1455 – Perfumed Bells | Checking Into Boredom Ep 3
The perfumed scent of dreamland will lull you off to sleep as a lullaby of bells shares another tale of Noir Chardonnay.
-
Episode 1455 – Perfumed Bells | Checking Into Boredom Ep 3
SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s time for the podcaster who’s here to keep you company, take your mind off of stuff, help you get comfortable, and fall asleep and drift off into dreamland or just be at peace, maybe bring you some sleepy joy and delight in the deep, dark night, but in the most meandering and nonsensical way possible. So, if you're new, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, a podcast that’s here to put you to sleep in a bit of a indirect way, where we take forever to get started, we're always going nowhere, but…well, there is a destination in mind, but then you should say, wait a second, should I go this way or that way? Where were we going? So, if you're new, just give this show a few tries and see how it goes, and I’ll talk about that later. If you find out or you already know this podcast isn't for you or you've tried it a few times, I have a website set up, sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou. You just answer a couple questions.
It’ll bring you to a page with other sleep podcasts and sleepy stuff on there. But give this show a try, 'cause the people that really enjoy it, that it does make their life better, it’s the kind of thing where they're like, holy cow, I never knew something like this existed. So, just see how it goes. If you're coming back, I’m so glad to have you here. If you're here night after night, I’m happy you're here, too. What we got coming up is support so that paying for the show is optional. It really comes down to the people that listen the most and whose lives are drastically improved by the podcast supporting the show or the sponsors. So, if that’s not you, don't worry about it. You could just listen to this free, listener-supported, ad-supported version that’s here for you. Then after that is a long, meandering intro meant to ease you into bedtime, and then later on we’ll be having a trip to…pretty cool.
It’ll be a trip to another place in our episodically modular series which we came up with a name with yesterday, but now I can't recall. Checking Into Boredom? That may be the name of the series. Russell, Rusty Biscuit, came up with that title. We were brainstorming back and forth. He had a lot of good ones, but Checking Into Boredom; I think maybe…I think that’s what we said we’d go with, but we’ll find out. So, welcome to Sleep With Me. I’m glad you're here. See how it goes if you're new. If you're coming back, you're one of those listeners that just needs the show when your sleep…I'm glad you're here. I hope I can help out. If this podcast night after night changes your relationship with sleep, if you could check out these sponsors or consider supporting the show, if that’s a possibility for you, it’d be huge, 'cause then we can be here for you and for all those other listeners. Thanks.
Intro: 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. That could be thoughts, thoughts about the past, the present, the future, the prast, which I don't know what the prast would be. Are you living in the past or the prast? Well, that’s a good question. I’m really wondering what the prast is. It’s like…well, it’s almost like a pasta, but it’s not a pasta at all, and it’s…does it take…when does it take place? Well, I’m not sure. Is this some sort of conundrum? I guess it is. I’m living in the prast. Prast, is that even a word? Can I…is it okay if I…? It’s been a while since I’ve actively…but now I’m having thoughts about this. P-R-A-S-T. Prast.
Okay, prast…oh, it is a name, so that makes sense. Prast…oh, whoa boy, Wikinictionary has an etymology for it. Prast in Latvian is the first-person form…first-person form is derived from a variant, to understand or to perceive. Oh, there is a verb, okay; prast. To know how to, to be able to do…well, I’m not…I won't be living in the prast in that…living would be the verb, though. So, that’s…this is the object of the verb. I, subject, am living in the prast. Is that an object? To notice, speak to be fluent…I mean, I’m fluent…I mean, I’m fluent in nonsensical…well, I guess I’m not quite fluent in nonsensical languages. Okay, so the noun…oh, there is no noun. Understanding…I guess…I mean, that would be a world to live in, where everything’s under…I mean, that’s the kind of world we're trying to create here.
So, it could be thoughts, feelings…feelings, like anything coming up for you emotionally, whether it’s related to those thoughts, like feelings from the day or from the week or from the distant past, feelings about…feelings…you're like, man, I just don't feel…I don't feel prasted. Would that already have been in…would that be in that movie that was a satire, Bring It On? It’s already been prasted. That would be something someone would say, a student. They'd say, no, it’s…I’ve already been…it’s already been understood. I’ve already been prasted. Or, you've been prasted. That would be…that could be…that’s very sleep-friendly, actually. It doesn't sound like it. You say, what, what? No, no. Oh no, I’m just here…I wanted to acknowledge my attempt to understand you. You've been prasted. I mean, it’s kind of like a saying, but I’m in the active process of trying to better understand you.
Okay, well, don't ever say it like…if you want to under…if you really understood me, never say I’ve been prast…'cause I grew up in the nineties or the aughts. Okay, could I say you've…it’s already been prasted, then? Well, that’s even more confusing 'cause you haven't actually…you say, well, it’s just hard because it’s kind of a word. It’s also not…it’s also become a nonsense word as soon as it started coming out of Scooter’s mouth. But I can under…I guess in my attempt to be prasting, practice prasting, I get it. So, I will not say again, when referring to you, imaginary part of me that’s subjecting…that you've been…you've already…you've been prasted or that you've already been prasted or that it…well, I guess in the…if it was in a film, it’d be terribly confusing. But if it was a context of a satire of Bring It On, the cheerleading movie which we covered a couple years ago, that would be…what would it be?
It would be like…they could be talking about a test or a subject at school or someone they're trying to understand better or something in the world, like maybe some sort of cheerleading routine. Somebody could be like, are you sure you understand the fundamentals of this routine? It’s already been prasted, so…okay. So anyway, I guess I should get back to introducing this sleep podcast. But welcome. These are the kind of inadvertent tangents we go on. You learn something new every day, even if it’s not factual or useful, but it’s kinda fun. I like this idea. ‘Cause, really, that is something I’m trying to work…slowly improve, ideally throughout the rest of my lifetime, I guess in very micro-growths, understanding things better or striving to create understanding.
‘Cause whether it’s thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, changes in time, temperature, routine, you could be traveling, maybe work a different schedule, maybe you have guests or you have something coming up or you're going through something, or you have a baffling relationship with sleep on and off or long-term, a lot of times there’s not a great sense of understanding with the outside world of what it’s like, what the experience is like to not be able to get the sleep you desire and you need, or that what…you live with someone or you know a lot of people and they're like, oh yeah, as soon as I…I fall asleep as soon as I lay down. Then you're like, well, that’s not my experience. It is kind of not equal, right? I under…like, when someone says, oh, my…I fall asleep as soon as I close…as soon as my head hits the pillow. I think I understand how…the only thing I’m assuming I understand is how sweet that must be. Oh boy, that must be sweet.
Now, maybe that’s not the case, but I have a general understanding and I’m acknowledging…I say, well, it is pretty nice, but it’s not my experience. But when I…but for them…and maybe again this is also a misunderstanding on my end when they say, well, what do you mean you can't sleep? Or what’s going on? Well, this week I’m thinking about a lot or…I don't start to notice this one thing until I actually lie down, and then all of a sudden I can't stop…why don't you stop thinking about it? I say, okay, well, there’s a lack of prasting in this situation. I’ve been…I think you may be de-prasting me or whatever. You may be some sort of…I don't know, but I feel de-prasted. What? Can you use words? This is like where somebody says, son, can you use words with me? Well, that’s just…I'm just talking…well, I don't need…can you use real feeling words? Probably not, 'cause this is a sleep podcast. I need to move on. But I do feel deep…I may feel un-prasted.
