1122 – Nana’s Book of Quotations

Notable Language:

• Experiencing my Nana in an Indirect Somatic Way
• Uniname
• Kissing-Based Relationship (KBR)

Notable Culture:

• Wim Wenders
• Donovan
• The Cat in the Hat – Dr. Seuss

Notable Talking Points:

• My Inner Nana Quotations
• Oh boy, this is some real Manifest Destiny
• Do you think the Weeknd read The Cat in the Hat as a child?

Episode 1122 – Nana’s Book of Quotations

 

[START OF RECORDING]

 

SCOOTER:    Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s time for the podcaster that finally broke out his winter pajamas, which just means sweatpants or other pants, lounge pants. It’s big news, breaking news. When I’m recording this…when you’re hearing this, it’ll be…Scoots, that’s old news to us. I’d say you know what news is good news? Comforting news with…’cause these pants are comfortable. They’ve been worn in quite a few years…they were date…pre-2020 daytime sweatpants for a bit, ‘cause they were called athletic pants, and…or a travel pant. It was actually singular; they singulared it to make it more appealing to wear during the day. Travel pant; the travel pant. But now they’re pajama pants, which I still am baffled, I guess, ‘cause there’s two legs.

 

But they don’t call it a travel shirt, ‘cause that would be con…if you’re confused, you’re in the right place. It’s time for Sleep With Me, the podcast that’s here to take your mind off stuff and put you to sleep, to keep you company in the deep, dark night, because you deserve a place you can get some rest, some place that’s gonna take your mind off of stuff, keep you company, or put you to sleep. Give this show a few tries. Doesn’t even work for everybody. I’ll tell you that right up front, but see how it goes.

 

Most people it works for, they say it took two or three tries to get used to, ‘cause it never made any sense at all, just like you’ve seen so far. But I really want to help. There’s a lot of people listening that know how it feels in the deep, dark night, and I’ve been there; tossing, turning, mind racing, so that’s why I want to help, too. So kick back, see how it goes, give it a few tries. It is a bit different. We’ll start off with some support, then there will be a long, meandering intro, and then a bedtime story, ‘cause it’s time for Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep.

 

INTRO:    [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake, whether it’s thoughts, things on your mind you’re thinking about, thoughts. I have thoughts about the past, I have thoughts about the present, I have thoughts about the future, I have thoughts about…I have thoughts and feelings about my thoughts, about myself, about…you know, so many thoughts

 

So little time…too many thoughts, so…you know, whatever the…thoughts about phrases, thoughts about famous quotations about thoughts. Thinking about those quotations about thoughts. But it could be thoughts, it could be feelings. I was just thinking about Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. You used to have to buy a book…there used to be a book; I don’t know if there was only one edition. Hm, that’s a good question. Was there more than one Bartlett’s book? Maybe that’s what tonight’s episode will be about. It will be. That way I don’t have to explain it all. But there was…there used to be a book or a…I don’t know, is that a anthology? Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations or Famous Quotations? I don’t know if…no quotations are familiar to…you say that sounds familiar, Scoots, but I think you’re off.

 

What about…here’s a book I’ll never want to…Bartlett’s Familial Quotations. You’re doing it wrong. So many quotes from my nana about me. Don’t quote me again in a pass…don’t quote me that way. Don’t misquote me. Also don’t quote me. That’s a quote from my nana, a real one. You know, don’t call me the nana that lives in your mind even though I’m the nana that just lives in your mind, because you can’t…I say okay, maybe you’re not the…I’ve tried meditating, nana. They say don’t…go…don’t…put yourself outside of your head or whatever they say in those meditations. I say yeah, no, my…well, she’s everywhere within me. My nana; she’s everywhere within me, especially when I’m with…especially when I’m misquoting her. Oh boy, there you…oh, there’s another one; there you go again, that one.

 

Or usually she says there he goes again. Too much Kool-Aid, there’s another one. Quotes…Made-Up Quotes About My Made-Up Nana. Bartlett’s Book of Made-Up Quotes About A Made-Up Nana, pending in…whatever, because they said you can’t call our book that. I say, really? Oh, just you wait. There’s another one. Just wait. Just you wait, usually nana says. Don’t call…oh, this one’s me; don’t call me on your nanaphone. She says…oh, then this is another quote from my nana…don’t worry, I’ll get…eventually there may be a sleep podcast here. Oh, I already forgot. Don’t…what did I say? Don’t call me on my nanaphone. I forgot. She had a comeback to that. Don’t worry, I won't, but that wasn’t…it was something else. I said…I forgot, there’s another quote from nana. See? He forgot. He’ll get over it; there’s another one.

 

Disappointment is a part of life. There’s yet another nana quote in there. Get used to it, toughen up, save…here’s one, not a nana quote. It’s actually a quote from The Weeknd; save your tears for a rainy day, or another day. I save mine for rainy days and another…save your tears for another day. You’re right, nana. Don’t misquote The Weeknd. That’s another…oh, sorry, I’m in a sleep…so thoughts keeping me awake, my feelings related to those thoughts, related to my imaginary nana that lives within me. Could be physical sensations. Luckily I only…I don’t experience my nana in a direct somatic way. I mean, I do…when I have the feelings about my nana, it brings up a physical response, but I don’t have a direct, physical response to my nana, other…well, I mean, I want to bolt, but I can’t…there’s nowhere for me to go ‘cause she lives within me.

