I am clutching a sleeve of Saltines in my left hand, a plastic knife covered in peanut butter in my right, breathing deeply while chewing the combined crunchy, sweet, and sodium laced concoction and idly listening to the Executive Producer of the soon to be canceled TV show I’m working on leaning out of his office doorway squealing about his obsession for Bruce Springsteen to my dazedly attentive production coordinator who he saw in concert for the twentieth time two nights before. It’s odd and wonderful to witness such a powerful person reveal their humanity.
Exhaustion will do that to anyone.
It’s after 11P on a Wednesday night in the Fall of 2002 in downtown Los Angeles. I’ve been standing for over fourteen hours, I don’t remember the last meal I ate, but I do know that nothing could possibly compare with the euphoria I feel right now savoring the creamy protein packed peanut butter and prickly salted crackers that are dangerously packed into my mouth. I’ve never been more grateful for processed sustenance.
I need to be back at work by 7A the next morning.
So, I tie up the mangled sleeve of remaining Saltines, place it carefully in my backpack, toss the used plastic knife/vessel for survival into the small trash can underneath my shared desk, walk down the back steps of the studio and outside to the barren parking lot where my silver Honda Civic sits waiting and ready to deliver us the thirty minutes across the 10 freeway from Little Tokyo to my studio apartment in Venice Beach.
I stay awake the entire drive (barely) hopeful I’ll find a rare open parking spot on my street, that I won’t trip over a sleeping homeless person En route to my front porch, that I will actually fall asleep before my alarms goes off, and that the remaining six to eight Saltines stuffed in my backpack are still intact and will be reunited with a smear of peanut butter in less than twenty-four hours.
**This last week has been a humdinger of exhaustion, and it reminded me of this scene from my early years working in TV production.**
The song and video choice this week is a new tune from Tiesto and Ava Max. I doubt anyone over the age of seventeen will enjoy it, but it's fun.:)