I may feel like I’m experiencing the last of prasting, and I would appreciate a little more prastibility out of you. But so, if that’s your experience with bedtime, you're in the…you may be in the right place. I can't guarantee you're in the right place. I hope you're in the right place, because we have a shared understanding, 'cause this show is not just me. Right now, particularly during this part of the show, there’s a lot of other people listening right now, and whether they're winding down or getting ready for bed, they are thinking of listeners, whether they're new listeners or listeners that are just listening to this part of the show and paying attention for the first time, or listeners who aren't really paying attention but need it. They're sending kindness, they're sending comfort, maybe even sleepy joy and delight and well wishes to you across the deep, dark night.
They are rooting for you to get the rest you need on a regular basis, and they're kinda thinking fondly of you because they've been in a similar place. Maybe it’s not the exact same place, but somewhere around the world, maybe some people nearby and some people on the other side of the world are listening right now who…they've experienced something similar to what brought you here, and they're thinking of you in a kind way and kinda holding a welcoming space for you. The nice thing about this show is it’s a welcoming space that’s not…you could…at a distance if you like, or a indirect welcoming, and it’s a two-way thing. They get to feel good about welcoming you and sending you kindness, and when they need it, they can kinda receive it. But the listeners that I’ve heard from that send it out, it’s another level. It changed your life, really, in a subtle way. It is like…maybe this will be a book I write; Practicing Prasting, or I’ve Already Been Prasted.
I mean, it would be more of a pamphlet, I guess. But yeah, it’d be about creating that understanding and that they're glad you're here. I don't know if you could feel it, and if you can't, maybe at some point it kinda…you start to feel it or you feel it at 0.5%, but we're glad you're here. That’s what I mean, and we get it, and I know and the listeners know you deserve a bedtime that you don't need to dread, that you could look forward to or at least feel neutral about, and a bedtime where you get the rest you need so your life is more manageable tomorrow, and maybe you get the rest you need on a regular basis so you could be out there in the world flourishing and creating a sense of prasting or understanding. I don't even need to use nonsense words at this point 'cause it’s important. But there’s also no pressure to do so. If you just want to listen and chill, you can do that, too. Everything’s welcome here. So, I’m glad you're here. That’s the point, and I really hope I can help.
The way it works is I send my voice across the deep, dark night. I use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, superfluous tangents. So, my voice is not traditionally soothing, and we’ve already been on quite a few tangents, I think. I don't even know…I'm like, did I even start the podcast? I mean the intro of the podcast? But I did, hopefully. I’m pretty sure, 'cause there’s the friends beyond the binary part, then there’s the are you up all night…? Huh, how does the rest of the show start? Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning? Okay, so, I think we covered both those. The pod…this podcast is very different. I alluded to it earlier.
When most people get here, naturally and normally you're not feeling your best, and you may be skeptical, you may be doubtful, you may be frustrated or fed up, and maybe you've tried a ton of different other stuff; audio or other stuff you pay for, and nothing’s worked consistently, and then you found this show through a recommendation or a search or you stumbled upon it, and then you're like, what even is this, right? I do not know if I…this is…I thought this was supposed to be a sleep podcast. That’s a really normal…the major…way the majority of people react when they first listen to the show. So, if that’s your kind of initial impressions, I unfortunately don't make…I make a decent first impression, but not a overwhelmingly amazing one. So, I’m glad you're here, and just give the show a few tries.
That’s what regular listeners, people that have been supporting the podcast with their hard-earned work and money for years…when they first listened to the show they didn't like it, and then the second try they said, I’m not so sure about this, but I’ll give it one more try. Then on the third try they woke up the next day or they just felt relief and comfort and then they fell asleep, and they felt like, oh, I have someone to hang out with now who’s gonna be there for me. I realize, yeah, it’s a podcast and it’s indirect. They get that, but they also get that deeper sense that we are interconnected and we are exchanging this positive intention or whatever, this desire to prast and even a desire to put in words…I mean, I think the pretty sweet thing about nonsense words…I think the most famous nonsense word is probably supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, right?
That’s a long one, but it kinda sums up an experience that could only put…and I think prasting, even though it may be part of a real word or a real word in Latvian or part of a word in Latvian, it’s kinda like, yeah…I mean, it’s not…no offence to the word; it is more of…kind of a rough-hewn word? I don't know how else to put it. Prast is not…I mean, it’s a nice word. Don't worry, prast. But it’s not…it doesn't have…it’s not very soft or cute. I would say you're very…you're a handsome word, prast, and we get it. Understanding is also, I’d say, on the handsome side of words, or whatever the equivalent is that you're comfortable saying versus cute or cud…you're not cuddly. Prast and understanding are not exactly cuddling, cuddly, but they create a cuddle…they create…without it, the cuddability…cuddleability is probably…they create the conditions for cuddling or adjacent-related things like getting in bed and getting cozy and going to sleep.
So anyway, what was I talking about? Superfluous tangents, most people don't like me…oh, so if you…if you give the show a few tries, find out it’s not for you, go to sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou. Or if you're already certain the show is not for you, go to sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou, and you could find some…another sleep podcast that could help you out. The other things you need to know about the show is this is a podcast you kinda indirectly listen to, or you just barely listen to it, like a TV on in the other room or a show streaming under your pillow. It’s like wind in the trees, an out-of-focus picture, sand passing through your hands, nice water between your toes. It’s something that’s there but it’s a little bit out of focus if you need it to be. But you can listen, but you don't need to listen. So, that takes some getting used to.
Then there’s the fact that this is a sleep podcast that I’ve been making for thirteen plus years or thirteen years and some change or whatever, and it’s not meant to put you to sleep. There is no pressure to fall asleep with this show. I’m gonna be here over an hour so you don't have to worry about the show ending in twenty minutes, and I’m here because there’s people listening who can't sleep at all either because of their…something with their sleep or they need a break during the day or they need something to listen to in the middle of the night, or they wake up early or they have a job where they need something to listen to. I’m here whether you're awake or asleep, so you don't gotta worry about it. I’m here to hang out with you, but you don't need…it’s not a two-way thing. You don't need to listen to me. So, whether you're awake or asleep, whether you're listening to me or not, I’m here to hang and just talk and then tell you a story eventually. What else?
Oh, 'cause my job is to be your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-sib, your bore-bud, your borebie, your boreman, your bores, your Boris Borelaf, your chairman of the boreds, your best bore-friend f’eva, and just hang out with you. That’s what a bore-friend does, just like if this was a real service, which is kinda one of the underlying concepts of these…this episodically modular series we do this week, is that, yeah, if you had a bore-friend on call, everybody would want…most people would prefer, I think, a audio version. So you'd say, well, you know, I prefer it at a distance. I prefer my bore-friend to be a few thousand miles away. So, yeah, that just takes some getting used to, having a bore-bae or a bore-sib or a bore-bud or a bore-bruh or a bore…best bore-friend f’eva. So, just see how it goes, too, with that.
But I’m just here to mildly distract you and be a little silly, and, yeah, strive for sleepy joy and delight, strive for…prasting is actually the reaching for prast…reaching to develop your prastibility. What else do you need to know? Oh, the structure of the show I like to run through. Just in case you're new, the structure can throw people off when you first get here, so let me explain to you what…why we structure the show the way we do and then how you could adjust. So, this ad-supported, listener-supported, free version is in every podcast app and other places you'd listen to podcast-esque stuff or whatever. This benefits the maximum amount of people we can versus doing it other ways like just as part of a service or excluse…or whatever, you know? So, the show starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, so when you're new you get the sense, oh, okay, I get a general sense of what this show is about, and I feel welcome.
Then there’s support so that paying for the show is optional, 'cause a lot of people only listen to the show for a couple weeks at a time or a couple months at a time while they're going through something, or people are new, or people…they're just not interested…they're interested in this free version. A lot of people listen to the show linearly and they have it stop at the end of the episode, or they set a sleep timer for like thirty or forty-five minutes or an hour. But most people just have the episode end at the end of the episode. But you could discover that through your podcast app what works for you over time. Then after the intro…oh, is support. That’s what enables us to put it out for everybody. If you don't like the ads or you listen all night long or you fall asleep fast or you listen all the time, you could check out Sleep With Me+. But otherwise, if this ad-supported version works for you, that’s great.