 

Oh, did I mention if you’re new, I have a nana. I’ve never had a real nana, but I have one that lives within me. Also, if…you may say, are you using nana in a pejorative way? I’d say, probably I…I mean, more of…huh, good question. I don’t think so. I’m referring to a archetypal…my own archetypal nana. Is that a…was that a Wim Wenders film, My Own Archetypal Nana? I don’t know. It could have been. My Own Archetypal Nana. I mean, that’s really what I have, is a…she’s a figure, a…not a motherly figure, but you’d say she could have been…she wasn’t a mother to either one of my parents and she’s not an aunt or an aunt, but she is a figure within me. I think she was formed, honestly, from different experiences I had, clearly. I mean, come on, let’s…the Northern Europeans already put out a couple papers on this.

 

Don’t worry…I’m sorry, nana. I have to apologize ‘cause I live with her 24/7. Okay, so thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, any changes in time or temperature or routine, so anything going on. You could be traveling, you could have guests, you could have something coming up. Whatever it is, I’m here to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff so you could fall asleep, because you deserve a good night’s sleep. That is true. Not only do I believe it, there’s hundreds of thousands of people listening right now that not just believe it, that want it for you. They don’t want it for you in some way like running across the finish line. They say, that would be nice for you. You do deserve that. You might say, there’s a bunch of strangers that I don’t know pulling for me. I say, there are.

 

In this case, really, truthfully, there are, just like truthfully I have an internal, archetypal nana that’s only my own archetype of nana that says there…oh, there he goes again, talking about me. That makes her frown, so I’m…wow, she’s as real as day. You could hear it. You’d say what’s a guy…? I heard the guy from the sleep…that sleep podcast was actually able to manifest something in his life. Yep, a nana. She moved in with him. She takes…I take care of him; he doesn’t take care of me. That’s another quote. She put that on a pillow and over the front door and as a bumper sticker and a t-shirt, but a arrow towards her. She takes care of me; I don’t take care of her. Without her, I’d be lost. My nana. Well, I’d just be wander…even with her, I’m wandering around.

 

Okay…oh, you deserve a good night’s sleep, and you know, a lot of us have been there. That’s why I make the show. We might not know or I might not know exactly what you’re going through, exactly what you’re dealing with, but if I don’t know how it feels, someone out there does, and for a lot of us, a lot of the feelings of not looking forward to bedtime strongly, not being able to sleep, the frustration, we’ve been through that. So, I’m here to help because you deserve a bedtime you could feel neutral about or look forward to. Now, this show does not work for everybody. The way it works is I send my voice across the deep, dark night. I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, which you’ve kind of already heard and seen, where I go off topic, I get mixed up, then I forget…then I re-talk…I talk about something.

 

He’s just…he just goes on and on and on, just like she said, my nana. He won't let it go. He doesn’t know how to do that. All those things. Those are pointless meanders and superfluous tangents, and…oh, a couple other things that are hard to…when you first get here, when you first start listening that are hard to get used to; one, this show is just not for everybody. While there is a lot of people listening alongside you here across the world and we all share that feeling of the deep, dark night, this show just doesn’t work for everybody. But for most of those people that are regularly listening, it took them two or three tries to get used to the show because at first you’re like, what is this dude talking about? That’s a normal reaction. I just want to validate that.

 

You say, I thought this was a sleep podcast where you’re gonna take me on a journey. Sounds like you’ve got a lot of issues. I say wow, you are observant. What are you even talking about? I say well, I’m not exactly sure. I mean, I know what I’m…I know it. I know…my nana; I know it when I hear it. I know her when I hear her. I feel her when I hear her. When I hear her, I feel things. She’s my nana. That could be…it sounds like a song, though, like with the thing; She’s My Nana. She’s My Nana: The Musical, playing 24/7 without music in my brain. Usually only the part of the second act where…that one part of the second act where there’s frowning, or the longest second act in history, just…a bit like a sleep podcast. He’ll never let it go. No, that’s a…nana wouldn’t say that. She’d have a subtler way to say that.

 

But so, this podcast does take some getting used to, one, because it’s a show you don’t really listen to. I’m here to kinda just be barely paid attention to. Now, if you need to listen to me, I’m here, because I’m not here to…for you to pay attention to me so much as for me to be background noise or something alternative to you…for you to listen to, just like I’m talking about in this other example. When I find something outside of myself to pay attention to, then I’m less likely to get caught up in these parts of me…these wonderful archetypal parts of me, so wise in her wisdom that she wants to share from…with me, but I’m so resistant to it. But if I get outside of myself…you say okay, this is a little bit distracting.

 

There are lovable things about my nana, her ability to shawl herself, butterscotch candy, the fact that sometimes she smiles. The fact that she smiles so rarely makes her smile that much more wonderful. That would be all…that’s another song in the musical. Could we call it Nana, The Musical? I mean, I think that this…here, is there anyone on Broadway that listens to this podcast? You say okay, wait a second, that’s a title for a musical; Nana, The Musical. We would have some…there’d be a lot of hurdles beyond that, like a plot and…’cause a plot about your internal, archetypal nana probably won't…and I said, you’re right about that. So, yeah. But Nana, The Musical. What did I already say? It’s playing in my brain. But so…oh, so I’m just kind of inane chatter. Yes, nana, I heard you change the spelling of inane.

