watching Jon Stewart or his buddy Steven.
We live on one little o'l planet---but how cool would it be if it were more. I wish I could go to outer space too. Good question Taavi.
I did dream last night..and I was flying in it. Those are my favorite dreams. I just hate it when, in my dream, I start thinking about how weird it is that I am flying...and then, down I go. Gotta learn to just go with it.
Your friend Beth Lane---happy dreaming guys!
Post a Comment