Then after that will be…is the intro, which we're probably like twenty minutes into already, and the intro is meant to ease you into bedtime versus just being a quick, efficient intro. But I also follow a familiar structure every time, and then I get distracted by something new every time, in this case a new word or new-to-me word that I’ll probably never…unfortunately, prast, I’ll have to have multiple people remind me of you. As much as I feel like this has been a great…I’ve loved our twenty-five minutes together. If I was really in a state of prasting, I would be…I would understand your feelings as well, as a word or a collection of letters or as a concept. I get it. You're a important concept, so that will never change. That’s forever. I mean, unless people…well, that’s for…well, okay. Yeah. So, let me…prast, I’m glad you're here. What was I talking about? Oh, the intro goes on and on and on to ease you into bedtime, right?
So, it follows a familiar structure, it’s reassuring, but it’s always new so whatever it is that keeps you awake has something fresh. But it also takes twenty…fifteen, twenty, twenty-five minutes to give you some wind-down time. So, most listeners are getting ready for bed, in bed getting comfortable, or winding down, chilling out. If you fall asleep fast, we could use your support on Sleep With Me+, 'cause this version is not designed to put you to sleep fast. If it does, that’s cool, but for most of us, to do this on a regular basis, it takes a buffer and a wind down, and that works for me most of the time. So, that’s why the intro goes on and on and on. Then after the intro will be support, then we’ll…it’ll be a few seconds around, then we’ll have our episodically modular series. Checking Into Boredom, maybe, is what it’ll be called, and it’s about a hotel that has a bedtime storyteller.
So, yeah, and all told, we’ll be here over an hour, and I’m really glad you're here whether you're new, whether you're coming back, or you're here night after night after night. If you are here night after night after night or you listen to more than one episode a night and you just happen to be listening to me right now, if you could check out these sponsors or consider supporting the show, that’s how we're able to be here for the super-listeners and the people that just need this podcast when they need it. Thanks so much.
Alright everybody, this is Scoots. Welcome to our episodically modular series which now has a name, Checking Into Boredom. This is a very episodically modular series. It has just a bare sprinkle of seriality, very similar to a popular thing. I’m recording Episode 3 right on the cusp of when something’s…a comedy with Riz Ahmed comes out that I have no…hopefully it’s not similar to this, but based on the same concepts. But this show is way more oblique. But so, this is…oh, what does episodically modular mean? I got a little excited there, sorry. Episodically modular means you could listen to these episodes in any order. It has recurring…one recurring character. They have a recurring job. Believe it or not, in this series, they're here to help one person…craft a bedtime story for one person. But let me set…so, episodically modular means you could listen to these in any order. Even though this is Episode 3, you could listen to Episode 1 and 2. They really are…you'll kinda see.
I’m gonna kinda set it up for you, what you need to know. So, what do you need to know? These episodes all take place with a bedtime storyteller named Noir Chardonnay, who strikes a very similar…it’s a…if I was doing satire or…what’s the other thing? Of this…my own podcast…the character is very similar to Scooter. But they work for this hotel chain or a series of hotels called The Hotel, and they're across the world. They're not in the main…biggest city in different parts of the world, maybe even not in the second-biggest city or the top tourist destinations, but they're in nice destinations. Again, you'd say, holy Rick Steves. I don't know if Rick Steves would ever stay at The Hotel. Probably…I mean, I don't think if he…well, maybe he would if it existed, but this is fictional. I think he would prefer to stay at something…these hotels tend to be in grand buildings. They are luxury hotels.
That’s not an important part of the story, but they're so luxurious they have a hotel bedtime storyteller that travels from hotel to hotel — they probably have more than one — to work with hotel guests and tell them a bedtime story or first build a bedtime story for them and then tell it to them so they could sleep. But there’s also something else going on behind the scenes of The Hotel, and each hotel serves a greater purpose, which we don't really know much about, but they have…but so, the greater purpose of The Hotel is something helpful and protective, even, but we really don't know too much more about that, and that a lot of their…maybe not all of their staff, but through the top level of The Hotel, at certain levels, they say, okay, well, we're also serving this greater purpose. Not…by the way, not a spiritual purpose, just in case, or not a metaphor…or, yeah, I guess not a metaphorical purpose.
These hotels also serve a practical but unknown practical caring, and Scooter’s bedtime story is not just to serve the client, but the clients are kinda chosen, or The Hotel guests are chosen, and the client of the bedtime storyteller, because they…let’s see, how do I…? I think they’ll explain it later, too. But basically, the bedtime storyteller is also gathering information for other higher-level staffers of The Hotel to look at and say, oh, okay, this is helping us in our purpose…greater purpose of understanding what it is we need to understand. If that’s confusing, that’s…means you're in the right place. But that’s The Hotel. It takes place in a different location every episode, serving some sort of greater purpose that’s not super important other than it’s for the benefit of all people in the world. So, not just the people that are paying, you know, whatever to stay there. You say, that’s nice. Oh yeah, it is nice…and that there’s a bedtime storyteller working with somebody.
But also there’s some layer of that that’s also serving this greater purpose, practical purpose, not metaphorical purpose. Yeah, that’s all to bring…you just take as a underlying sense of comfort, like that in the background people are caring for us. That’s pretty nice to know, you know? Speaking of feeling like someone’s gonna be in the background for the next forty to fifty minutes taking care of us, is our Hollywood…our Greater Los…Hollywood announcer from the Greater…greatest of the Greater Los Angeles Area, who travels all the way to Central New York by stored not-geothermal energy, though we're working on that. He’s nodding and then he’s shrugging. Well, if geothermal energy could be stored in a smile and bring me the warmth I imagine when I have a home that the flooring and whatever else is…you know, they say, oh boy, that house has gone geothermal. What happened to Scoots? He went geothermal. He never went back. He never wore shoes again.
He doesn't leave his house, but also he never stopped…he has guests over only so he can point…take his shoes off. These floors are geothermal. What does that mean? It just was on the listing when I bought it. Oh, I thought you meant there was geothermal energy coming out from the Earth to heat the floors. No, yeah, that’s…yeah, I hope so. But take your shoes off. This house has got geothermal flooring, also geothermal within the walls, too. It’s nice. There’s a geothermal spa, though it’s just…unfortunately it’s a bathtub. But they said spa on the thing when I…but welcome to my home.
It’s geo…welcome to someone…if that, whatever I just meandered about, was actually a metaphor about a person, they could…if there was a person who could bring me the same sense of comfort that I imagine in reality…and this is the truth; the same sense of grounded…everyone deserves to be loved and seen, that I for some reason project on owning a home powered by geothermal energy and warmed by it and maybe cooled by it…if that could be…it actually does exist within a person and their energy, their personality and their spirit, which to say has a generosity of it, that would be our Hollywood-area announcer. Now, there is a little caveat. I’m also assuming that geothermal energy is not quiet.
Now, the closer you get to the source, the less quiet I’m sure geothermal energy is, kinda like when someone’s trying to lay silently while I’m trying to record a sleep podcast and there’s certain things going on like geothermally within them that you can hear, and then when they smile or they try to…when you actually say something that’s hilarious and they try to quietly not laugh, that it picks up on the mic, and then you have to sigh and roll…you say, you gotta be kidding me, Antonio. You've heard these…these aren't even jokes. You've heard them a thousand times. They're actually not funny.