 

So, I’m a podcast you don’t really listen to. It’s also not a podcast to put you to sleep. I’m here to keep you company in the deep, dark night, to be your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-sib, your bore-bestie, your bore-bor, your neigh-bore, your bore-bud, your bore-bana, your bana, like Eric…is is Eric Banya? Ban…Bana? Eric Bana and my nana had a banana…fo fana. Fanana fana fo…you know. So, yeah, that’s something that never happened. You know, he’s Australian, nana. Oh, she knew that. Thanks. So yeah, I’m more here to keep you company than to take your mind off stuff. If you can’t sleep, I’m here to the very end. If you wake up, I’m here. If you want to turn me on later, I’m here. If you need a break during the day, I’m here. I’m here to keep you company. That’s it, and just barely entertain you.

 

So that’s two things that take some getting used to, other than my personality, which is not for everybody. Sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou has tons of other sleep podcasts and sleepy audio on there. What else? Oh, the structure of the show throws people off. It’s designed in a very specific way, but that can throw people off, so let me tell you why. So, the show starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, nanas everywhere, so you feel seen and welcome and you say okay, I could check the show out. Maybe I will. Then there’s support for listeners, support for the show, and support for communities around the show.

 

The support for the show comes in two forms; people who directly support the podcast…they actually never hear this stuff ‘cause they don’t…they get ad-free shows, and then people who support the sponsors who support the show in return for the support they get. What that enables us to do is put the show out twice a week for free, wherever you want to listen to it. So, that’s cool. Then there’s the intro, which goes on and on and on. Sometimes people lump it in with the support stuff, but it’s like twelve…whatever we’re at. We’re at like fifteen minutes, I think, of me rambling and going on and on and on, trying to explain what the podcast is and getting distracted by whatever’s bubbling up in my brain.

 

Because of that, I don’t know, people say was that this…the show’s like, twenty or twenty-five minutes of ads. It’s like no, this…the intro’s actually the most import…and popular part of the podcast for most fans, but not all fans. Some people like only the stories. But the intro is…really serves two purposes; to introduce the podcast to new people, and then it kinda eases you into bedtime. It gives you part of your bedtime routine. Part of your wind down could be the intro. It eases you into bedtime. So, some listeners are getting ready for bed, some are doing some other relaxing activity, some people are in bed getting comfortable, some people are asleep. We’re happy for them, kinda…somewhat happy for them. I mean, if you’re a regular listener to the show, we’re happy for you.

 

If you’re a partner of someone listening to the show, you know, we’re kinda happy for you. 2% of people skip the intro, but just as many people listen to intro-only episodes or story-only episodes. But if you’re new, just kinda see how it goes and then decide. But it really is nice to have a bedtime routine and to have a couple pieces of that routine; the podcast, maybe some other chill activity, whatever it is. So, that’s the intro, then there’s more support, again so the show could be free, or paying for it can be optional. Then there’s a story. Apparently we came up…it’d be something about…I don’t know, something about quotations. Maybe I’ll look up what that Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations is. ‘Cause I’d say what is…who is Bartlett? Was it just someone that loved quotes?

 

I wonder…you’d say, what is…oh, now I can’t even think of Michael Scott’s favorite book. It could be Bartlett’s Quotations. If you had to give Michael Scott a gift, pro tip; give him a book…or you said, has there…was there…if you said write me a fanfiction Office episode right now, I’d say well, Michael…someone gives Michael…someone Michael idolizes gives him the book. That would be one of the…the A plot. But he would be…he would need to use the book for something…a part of the A plot. But it would be funny to see him walking around reading from…maybe that was already a episode. It sounds like it. So, there’s that. Oh, what was I even talk…? Oh, the intro. Oh no, the story. So that’ll be our story, not a Office episode, ‘cause it’s…but something about Bartlett’s Quotations.

 

Oh, ‘cause I was wondering is that a person or a mega-corporation? Is it Bartlett…you say, with the purchase of a case of pears, you get a book of quotes, Bartlett’s. Or vote for Jed Bartlett, a fictional president…presidential candidate, and get this book that came out twenty years before the show. So, that’s that, then there’s some thank-yous at the end, and…so that’s everything. That’s why I make the show. Give it a few tries, see how it goes. I’m glad you’re here. I appreciate your time. Thanks for checking this podcast out. I work really hard, I yearn and I strive, and I really hope I can help you fall asleep. Here’s a couple of ways I get to do it for free twice a week.

 

Alright, hey everybody, it’s Scoots here. I guess we’re talking about Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, at least to start. I looked this up on Wikipedia. It’s often simply called Bartlett’s. It’s B-A-R-T-L-E-T-T’S. It was written by a Bartlett, John Bartlett. It’s an American reference work, longest-lived and most widely-distributed collection of quotations, first issued in 1855 — this is all from Wikipedia — and currently in its 18th edition in 2012. It arranges entries by author rather than subject, as many other quotation collections. Enters authors chronologically by date of birth rather than alphabetically. Within years, our authors are arranged alphabetically and quotations are arrange chronologically with each…within each author’s entry, followed by attributed remarks, whose source in the author’s writings have not been confirmed.