Then he pats me on my head, and that also makes…I say, you realize this is gonna take five or six minutes for someone to edit out. Then he shrugs again and smiles, and you know when that happens you're accepted as you are and everything’s gonna be okay. Now I’m sensing he may be my higher power, but he’s definitely a higher power, though not in that sense. Not in the 420…not in the April 20th sense, I don't think. He said no. Our Hollywood announcer from the Greater Los Angeles Region, Mr. Antonio Banderas. Thank you, Scooter. That was…I'm glad you know and all your listeners know you are important. The friends beyond the binary, the ladies, the gentlemen, the boys, the girls, it’s time to check into boredom. Yeah. Thanks, everybody.
Okay, hello, everybody. This is your narrator, and welcome to another tale, I’m told, of Checking Into Boredom. Tonight we’ll be checking into a hotel in France or France, not far from the beaches of Nice and the festivals of Cannes, not far at all. Perched up on a hillside, connected by a funicular is The Hotel Grasse, which just in case you're interested in the spelling, it’s G-R-A-S-S-E, which if the creator of this…he would have said Grasse or Grasse. It’s Grasse. You may have never heard of this wonderful place, or maybe you have because it is the hub of perfume, or one of the most important places of perfume in the world. Of course it has a rich history and it’s in a nice region. But just a bit away from these regions that everybody’s…early sleep podcasters have like Nice, spelled ‘nice’, and Cannes, spelled C-A-N-N-E-S, maybe.
Up on this hillside, just finishing their funicular ride, is our bedtime storyteller, Noir Chardonnay, who had intended to check in every time for their assignment with a different name, but thus far they have not managed to do that. But they are The Hotel’s bedtime storyteller for the chain of The Hotels, which apparently serve a greater purpose that is not metaphorical. But they also have the name…we serve a greater purpose, which that’s The Hotels. We serve a greater purpose, which most people took that the…us, the customer. So, that’s interesting, you know? But they do serve a greater purpose, and I could tell you as the narrator that The Hotel storyteller is an essential part of that. For each visit they will be meeting with the Sundries Supervisor, who will tell them in just a few short minutes why they're there, why they're meeting with their client, and what else do they need to know to fulfill this more-important purpose.
I guess when you say ‘greater purpose’ it sounds metaphorical even when it is not. So, where are we? This is quite fun, isn't it? Well, we could watch as Noir Chardonnay enters this grand lobby that is both comforting with just the right amount of bustle. Not too much bustle but not vacant, the right amount of ambient noise, the right amount of look that shows a balance of luxury and respect for the past, but a place where you immediately feel comfort and where there’s smiles and eye contact, friendly body language, friend…particularly in this particular lobby, scents from natural flowers and things and water, teas brewing, cafes being prepared, whatever, botanicals being used in drinks, all those things and all those sounds that come with it as well. There’s something sumptuous and then the sense of that nostalgia for a place you've never been before but you've seen portrayed in many different ways that makes you feel at ease, but that you say, huh, this is a little bit beyond aspirational, but it feels good to be here tonight.
Then we feel lucky as we watch Noir Chardonnay navigate the velvet ropes for the check-in, and again, not being able to decide which line to get into even though there’s no line, and then being called over with a giggling behind the check-in desk, and then being told, of course your room…it seems like you switched your room between the no ice…close to the ice machine, furthest away. So, what we did was we put an ice machine actually in your room for you, and we put it far away from the elevator, but it happens to be connected to a thing so you could hear the…'cause we didn't…we did our best. They laugh and they giggle 'cause…probably more from the look on Noir Chardonnay’s face. Then Noir Chardonnay…they say, okay…they say, we’ll take your bags up to your room, 'cause of course his room’s ready because most of it’s…it’s a rarely-used room. Actually, it’s one of the rooms the hotel saves for employees or people that are working at the hotel, but they don't tell Noir Chardonnay that.
I don't know if they call that a non-revenue room, but you could call it that for right now. Noir Chardonnay goes down a hallway, into an office, knocks on the door, and hears a voice within. Come in. They close the door behind them. Sit down, sit down, the Sundries Supervisor, she says. Yeah, thanks, thanks. That’s…that funicular is cool. Oh, yes, yes. Welcome, welcome. Are you comfortable? No, no. I mean, right now? Is that a trick…? That was a rhetorical question, I guess, huh? They've told me about you. Yeah, I’m sure they have. Okay, so I just want to remind you again, 'cause I have your files here, it looks like there’s another…yeah. So, remember, I know…we just need you to do your job, and never has your job been more important, but we don't need you beyond doing your job. I know. I have also hoped one day to become…to join the periodic table of elements, but that’s…I just need to do my job as Sundries Supervisor.
So, I need you to focus, because this is a task that in itself is challenging. Believe it or not, this isn't meant to talk about your file or your past multitude of growth opportunities. We need your help with something we don't have an answer to. I think that’s always the case. But this one is particularly baffling. So, I wanted to tell you your client and run through things, and then you could go meet your client. We have an appointment set up for you. Okay, great. Okay, so you'll be meeting with Ravi Sonore. Sonore? You'll be meeting with Ravi Sonore, and I’ll just give you a little bit of background to try to help you focus on where we need you to focus. But a few things are different than the other clients you've worked with. Ravi is from Grasse. Or, I mean, the total back…but has been in Grasse a long time, works for one of the biggest perfume houses here, Pierre [inaudible], the House of [inaudible] here in town, but he also has his own secondary…wait, did you say…? Like Pee-wee?
Is that Pee-wee? They don't…don't ever say that here. While that is…that was something their competitors came up with to spread in the states, but we don't refer to…[inaudible], the House of [inaudible]. Please, okay? Oh, I’m sorry. I just was…I just…okay, so this is where your client needs your help. Ravi has been living at the hotel as a guest for the hotel, is in the middle of a project that is about to finish for The Hotel, but…and they can explain to you a little bit more about it. But they work two jobs. They work in perfume and they also are…their hobby became their job, which was casting bells. Casting bells like bell-tower bells? Yes, if you looked over…there’s a lot of bell towers here or different things to hold bells. It’s become a new trademark, and we at The Hotel have a beautiful bell tower, and Ravi’s…let’s see, I didn't want to go on a…so, the perfume business has changed, and there’s been a big movement on making the perfume business green.
Your client probably should be telling you this, but all of the bells are recasted or recycled bells. So, our bell will be made from our old bell as well as metal from other bells that were discarded, and that’s what your client specializes in, is, I guess in a sense, recasting bells, but not recasting them exactly because they're different and they don't have the original casts. But they've become very good at it, and that’s one thing that’s been strange, is that they still work in perfume, and that’s where their area of…particularly right now I don't want to give you too much information, but they are feeling…I think they…we think they want to leave their job, but that’s not what’s really important to this matter between the two of us here. What we need to know or what’s happening that’s of concern to The Hotel…is it your bell? No. I mean, no. We hired them and we thought we would be able to do it on our own, but what we need to know is…we need to know the what?
We’ve…they’ve come…I'll explain to you in a minute why they've come to our attention. I don't really want to share that. But you've done a good job with other things similar to this, and so, we know kind of the where. They're accessing…they're crossing over, and we know the general where of where they're crossing over, not the specifics yet. We haven't been able to do that without…we haven't been able to do that, the exact place, but we have a somewhat specific where. But we don't know what, but we…that our thought is that they're bringing something back when they cross over. They're bringing something back. Okay, where? Well, I don't want to tell you the where because I think knowing the where might change your focus. We don't need to know the where. If for some reason you got the exact where, that would be fine, but don't focus on that. The most important thing for us is knowing the what, 'cause we have no idea whatsoever.
They could be bringing back nothing, but that hasn't happened before. It’s always something, and they could be bringing back an idea or a concept or something, but that hasn't happened before, either. This is…we believe this has been happening for some time, the when part. We don't know how long. But as we said, Ravi’s lived here for some time, and we're not sure exactly when this started. But I do have to tell you the why even though this was…I was instructed to tell you the why. So, I’m required to even though it went back and forth. So, don't mention…if you could know the why…I guess there’s people from The Hotel that really…I mean, I’ve yet to see you work, but it’s just the people…there’s people with a lot of decision-making that really do believe in you and your methods, even though there’s people that believe that you have many more growth opportunities, too. Okay, that’s…I appreciate your opinion. Do you know who likes me the best?
I don't, but it was told to me to tell you the why, 'cause maybe it’ll help the bedtime story, as long as you…I mean, you actually don't disclose any stuff accidentally. That’s one of the areas you seem to have grown the most. Do you understand? Well, 'cause we don't know when this started, right, because causation and correlation…you know the difference between those? Yeah. Okay, could you give me an example so I’m sure you understand? Yeah, sure. What you've heard about me in my files or from other people causes you to assume I’m gonna make a mistake, but your concern is more correlated with your wanting to join the periodic tables of elements or stay in the position of Sundries Supervisor than the mission at hand. Huh, that’s interesting. I mean, insightful. I’m not sure it’s exactly correct, but I’ll…yeah. Okay, so, I don't like this. I’m loathe to say this, but weather control, weather control. Weather control? Yeah.
So, that’s where we can't figure out 100% whether it’s causation or correlation, but there’s been a change in rainfall, actually a increase in rainfall. Or, there’s been a great decrease in rainfall, obviously, with everything, but there’s been an increase in rainfall, and we can't figure out if it’s…we're just correlating it or it’s causational with when they started crossing over and coming back. There’s some…we can't…we suspect it’s causation, but we don't know. But yeah, so, with…their trip’s over there. Okay, so they're like…but so, they're coming back, but you can't see them carrying anything, so they're not carrying a weather machine or some sort of rain something. Right. Okay. So you need me to find out what they're bringing back, which has gotta be something they could fit in their pockets or something that’s not large, and maybe where…but only if it accident…kinda accidentally discover that. Yes. I mean, another thing…it could be metal or sand, something they're putting in the bells?
I don't know. That’s just my own speculation, though. Okay, but pocketable metal sand, something small, or nothing, which would be even more confusing if they're bringing back some kind of concept, and they don't have any kind of weather machine because you've been…no, we don't believe they do. So, if it was sand or metal, it could be related to the bells or it could be unrelated to the bells and just relay ‘til their trip’s over. Correct, correct. Okay, so, any clues…you don't really need…I mean, answers are not my area. I mean, sometimes, but…so, we’ll see what falls in my lap and just do my job. I get it. So, can you repeat back to me one more time what…? Sure, but I’m gonna do that in exchange for…for? Something you're gonna give me. Give you? Like a device, maybe something shiny? Oh yes…I forgot. I mean, I knew, I knew. Of course, I was just playing coy. Oh, let’s see, I put it somewhere…oh yeah, here it is. Here it is. Huh, what is that, a long U with a pole on the bottom? Is that hand…?
Is this some sort of key? No, not a key. Is it like a…do I throw it? No, do not throw it. Is it like a fork, like some sort of modern fork? It is a fork, but not for eating. Is it…does it hold something? No, it’s a tuning fork. Oh. Like, in disguise it’s a tuning fork. So, does it change into something else? No, no, no, it’s a tuning fork. That’s the gadget we’ve given you for this mission. I think it’ll be very handy. I’m sure that it fits in your pocket, so that’s a plus, and, yeah, it’s…oh, it’s…you'll discover…I'm sure that it’s…they don't tell me…it’s not my…not for my information. It’s only…not at all for my knowledge. I’m sure you'll find a use for it. That’s what everyone at The Hotel said. Okay, so, when is my client…? Oh, your client will be waiting for you. We’ll make sure we're done right on time. They're going to take…I know you rested before you came here, which was good. Yeah, I mean, I couldn’t believe they wouldn't let me go to Cannes or Nice, but I got…yeah, I mean, I got to rest before I came here, yes. Yeah, so, you'll take the funicular down with your client, and then they're gonna show you their workshop where they're working on the bell, which is almost finished for The Hotel, and then you can take it from there. Okay, great. Thank you so much.
Well, hello everyone. This is the narrator. Not interrupting my previous narration, but in a change in flow from my previous narration with a small occurrence that has an air of mystery in the most sleepy and best way possible, which was at some point, during the unfolding, down the funicular they went, Noir Chardonnay and their client. But what happened along the way, as this episode was scheduled to unfold, was that Scoot…now, I’m lucky as the narrator I have access to all this. Scooter was called back into the office of the Sundries Supervisor, where she entrusted in him a piece of information that basically I get to describe to you, which was she explained to him…it took a long time because at first she was trying to explain it to him in a out of…out of the indirect way, and she was working with her lovely bedtime storyteller’s meandering way of listening.
But she was basically explaining…we're pretty sure someone from the other side is paying greater attention to our discussions and may even be hearing our discussions. This was the meaning she conveyed, not so much the words. But someone from the other side or people on the other side or the equivalent of The Hotel on the other side is listening, or we think they're listening in to our conversations. So, moving forward, Noir Chardonnay, all of our conversations will be centered entirely around bedtime stories and your job as the hotel bedtime storyteller. For the rest of the information we might be seeking, we’ll find a different way to deliver that to you. But we will be listening to your bedtime story that you worked through with the client. So, you can convey your information there, and we’ll be listening to that, but so will the other side. Scooter, Noir Chardonnay, the bedtime storyteller, understood.
So, now we get to proceed to a nice, sumptuous room in The Hotel, where Ravi’s snuggled in bed, comfortable and resting. Noir Chardonnay has got the blinds. They've already worked out the layout of the room and what is best and what is comfortable for the client. So, we can imagine that we're the client or we're the Sundries Supervisor, or maybe we're one or two rooms away and it’s just a faint mumble, this bedtime story, that I will now turn over to Noir Chardonnay.
Okay, now that you're comfortable I’m gonna get our story started. Our story begins on a wooden funicular. Not just wood; probably iron and other things. I always think of the funicular in downtown Los Angeles up until this journey was the most idealized one in my mind, and it will stay ideal…I maybe even idolize it. But I’ll also idolize as we imagine we're descending together, slowly coming down at a nice, soothing angle, slowly lowering, almost like an elevator but with a majestic view. We could see a variety of clock towers and bell towers connected to buildings here in Grasse. Maybe we even start to notice that…the different styles of architecture. We enjoy it together, two of us talking calmly, talking about bells and how one came through the process of green perfume.
Not green-colored perfume, but sustainable perfume practices, how that led them to start thinking about bells, but how it also led to something with their work, this new work they would start to pursue as a hobby, taking old bells, old, broken bells, and making them anew. Not repairing them, but they may have even noticed as I did, as I was looking at these bells, a workshop full of bells, some getting ready to change form and be recast, melted down, and reformed into new bells, and some on display as historical bells. Maybe one day they would be needed, but they were also beautiful to look at. It was the little details that catch the attention, the differences in shape and texture, color. The little rims are even…can even be different, and even though this…we may have been told the vocabulary of bells, we may have not retained it. But it is kind of rare to be sitting, standing, touching bells, large bells, medium bells, or these cracked bells.
But also that in each crack there was…we talked about a weak point that caused the crack, and that at first I didn't quite notice it, but then I started to notice that in each crack, somewhere along the way was a little pocket, and eventually I inquired, what are these little pockets here? Is that what caused the crack? That’s what we think, we learned. Maybe it was an impurity, maybe it was something that wasn't noticed in the production or a different metal, a different mineral, an air pocket, but that those cause the weaknesses in these bells. But it was interesting to me that there’d be so many weak bells in the same area. We talked about that, that it had been a long time since there was someone there making bells, casting bells. Then, I don't know, it sat in my mind, sat there.