 

It contains a thorough keyword index and details the source of each quotation. History…oh wow, it gets more interesting. John Bartlett ran the university bookstore in Cambridge, Mass, and was frequently asked for information on quotations, so he began a commonplace book of them for reference. We’ll look up what commonplace book is in a minute. Bartlett is generally supposed to have drawn the quotations in his book from his own extensive reading and prodigious memory…and that commonplace book. But he acknowledged in the 1855 preface that it’s been enlarged by additions from an English work on a similar plane. That work was named in some reviews of the time as The Handbook of Familiar Quotations by English authors, Isabella Rushton Preston. That was from 1853.

 

It was privately printed in 1855 as a collection of familiar quotations. The first edition was 258 pages, 169 authors, but mostly it was from the Bible, Shakespeare, and great English poets, quoting Wikipedia there. The fourth edition said that it’s not easy to determine in all cases the degree of familiarity that belong to the phrases and sentences which present themselves for admission from…what is familiar to one class of readers might be new to another. Again, I guess this is limited in scope to this person’s purview, you know? Let’s see, the book had great success. There was three more editions, then it joined the Boston publishing firm, Little, Brown & Company. Bartlett rose to become senior partner of the firm. Let’s look up Little, Brown & Company. Still…I think still the publisher.

 

Supervised nine editions of the work before moving onto the big publishing house in the sky. Even by 1905, it had sold over 300,000 copies. Seventh edition in 1875, eighth in 1882, and ninth in 1891. Gonna be twenty years before the tenth edition, which was edited by Nathan Haskell Dole. Tenth edition, also known as the Author’s Edition, was much like its predecessors. It began with quotations originally in English and then arranged them chronologically. Chaucer was the first entry. Mary Francis Butts’ the last. The quotes were chiefly from literary sources and then a miscellaneous section of quotations in English from politicians and scientists. Then a selection of translations which is in quotes, mostly of lines from Ancient Greeks and Romans. So again, pretty limited to this Western viewpoint.

 

The last section was devoted to the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. The eleventh edition was edited by Christopher Morley and Louella D. Everett. Expanded the page size, created a two-column format, making it the first edition that is recognizable to users of the modern work. They also did a twelfth edition in 1948, then a thirteenth edition in 1955, the Centennial Edition. This work was credited to the editors of Little, Brown. Preference gives special thanks to Morley and Everett as well as Emily Morison Beck. This had more recent material. Two youngest authors, Bill Maudlin and Queen Elizabeth II. Beck also edited the fourteenth edition and the fifteenth. Let’s see, then Justin Kaplan, whose life of Mark Twain, Mister…oh, whose book Life of…whose book, Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain, had won the 1967 Pulitzer.

 

Kaplan brought out the sixteenth edition in ‘93. Let’s see, then in the seventeenth edition, 2003, they included pop culture people, including Larry David. Some classics were cut; Alexander Pope was dropped. The eighteenth edition came out in 2012. It was edited by poet, critic, and editor Geoffrey O’Brien, the Editor in Chief of the Library of America. Oh, there’s also the Yale Book of Quotations and the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Just looking…there’s not a ton of…let’s see, we got a online copy of the tenth edition or a copy of the twelfth edition or the fourteenth edition. Let’s take a look at the tenth edition real quick. I don’t know if it’s searchable, so I don’t know if I can do that. Chronological index of authors…let me just click on this here. Let’s just randomly pick somebody.

 

Ralph Venning…all the beauty in the world’s but skin deep. Wow, that was from Ralph Venning. Let’s…I guess let’s try one more here. Unheard of, here…a lot of dudes here, huh? Yeah. William Pitt, Earl of Chatham; confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom. That doesn’t sound…where law ends, tyranny begins. I don’t see any…none of these that I’m really…okay, let’s look up the…I used to think…I remember when I discovered this book, I thought it was a pathway to greater knowledge. Now I understand the quotations are mostly based as part of a larger context and process, not results. Okay, a commonplace book, though, or a way to compile knowledge by writing information into books.

 

They’ve been kept from antiquity, particularly during the Renaissance, similar to scrapbooks filled with items of many kind, proverbs, adages, maxims, quotes, letters. Entries are most often organized under subject headings and differ functionally from journals or diaries, which are chronological and introspective. Commonplaces are used by readers, writers — this is again from Wikipedia — students…is an aid for remembering useful concepts or facts. So, I guess that’s a little bit about commonplace. Let’s look up a couple more things that I…oh, Little, Brown & Company. American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coughlin Little and James Brown in Boston.

 

For close to two centuries has published fiction and nonfiction, including Emily Dickinson’s poetry, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, and is now a division of the Hatchette Book Group. Let’s see what we got. Oh no, I think that’s pretty good. I mean, that’s…they’ve been around for a while. Mary Francis Butts…that was 1890 to 1937. English modernist writer…found…recognition in literature…literary magazines just as the bookmen in the literal review, as well as some fellow modernists, T.S. Elliot, H.D., and Briar. Regained…fell into obscurity but then began to be republished in the 1980s. Let’s see, I want to read a little bit about her work here. Let’s see, these are some of the writings. Magic Book 4…oh, by Aleister Crowley. Ash of rings armed with imaginary letters. Felicity Taverner.

 

Several occasions…Warning to Hikers, the Macedonian, Scenes from the Life of Cleopatra, My Crystal Cabinet. Most of her books were reprinted in the 80s and the 90s. Anyway, so that’s a little bit…Oregon boundary dispute. Oh, 50 40 or fight redirects here. So that was one of the quotes that came up. The Oregon boundary dispute or Oregon question was a 19th century territorial dispute over the Pacific Northwest. So, people arguing over somebody else’s land. Russian empire, Great Britain, Spain, and the US…after the war of 1812, the Oregon dispute took on increased importance between the British Empire, the American Republic, and the Russians had signed in 1820s the Russo-American Treaty and the Russo-British Treaty. The Spanish had signed on the Adam’s Onus Treaty.