Curiosity is one of the keys to rest and release in sleep, 'cause curiosity is soft and open and different than other words that start with C, like what you might have when you have a successful hobby that’s a business and you still work for one of the largest and most-storied perfume houses in the world, but you don't seem to want to. Makes me curious, too. But maybe that’s a little bit tighter than curiosity. It’s something I was wondering about, and something in this tale stayed with me, like a repurposing, too. There was the bell for The Hotel ready to ascend the funicular very soon, finished but is curing or something. Again, when my curiosity is piqued by these little pockets…like, what mysterious things could be hidden in a bell before they crack, I wondered? I even told you 'cause you weren't of the same generation of me about KangaROO sneakers or KangaROOS, they were called, sneakers with a pocket on the side of the sneaker.
Yes, a small pocket, not really good for much but marketing of the sneaker, and how I, even as an adult, bought some re-releases and found the key pressed too hard against me. That was the only thing that would fit other than a quarter. Then we went on a tour of all the bell towers, some brought here by the perfume houses, as at some point it became this competitive thing, each perfume house wanting their own bell tower as a symbol. But something more I could tell before you told me, all this seemed so important…then also taking me to the bell tower of The Hotel and seeing all the way down and hearing it at such a far distance, a procession of bell-ringers ringing hand bells that you, yourself, had casted as well, and that you were telling me that this was a ceremonial thing, a spiritual thing, a belief thing, calling for rain so that the flowers outside could grow and that their scents could become perfume, how natural rain was needed, and this bell-ringing was a part of it.
Not weather control but weather influence, I think you said, or influencing those who control the skies. Then not long later, it rained. Then you told me about the tale, 'cause I just couldn't…I had to wonder how this connected and how it was connected. Again, even though I asked and you didn't answer at all and I gave you space, why do you still work? It doesn't seem like you get along with your supervisor. Seems like you're obligated to your old job in perfume, and there’s something coming up. I can tell. What is it, and how is it connected to bells and perfume and the rain and the…? I’m just wondering as a bedtime storyteller. You told me in a way I could make sense of it without knowing everything, that you discovered this myth, this legend that was not a myth at all, that inside each bell that each perfume house commissioned was their most valuable perfume sealed within the bell, and that over…and that there was the ringing of the bell…it was believed, spread the good energy of the perfume through the air surrounding that perfume house and the area beyond that had some positive effect.
But it was always their most treasured recipe or their treasured creation, and that one of the bells, the first bells you worked with, you found that in the bell in that pocket I had seen along the crack…somehow it was still sealed over, but you found that spot in it. Then you told your supervisor about it, and then they took that perfume and they reversed it and made it their own, a new launch, a new organic, sustainable perfume. But it smelled just like this other house of perfume’s most-treasured creation that had been lost during a tough time for that particular house of perfume, but that there was still someone in their employ close or beyond when they could have retired, and they knew as soon as they smelled this new version, and you knew and your supervisor knew, but you had already started this process, too, of getting other bells from the other houses of perfume and unlocking what was inside with your supervisor.
Even though you knew it wasn't a good idea, you felt obligated, but you also liked making bells. That’s something you could release yourself from now as you change, and maybe you could release yourself during the day, maybe you could find a way through it, because just making the bells and all those things didn't change. But you did try to do other things other than just make bells. You wanted to do something more to right the scales. You felt something about the fact that even though you didn't take these other houses’ perfumes directly…and maybe they should have known that their most valued and one of their oldest perfumes or vials was in each bell, and they were just giving them away as it became the thing to do to have a new bell casted by you. You were the belle of the bells. Not the belle of the ball. So, you were unhappy with your choice, and then you felt like your supervisor was…they were obviously rising and rising and rising and compensating you, but you didn't feel okay with it.
You wanted to find a way to right it for everybody, not just with the bells and the beauty of the bells and the sound of the bells. But then some other discovery happened somewhere in the Earth, because I remember asking you when I saw your pant leg…there was something on your pant leg, and to me, as someone who grew up in a snowy part of Central New York where they use road salt and brine, I said, is that road salt on the cuff of your jeans? You said, no, no, no, it’s from…it’s this la cava I tour. I love it. Oh, I love la cavas, too. Cool? Yes. Oh, it’s cool there. You took me on a tour, and it was a place you regularly went and regularly returned from, and you showed me this magical secret of the fact that…of course I get the stalactites and the stalagmites mixed up, but that one of those…this is unknown to me, yet another level to be curious about.
These beautiful, beautiful, natural structures could be rung like a bell, and that it wasn't irony but synchronicity that you had bells above the Earth and bells beneath the Earth and that you could ring them and laugh. Then I used my tuning fork, and we were laughing and you were showing me your favorite bells, and we went deeper. But that was when my tuning fork was making a sound that wasn't like any of the bells. It was a higher sound. You laughed and you said, it sounds like the night blossoms, the jasmine of the night. I said, what is that? You told me another myth, that somewhere in the world of myth, the world I would…I can just imagine that world, crossing over. We were in this la cava crossing over to this magical world.
You told me the legend, that there’d be a full moon, and that the myth said that the night jasmine made a sound that sounded like humans vocalizing in a non-positive manner, and that it drove most people away, or it drove them to plug their ears, but that that once upon a time, yet there was another hero, the hero of this myth you shared with me. I mean, an unbelievable myth that every time the hero went and there was the full moon…and at first they would pause and hear…they even discovered this world because of the sound, and listening. What a metaphor. But that they eventually learned to listen to the sound of the night jasmine and that it wasn't a bad sound; it was just a different sound, just like my tuning fork was making. Then when we held my tuning for between our fingers, I felt like I could still hear the sound, almost on the other side of the stalactites or the stalagmites, but that the hero of the tale kept going and going and wanting to see, what was this vocalization about?
What did the night jasmine need? You chuckled and chuckled and chuckled, for the hero was so surprised that it was not something so mythical but something so practical that on the nights of the full moon, the winds went a certain way, and they would sweep through the fields of the night jasmine and it would run through whatever you'd…whatever the myth you described to me that I don't understand, as I only know pistil and stamen. But you said it was neither of those, and you laughed. But as the wind whistled through there…it was like a whistle but a different sound.
You told me how that hero brought the…well, there was a goddess who was so happy that the hero had taken the time to enjoy the sound of the night jasmine instead of being, you know, pushed away by it like a magnet, to follow their curiosity, and that the goddess of the moon that was watching, too, that had always enjoyed the sound…because maybe in another myth it was something else you said that I wasn't paying…that they were praising the moon, but that it was this practical thing of creation, too, and that this hero came from a world where it needed water, too. They said we’ll grant whatever wish you need, and that from then on, this hero went back and forth ‘til they learned to whistle or make the sound of the night jasmine, and then it would rain in their world, some ancient world, I’m sure. I love that myth.
It made me want to write my own myth, almost, a myth about the peace of the former perfumer now bell-caster, who had also journeyed to all these different worlds and discovered things sealed up in bells, who had a love of the myth of the night jasmine, and who lived in a world that needed water, too, but who realized they didn't need to take the perfume sealed up in bells. If people asked them what really happened, they could tell…they could just hold onto the bell business. But maybe The Hotel would hire them or something, but that they could talk about that they found the perfume in the bells. But that also they would bring the spirit of the night jasmine. I didn't even know if there was a night jasmine perfume. I could go for that.
But they would return with the spirit of the night jasmine to their world and their bells and so that it might rain, and that all perfumers and all lovers of flowers and growth and water, just pretty much everything, would benefit, too, that their path didn't stop at the broken bell with the perfume hidden inside, that their path didn't stop with sharing that perfume with their supervisor who maybe copied the perfume, changed a few things, that that’s what…that maybe they made some choices they could change, but that they were still on a path of goodness, a meandering path, and a passive path of curiosity about la cavas and bells and bell towers and hand bells, and I’m sure wearable bells and large bells, that it makes for a beautiful sense of place to be in, whether we're walking in the procession ringing a bell, riding the funicular and listening to the bells, or across the valley, or even at the…I would like to stand at the entrance of the la cava and hear the sounds of la cava and the bells of Grasse together. With that, I wish you a goodnight as my tale is done. My customer is resting oh, so well. Goodnight.
[End of recording]
Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes
-
Serial Modular Series / Checking Into Boredom
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/origin-supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17279039
History of Perfume
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/history/story-perfume
https://fragranceconservatory.com/history-of-fragrance
https://carrementbelle.com/blog/en/2021/07/17/history-of-french-perfumery/
Grasse, France
https://www.alongdustyroads.com/posts/things-to-do-grasse-france
https://www.avignon-et-provence.com/en/tourism-provence/grasse
https://www.provenceweb.fr/e/alpmarit/grasse/grasse.htm
Funicular / Angels Flight
https://illumin.usc.edu/the-fun-of-funiculars/
https://www.goldentoday.com/arcane-details-about-funiculars/
https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/visit/angels-flight-the-story-of-an-la-icon
DOWN TO BUSINESS
Drifting of into dreamland
In the most meandering and nonsensical way possible
sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou
Our episodically modular series, the title of which I forget
I think it’s called “Checking Into Boredom”
PLUGS
Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline
SPONSORS
Odoo; Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; AquaTru; Talkiatry; Quince
INTRO
Thoughts about the Prast
Are you living in the past or the prast?
Almost like a pasta but not a pasta at all
Can I actively look up words on the podcast still?
I guess it’s a name
“Prast” – Latvian for understanding
Not quite fluent in nonsensical language
It’s already been prasted
It doesn’t sound sleep-friendly, but it is actually quite sleepy
You’ve been prasted
When words come out of my mouth, they immediately go from normal to nonsense
What is the it that has been prasted?
Well, that’s the kind of tangent we go on
Slowly improving in very micro growths
A baffling relationship with sleep
Oh boy, that must be sweet to fall asleep right away
Are you de-prasting me right now?
“Son, could you use words with me?”
Experiencing the last of prasting
Other listeners are sending kindness and comfort to you right now
A welcoming space that can be at a distance if you like
Practicing Prasting, from Gingerbread Press
Explaining the show structure
Wait, how do I even start this show?
It’s normal to be fed up and not understand this show at first
I make a decent first impression, but I’m not overwhelmingly amazing
We are exchanging a desire to prast
The most famous nonsense word, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
You’re handsome, not cute, Prast
The cuddleability of words
sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou
Like wind in the trees
I’m here to be your borefriend
Prasting is really just reaching to develop your prastability
Explaining the show structure
STORY
Welcoming to Checking Into Boredom
A bare sprinkle of seriality
Shout out to the new Riz Ahmed comedy
A very episodically modular show
A bedtime storyteller named “Noir Chardonnay” who reminds me of, well, me
The Hotel, at mysterious, lesser traveled cities
Would Rick Steves stay here? Maybe
But these places are pretty luxurious
The Hotel is serving a mysterious greater purpose
A practical but unknown caring
The Official Bedtime Storyteller
The OBS is also gathering info for other hotel staffers to serve the greater purpose
The greatest announcer from the Greater Los Angeles Area
Traveling on stored geothermal energy
Oh boy, Scoots just went geothermal
Now, I am assuming that geothermal energy is not quiet
Antonio, how do you still laugh at my jokes that are not jokes?
Maybe Antonio is my higher power
Antonio’s introduction
Checking into a hotel in France
Not far from Nice and Cannes
The Hotel Grasse
It’s the hub of perfume
Noir Chardonnay is checking in
The Hotel’s bedtime storyteller
The Hotel: We Serve a Greater Purpose
The lobby is comforting
Just the right amount of bustle
Friendly body language
Scents from natural flowers and beverages
Noir Chardonnay doesn’t know which velvet rope line to get into
They put an ice machine in his room this time around
And they made a connection so he can always hear the elevator in his room
A rarely used room that is, of course, ready
Is this a Non-Revenue Room?
He goes to meet with the Sundries Supervisor
That funicular to get here is cool
Remember, we just need you to do your job
I have also hoped to one day join the Periodic Table of Elements, but for now, you need to just do your job
We need your help with something particularly baffling
You’ll be meeting with Ravi Sonore
Ravi is from Grasse
He works for one of the biggest perfume houses
Pierre Weseef
Don’t ever call them Pee Wee
Ravi is finishing up a project for The Hotel
His hobby is casting bells
This town has a lot of beautiful bells
Ravi is casting a bell for the hotel’s belltower
The perfume business has been going green
Ravi makes recycled, recasted bells
We think Ravi wants to leave their perfume job
But the Hotel has another concern
They need to know the what
They’re accessing and crossing over somehow
But we just don’t know what
But they’re bringing something back when they cross over
We don’t need to know the where
They’re always bringing back something
But we don’t really know
I can tell you the Why, though
People believe in you, Noir, even if you still have growth opportunities
You don’t disclose stuff accidentally, though, that’s good
Causation vs Correlation
Okay, the Why: Weather Control
We’re not sure if it’s causal or correlated
Increased rainfall has been happening ever since they started crossing over
Are they bringing back rain?
Or pocketable metal sand that’s going into the bells?
They’re not bringing back a weather machine, we know that
Okay, repeat your instructions back to me
Will I get a gadget?
A Long U with a pole on the bottom
It’s a tuning fork, just a regular tuning fork
You’ll take the funicular down to Ravi’s workshop to see the bell
Our narrator returns
A change in flow in the narration
At some point down the funicular…
I get to describe to you something that wasn’t previously included
Sundries Supervisor called Noir back to tell them something
We’re pretty sure someone on the other side is listening in on our conversations
So moving forward, Noir, all of our conversations will be centered entirely around bedtime stories
We’ll find a way to communicate in bedtime story code
Now we’ll proceed to Ravi’s room for a bedtime story
Now we can imagine that we’re the client, listening in
Our story begins on a wooden (mostly) funicular
I always think of the funicular in Downtown LA
A slow descent
We observe the architecture
We’re talking about bells and sustainable perfume practices
The development of a recycled bell hobby
I noticed a workshop full of bells, ready to be transformed
We may or may not have retained the vocabulary of bells
In each crack of the bell lies a weak point
In each crack is a pocket
An impurity of some kind
Curiosity is soft and open
I’m curious about your curiosity
What mysterious things could be hidden in a bell before they cracked?
KangaROOS Sneakers
Each perfume house wanted their own belltower
Hearing a distant procession of bell ringers
A ceremonial call for rain to grow the flowers to make the scents
Weather Influence
You seem obligated to your old perfume job
What’s coming up for you?
Inside of each perfume house’s bell lies their most famous perfume sealed in the bell
A treasured creation that permeates the air
You found each crack and spot in the bell
You found the other parfumerie’s perfumes in their bells
You told your boss
And your boss recreated it in a new, green version
You slowly replicated the other perfumes from these parfumerie’s bells
You felt obligated to your supervisor
You can release yourself from that
But you wanted to do something to right the scales
The Belle of the Bells
You didn’t feel okay with this arrangement
Then another discovery happened
I saw something on your pantleg
Is that road salt on the cuff of your jeans?
It’s from a La Cava tour
You took me on a tour
You showed me a magical secret
You can ring these natural structures like a bell
Bells above and below the earth
And I used my tuning fork and we were laughing
My tuning fork was making its own noise
It sounds like the night-blooming jasmine
You told me about another magical world
I imagined crossing over to it
The night-blooming jasmine makes an unpleasant sound in this myth
Then you told me another myth about a hero discovering this mythical world
I felt like I could still hear this sound
The hero kept going
What did the night jasmine need?