 

They were trying to figure out who could control the Pacific Coast. It was still contested by the UK and the US. The disputed area was a region west of the continental divide, north of the 42nd parallel north and the Russian parallel at 54 40. The British call it the Columbia District; the Americans called it Oregon…the Oregon country. 1844, it was a part of the US…came up during the presidential election. Oh man, good old manifest destiny. Oh boy. They wanted to make a offer on the 49th parallel. However, that faltered. Tensions grew, and they…everyone was urging James K. Polk to annex the entire Pacific Northwest all the way to the 54 40. These tensions gave rise to that slogan, 54 40 or fight. Also, the US was annexing Texas, so…so yeah, a lot there, a lot going on with that Bartlett’s Quotations.

 

But anytime I think about that, I think about…my nana always came up. So, I was thinking of my nana and records that I have. Maybe, nana, could we work out something where we go through these records and you give me Nana’s Book of Familiar Quotations? Oh, nana doesn’t want to be on mic. Oh, that’s okay. So, I’ll do this. These are nana’s quotations you’re not familiar with. I’ll try to…this is a quote from Fabian; this friendly world, and contextually, nana normally says this friendly world…I would guess she would say it in irony, but let’s imagine a world from nana’s perspective instead of only imagining it from my perspective. Right, nana, finally? As you’re saying, so what if there was a world where I was more open-minded about nana’s perspective, right?

 

And where nana was coming from, trying to help me, right, help myself. So, this friendly world, you would say, that’s what you’re trying to help provide me with your guidance, is this friendly world. Another quote by Fabian…that was the B-side, I assume, ‘cause the A-side is hound dog man. When you say that, you…hound dog man makes me think…you say, why are you acting like a hound dog, man? You’re saying it in a friendly, helpful way, though, nana, because I’m chasing my own tail around, I’m sniffing around and trying to find my own way instead of just getting help, right, and saying okay, well, yeah, isn’t there anything else I could do that would be good for everybody instead of just sniff…like, why do all the work, right? Just ask for help. Don’t be a hound dog, man. Ask for some help in this friendly world.

 

Thanks, nana. Another couple people nana likes to quote is Gene Pitney. One of them is tower tall. I’ve heard her say that before, quoting Gene Pitney; tower tall. I’d say okay, that means the task at hand is not gonna be easy, right? We could be walking up the tower; it’s gonna be tall. We could be looking up at the tower. It’s a simple state…it’s a flexible one. Wow, tower’s tall. Kind like there…somebody told me recently hey, there’s only four prayers, really; H-E-L-P, thank you, wow, and another one, fudge. Those are the only four prayers. I say okay, I like that. This one sounds similar, though; tower tall. Could be…yeah, it could be wow. It could be tower’s tall, help. What are the other ones? Tower tall; thanks, that’s beautiful, or tower tall, fudge, I gotta go all the way up that tower? It’s gonna be…or over it?

 

How am I gonna do that? Another thing I hear nana say from Gene Pitney all the time is half-heaven, half-heartache. That’s again another one, flexible. She says it a lot about me when I’m at my best. She says…and then she usually refines it. Well, with you it’s more like 99999.99999 heartache, .00000 heaven. I’d say, there’s a little bit of heaven in all of us, nana, but mostly in your smile. Then I say, did that get me to half-heaven, half-heartache? But that’s something we can all relate to, right? Half-heaven…it’s a relatable quote; Gene Pitney. Another one I love to hear from nana, but I…and I’d love to hear it in the way nana means it. When she quotes the Chiffons, one fine day. She loves to quote the Chiffons. One fine day.

 

Again, that can mean…you could be speaking about the present, one fine day, or sometimes nana speaks…would speak about it. She’d be just jesting, but about my bottom dollar. But I don’t know…I wouldn’t be betting my bottom dollar, but I’d say…and that…actually, I don’t know what that quote means, so I probably shouldn’t…but she’d say one fine day. I’d say nana, we don’t…you don’t…you’re imaginary, so you can’t practice corporal discipline with me. But one fine day, we might. Then another thing I can relate to, maybe a lot of you can relate to when nana quotes the Chiffons; why am I so shy? Why am I so shy? You could say it with a forlorn thing, but what I’ve learned from Ted Lasso is…or maybe say…I mean, you could say it like that; why am I so shy?

 

Or you could say it in a playful way, or you could say hey, it’s okay. Why am I so shy? Don’t know, but I’m here by and by to give you everything you can need, you know? But it is a quote that comes up for nana. Another one that comes up…another person…this is nana’s generation. She likes to quote Bobby Darrin. B-O-B-B-Y D-A-R-N. She says sorrow tomorrow. When she says that, you know, I say nana…I said what about…how about…okay. But can’t we look…I thought it’s…one fine day, sorrow tomorrow; is that like you’re predicting the weather now? But maybe it’s more of a wise thing. Again, if I can embrace nana the way I embrace Ray…I’m sorry, nana. It is a case of ‘you spot it, you got it’ for me, ‘cause you’re so relatable. But maybe you’re saying hey, save the sorrow for tomorrow.

 

But I would say…for me, I’d say it’s okay to be sad today, too. But maybe if you’re…here’s where I think you’re coming from, nana; if I’m focused on tomorrow, it’ll always be sorrow, even when I’m fantasizing about taking a vacation or being a different person. That’s living tomorrow like it’s one fine day. It’s all about living in the moment, right nana? Thank you for that lesson. It took me a while from you and Bobby Darrin. Another thing I took…probably take the wrong way is when you say you must have been a beautiful baby, when you quote Bobby Darrin. I say, are you saying I’m beautiful now or I’m…I was a beautiful baby and I’m not beautiful anymore? But I think what you’re really saying, nana, which other people say, is hey, pay some compliments. That’s a easy way to pay a compliment.

 

But I think it’s probably confusing in the modern-day parlance. Plus, most people don’t remember when they were a baby. So, I’d say just find a way to compliment somebody, is what you’re really saying, nana. Oh, then there’s your quote of them; here comes the night. Again, I guess it’s…that’s…sometimes it’s ready…like hey, here comes the night. Let’s do our bedtime routine, right, nana? And to get ready for bed. Here comes the night. It’ll be okay, right, nana? That’s what you’re saying; here comes the night. All for myself; that’s also another quote from them you like to quote, huh, nana? All for myself. That’s when I think you’re really…I don’t…I don’t know what that one means. I’m trying to find the deeper meaning.

 

I mean, I could imagine you…I guess this is my chance to grow, ‘cause I say well, if you were hugging me, you’d say I’m gonna keep you all for myself, but that would make me take off, nana, and want to have my own distance. But maybe it’s that; it’s like oh, I can’t have all…it all for myself. I want it all for myself, but I can’t have it all for myself, huh? So, not easy but true, is you can’t have it all for yourself even when you want to, right, nana? So, that’s another good lesson from you. Thank you, nana. You know, nana, I wanted to take a second to compliment you on how…do you realize that your quotes are so brief, usually only a few words…I mean, brevity is the act of sincerity, or sincerity is the act of brevity or something, because that’s not my skill set…that it could be said on a 45 or a 33 record.

 

But I remember when you quoted Johnny Horton to me, the mansion you stole. I guess I took it a little bit in my interpretation of it, ‘cause I think you were describing it about my habits and cleaning up after myself and staying organized. But I took a much different meaning from it, nana, that…of heartbreak, and…but of depth to a person that…I guess ‘cause I said if that was a song that you were quoting the title of instead of a pithy saying, first of all, I’d say I don’t think there’s anything pithy about the mansion you stole, because you say…but I say oh, a person is a mansion; so many rooms, whatever the…I don’t…nana, what’s a ball…? There’s a word like balustrade or something. But I say okay, that is a way to describe it, or the depth of someone’s heart.

 

Of course, that Johnny Horton song you like to quote from the movie I don’t know, but where you’re gonna…where you tell me go to some…north to Alaska. When you send me to my room, when you send me out the door, when you send me on my…north to Alaska. I know what that means, also ‘cause your body language usually helps me. North to Alaska; that’s where I’ll go. Now, this one…this is a famous…when you…this is the most famous person…I mean, some might say…I don’t know, did you quote Donovan earlier or was it…? You quoted a couple people that could be considered one-name people. Uni-name? This person, they have two names but they probably…Elvis Presley; you say…and I like how you don’t do quotey-quotes. You do…whatever those things are. Brackets? They’re not brackets.

 

You say, you’re the figure with red spandex in disguise. I say, there’s no disguising me, nana. That’s…those are red spandex that I’m wearing figurative…my figure is figuratively wearing red spandex. Oh boy, is it. I’m shaking my hips because those mean that I am the red-wearing spandex person from beneath the Earth or somewhere down there, in disguise. The other one…I guess I never took it as…I didn’t realize it was figurative ‘cause…but you quote Elvis; you say please don’t drag that string around. I always thought that was…like, you were just telling me…and I said well, which…then I would look behind me to see if it was a string hanging off my clothes, or a lot of times I assumed it was my…a way you were saying my shoelace.

 

But I guess it’s…in some sense, I say gather up the string of the things I drag around, and maybe I should gather those up and not drag them around, especially…’cause normally I say wow, nana’s really asking me in a way I’m unfamiliar with, saying please…but another quote of yours I love, nana…oh, thanks, nana. Nana just asked a question. She said oh, is this like Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations? Are you doing…what system of order are you doing them in? Is it chronological? Is it by…? I say nana, it’s by the stack of records in my hand that I’m reading off of, your famous quotes. This is one of my favorites, except that I always…talk about misquoting nana. Even when I…when I misquote you, I do sing this; all that glitters isn’t gold, you say, from Lou Christie.

 

But I always say all…you know, I guess I do…I think…isn’t that song All That Glitters is Gold…? But then you say that doesn’t make any sense. I’d say well, that’s…I say, I think I learned it from a commercial for cereal, or maybe it was for Golden Sugar Cubes or whatever they’re called. Golden Sugar Puffs, with the bear on there. Are they just Sugar Puffs? I think they’re golden, and they glitter like gold. I say, all that glitters is gold. You say no, all that glitters is not gold. I’d say, isn’t gold right, nana? You’d say, correct. I’d say well, it still sounds like me. But that was old Lou…or, not Lou…and then I say, is that from…? Then I say, do you know who said that? Now I’ll say this; all that glitters is gold. Lon Chaney. You say, are you doing this on purpose? ‘Cause it’s Lou Christie. Two faces have I.

 

Oh boy, if I could…I say well, my face…nana’s face usually has…you…nana, you have more than two faces, and I wouldn’t call you two-faced ‘cause you’re so straightforward and honest. But if you were trying to simplify it into a song that only had four, you know, quote…obviously we’re talking quotes here. I’d say you probably would say it; two faces have I. I think that’d be better…was that a song in Phantom of the Opera? ‘Cause I think…does Phantom of the Opera have a song, Two Faces Have I? It sounds like somebody would be singing that in a musical, anyway. Nana, this one…well, even you will laugh. We won't even have to get into this quote, but you’ll have a laugh at what you…and so will all the listeners listening along at this one.

 

When you quote Connie Francis but you’re saying it like you’re…if my pillow could talk. Talk about something for Sleep With Me. You know, that’s so easy ‘cause we have that quote; if my pillow could talk, it’s…there’d be nothing to say, other than…no, I mean, I wash…I don’t wash my pillow as often as I should, and…but that…nana, I knew you’d have a laugh at that. You’re still laughing. Too easy, she says. You know, Connie Francis also…you quote Connie Francis saying you’re the only one who can disappoint me. Then I usually sing another song that goes…do you really want to disappoint me? Do you really want to make me cry? But then you say…and I say, really? I’m the only one that could disappoint…? And I say oh, because you’re a imaginary nana living within me, that makes sense.

 

Also, that’s a great lesson to tell me, just like we said earlier; I spot it, I got it. Right, nana? Because yeah, I could do…that only…that’s my behavior that’s disappointing, and my expectations. So, you’re right, nana. Another person…this was an obscure one, but I take it…sometimes you say this when you’re frustrated; you quote Leslie Gore and you say Danny, but you say it in a way where you snap your fingers. So, I always thought it was a way so you wouldn’t…’cause sometimes you say it after you say it’s my party, the old…that’s…is that the most famous…? Is that the one, I cry if I want to? Or is that another one? ‘Cause I always wonder, is nana…is it my party? Another one…you know, you…I’ve heard you quote before is old Gene Pitney, right?

 

That’s when you pretend…sometimes you say…’cause this was one of the funniest things; you say, I’m dehydrating you…you just say teardrop by teardrop, but then I had to imagine what you were…you just say teardrop by teardrop. But then I said wouldn’t it be more…make more sense if you said Little Andy, you’re dehydrating your nana teardrop by teardrop, or hey nana, how did you get dehydrated? Well, because teardrop by teardrop, by dealing with Little Andy. I turned to dust, teardrop by teardrop. But you could…oh boy, nana. But yeah, I’m sure there’s other ways you could…and then you said Mecca, that Gene Pitney thing, which I didn’t understand. I didn’t know if that was something like…I didn’t know if you were working on a screenplay or something, nana, where you were trying to write hip dialogue.

 

Because then you say well, when they wrote that dialogue, I was thinking of Heathers and Tiny Fey. I think Tina Fey said well, they made up some of the stuff. So, I don’t know…and I say well, I don’t know if you should be using Mecca as a…I say nana, can’t we…can’t you just use it in a…? But you say well, I’m not…I’m quoting whatever Gene Pitney…this was one I never knew, like, it just made me laugh; Bob B. Soxx. You quote and you’d say, Flip and Nitty. I’d say, did…how do you spell Bob B. Soxx? B-O…and you say, Bob, B-O-B, B. S-O double X. I’d say oh wow, nana, that’s some wild stuff. Bob B. Soxx, eh? Flip and Nitty. I’d say, those sound like characters from a Sleep With Me podcast. Then you say, zip-a-dee-doo-dah. I’d say, is that like the song from…?

 

But usually that’s when you answer my question with a song and you say trouble in paradise. When will I be loved? I’d say, are those two different songs, though? Trouble in paradise is…and I guess that’s what it’s like being around me, huh? You say, trouble in paradise. But Josephine…this one makes me giggle; itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, yellow, polka-dot bikini. I think Josephine is another quote, right? You’re just quoting various popular artists, vocals, and orchestra, right? But itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, yellow, polka-dot bikini. Then Tommy Roe is another one, nana, I’ve heard you…oh boy, do you love to quote Tommy Roe; save your kisses. If I could quote Tommy Roe, I’d say…and that other thing, teardrop by teardrop, I would quote The Weeknd and say save your tears.

 

Then you’d say, what are you gonna say, save your tears for a rainy day? I’d say, for another day, nana. But I mean, if I…but here’s something; maybe The Weeknd meant this…maybe The Weeknd read Cat in the Hat as a boy, as a lad. Maybe The Weeknd…maybe it was save your tears for a rainy day. That was for The Cat in the Hat…some Cat in the Hat-related project. Really, if anyone knew what was going on with the Cat in the Hat, there’d be a lot of tears, even though everything was fine…I mean, other than the fish. I guess the fish would sing it. The fish is out…the fish would say, save your tears for a rainy day. Then the…a rainy day; good day to cry, you could say. But you like save your kisses for Tommy Roe. I always say well, what does that mean?

 

You don’t want…I mean, obviously we won't be doing any kissing, even…I mean, I could kiss your forehead if you were under the weather, nana. I’ll be honest, our relationship prefer it not to be a kissing-based relationship, even a pecking…that’s just where I’m at. One day, nana, the podcast listeners may hear three years from now…I’d say nana, go ahead and give me a kiss on the cheek. But right now it’s just where I am and my honest growth, is I say nana, I’m practicing trying to be somewhat kind to you, occasionally. I’d prefer you save your kisses, so thanks for helping me assert myself. Then you quote Tommy Roe when you say Sheila, who…that’s someone in my family. I say wow, Sheila…but then there was also the song Oh, Oh, Sheila, but that’s a different song than what we’re talking about.

 

Another quote I like, nana, is when you quote Doris Troy. It’s so rare, but you say, just one look. I said, what does she mean by that, just one look? Like, are you just gonna give me just one more look or are you…? You say, just one look. I say okay, nana, I’m just giving you one look of…I don’t understand. But maybe you’re saying it to yourself. I’ll never forget the day you said…you quoted Doris Troy and you said I got the bossa nova blues. I said nana, I think that was my favorite piece of sci-fi fiction I read, is a…and you say no, no, I’m telling you how I’m feeling. I say, are you sure? I said, I thought that was in a series of books that I read as a boy that I’ve been trying to get the bottom of, Bossa Nova Blues. Don’t you remember, nana?

 

There’s two books that I’m searching for, the titles of or copies of, and one of which is a book I read as a child. I checked it out of the library. Not a young child, though; probably somewhere between first grade and ninth grade. Probably between first grade and fifth grade, though, nana, really. I could swear that if I was gonna invent a title for the book five of that series, it’d be bossa nova blues, because maybe they live on the bossa…I don’t know what it would be. You could make it about bossa nova, which I think is a kind of music? I don’t know, nana. But I was thinking they live on Bossa Nova Station, or maybe there’s a bossa nova coming to the planet, so everybody’s down. But that was a boy who was my age when I was reading it who had an android duplicate of themselves, maybe, who was their best friend.

 

But I don’t…that’s all I remember out of the book. I mean, other than lying on my bedroom floor, reading it and listening to the radio. So, I say bossa nova blues; I guess I gave you a case of that. Then oh, of course, nana, I’ll talk about the other book. The other book comes up a lot, which is the book where…and I…where the kid tries to…eventually tries to dig a hole through the center of the Earth. It kinda shows scientifically what kind of equipment would be needed as the boy escalates from just a shovel to actually trying to dig to the other side of the Earth. But I guess that would…that reminds me of those quotes where you roll your eyes and you quote Dodie Stevens, coming of age, or you shrug your shoulders to be…describe my behavior. You say, I don’t know, coming of age.

 

I guess I never know what that means. Another one…this is an emotional thing you say, like some of the things…I don’t know what the term is, but it was called Pink Shoelaces by Dodie Stevens. Another Dodie Stevens quote; pink shoelaces. You know, it reminds me a bit of Ted Lasso saying BBQ sauce when you say pink shoelaces. But I don’t know. Then you’d quote…I know you quoted the Monkees a few times. One of them you just said words, right? I guess that was when I was talking too much or I didn’t understand something. You’d say, words. Normally I would respond to that with word up. You’d say no, words. You wouldn’t say it’s just…you’d just say words. I’d say oh, that must be the wisdom of the Monkees, like that other Monkees quote you like to say; Pleasant Valley Sunday.

 

Then you’d use the day of the week that’s not Sunday. Pleasant Valley Sunday on Thursday. I’d say, is that what time with me feels like, nana? A Pleasant Valley Sunday? That would…is when you’d again quote Connie Francis, as you love to do so much. You’d say, everybody’s somebody’s fool. But then you would move it around; you say, you’re some…every…somebody’s…everybody’s somebody’s fool. Somebody…you’re the somebody, and you’re for every…and I’d say thanks, nana. And I say well, it’s good, because I have a purpose now. So, somehow that quote, that Connie Francis quote led to the podcast, nana. Do you believe that? Good old Connie Francis saying everybody’s somebody’s fool.

 

You know, the other thing is sometimes I can let my feelings come up, of jealousy, jealous…and I’m jealous of you, just like you would say with Connie Francis. You would usually…I guess I’m imagining you would say it when I didn’t do…I’m jealous of you; you don’t do the dishes when they’re supposed to be done. But I think the one thing I love the most, nana, is when you quote Eddie Hodges or Eddie Hodges and you say I’m a knock on your door, ‘cause I again mistook that as some sort of passive-aggressive statement, but it was more like I’m gonna say hi to you. I’m gonna knock on your door with kindness, with love. I’m gonna reach out to you and quote…I’m gonna knock on your door.

 

Then that other Eddie Hodges or Eddie Hodges quote you love, the last quote we’ll share in this book of Nana’s Unfamiliar Quotations; ain’t gonna wash for a week. You would usually say that after…if on occasion I did kiss your forehead, I would hope you’d say that, nana, or shook your hand or gave you a hug. More…it’s not a statement of fact, but as a statement of disbelief, right? Like, I ain’t gonna wash for a week. I don’t want your kiss…you actually hugged me. But you’re…every quote you have, nana, when I take it…when I take a second to actually listen, is like…I shouldn’t wash my ears out for a week after hearing all this wisdom. So, I’m glad to hear it, nana. Thanks so much, and goodnight.

 

[END OF RECORDING]