It needed something practical
The wind whistles through the jasmine on the night of a full moon
A practical thing of creation
This hero comes from a world that needs water too
This hero travels back and forth, learning to make the sound of the night jasmine
The night jasmine summons the water
This inspires me to make a myth about a bellmaker and night jasmine
Bringing the spirit of the night jasmine
Is there night jasmine perfume? I could go for that
The path doesn’t stop with a broken bell
It continues on
Still on a path of goodness and curiosity
I’ll wish you goodnight
SUMMARY:
Episode: 1455
Title: Perfumed Bells | Checking Into Boredom Ep 3
Plugs: Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline
Sponsors: Odoo; Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; AquaTru; Talkiatry; Quince
Notable Language:
- Prast
- Slowly improving in very micro growths
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
- Cuddleability
- Going Geothermal
- Non-Revenue Room (NRR)
- House of Weseef
- Pocketable Metal Sand
- Sustainable Perfume Practices
- Bells
- Weather Influence
- The Belle of the Bells
Notable Culture:
- Checking Into Boredom
-
- Wiktionary
- Bring It On
-
- Practicing Prasting, from Gingerbread Press
- Bait (Riz Ahmed) TV show
-
- Rick Steves
- Antonio Banderas
- Nice, France
- Cannes, France
- Grasse, France
- Pee Wee’s Playhouse
- Periodic Table of Elements
- KangaROOS Sneakers
Notable Talking Points:
- Thoughts about the Prast
- Are you living in the past or the prast?
- Almost like a pasta but not a pasta at all
- Can I actively look up words on the podcast still?
- I guess it’s a name
- “Prast” – Latvian for understanding
- Not quite fluent in nonsensical language
- It’s already been prasted
- It doesn’t sound sleep-friendly, but it is actually quite sleepy
- You’ve been prasted
- When words come out of my mouth, they immediately go from normal to nonsense
- What is the it that has been prasted?
- Well, that’s the kind of tangent we go on
- Slowly improving in very micro growths
- A baffling relationship with sleep
- Oh boy, that must be sweet to fall asleep right away
- Are you de-prasting me right now?
- “Son, could you use words with me?”
- Experiencing the last of prasting
- Other listeners are sending kindness and comfort to you right now
- A welcoming space that can be at a distance if you like
- Practicing Prasting, from Gingerbread Press
- Explaining the show structure
- Wait, how do I even start this show?
- It’s normal to be fed up and not understand this show at first
- I make a decent first impression, but I’m not overwhelmingly amazing
- We are exchanging a desire to prast
- The most famous nonsense word, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
- You’re handsome, not cute, Prast
- The cuddleability of words
- sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou
- Like wind in the trees
- I’m here to be your borefriend
- Prasting is really just reaching to develop your prastability
- Explaining the show structure
- Welcoming to Checking Into Boredom
- A bare sprinkle of seriality
- Shout out to the new Riz Ahmed comedy
- A very episodically modular show
- A bedtime storyteller named “Noir Chardonnay” who reminds me of, well, me
- The Hotel, at mysterious, lesser traveled cities
- Would Rick Steves stay here? Maybe
- But these places are pretty luxurious
- The Hotel is serving a mysterious greater purpose
- A practical but unknown caring
- The Official Bedtime Storyteller
- The OBS is also gathering info for other hotel staffers to serve the greater purpose
- The greatest announcer from the Greater Los Angeles Area
- Traveling on stored geothermal energy
- Oh boy, Scoots just went geothermal
- Now, I am assuming that geothermal energy is not quiet
- Antonio, how do you still laugh at my jokes that are not jokes?
- Maybe Antonio is my higher power
- Antonio’s introduction
- Checking into a hotel in France
- Not far from Nice and Cannes
- The Hotel Grasse
- It’s the hub of perfume
- Noir Chardonnay is checking in
- The Hotel’s bedtime storyteller
- The Hotel: We Serve a Greater Purpose
- The lobby is comforting
- Just the right amount of bustle
- Friendly body language
- Scents from natural flowers and beverages
- Noir Chardonnay doesn’t know which velvet rope line to get into
- They put an ice machine in his room this time around
- And they made a connection so he can always hear the elevator in his room
- A rarely used room that is, of course, ready
- Is this a Non-Revenue Room?
- He goes to meet with the Sundries Supervisor
- That funicular to get here is cool
- Remember, we just need you to do your job
- I have also hoped to one day join the Periodic Table of Elements, but for now, you need to just do your job
- We need your help with something particularly baffling
- You’ll be meeting with Ravi Sonore
- Ravi is from Grasse
- He works for one of the biggest perfume houses
- Pierre Weseef
- Don’t ever call them Pee Wee
- Ravi is finishing up a project for The Hotel
- His hobby is casting bells
- This town has a lot of beautiful bells
- Ravi is casting a bell for the hotel’s belltower
- The perfume business has been going green
- Ravi makes recycled, recasted bells
- We think Ravi wants to leave their perfume job
- But the Hotel has another concern
- They need to know the what
- They’re accessing and crossing over somehow
- But we just don’t know what
- But they’re bringing something back when they cross over
- We don’t need to know the where
- They’re always bringing back something
- But we don’t really know
- I can tell you the Why, though
- People believe in you, Noir, even if you still have growth opportunities
- You don’t disclose stuff accidentally, though, that’s good
- Causation vs Correlation
- Okay, the Why: Weather Control
- We’re not sure if it’s causal or correlated
- Increased rainfall has been happening ever since they started crossing over
- Are they bringing back rain?
- Or pocketable metal sand that’s going into the bells?
- They’re not bringing back a weather machine, we know that
- Okay, repeat your instructions back to me
- Will I get a gadget?
- A Long U with a pole on the bottom
- It’s a tuning fork, just a regular tuning fork
- You’ll take the funicular down to Ravi’s workshop to see the bell
- Our narrator returns
- A change in flow in the narration
- At some point down the funicular…
- I get to describe to you something that wasn’t previously included
- Sundries Supervisor called Noir back to tell them something
- We’re pretty sure someone on the other side is listening in on our conversations
- So moving forward, Noir, all of our conversations will be centered entirely around bedtime stories
- We’ll find a way to communicate in bedtime story code
- Now we’ll proceed to Ravi’s room for a bedtime story
- Now we can imagine that we’re the client, listening in
- Our story begins on a wooden (mostly) funicular
- I always think of the funicular in Downtown LA
- A slow descent
- We observe the architecture
- We’re talking about bells and sustainable perfume practices
- The development of a recycled bell hobby
- I noticed a workshop full of bells, ready to be transformed
- We may or may not have retained the vocabulary of bells
- In each crack of the bell lies a weak point
- In each crack is a pocket
- An impurity of some kind
- Curiosity is soft and open
- I’m curious about your curiosity
- What mysterious things could be hidden in a bell before they cracked?
- KangaROOS Sneakers
- Each perfume house wanted their own belltower
- Hearing a distant procession of bell ringers
- A ceremonial call for rain to grow the flowers to make the scents
- Weather Influence
- You seem obligated to your old perfume job
- What’s coming up for you?
- Inside of each perfume house’s bell lies their most famous perfume sealed in the bell
- A treasured creation that permeates the air
- You found each crack and spot in the bell
- You found the other parfumerie’s perfumes in their bells
- You told your boss
- And your boss recreated it in a new, green version
- You slowly replicated the other perfumes from these parfumerie’s bells
- You felt obligated to your supervisor
- You can release yourself from that
- But you wanted to do something to right the scales
- The Belle of the Bells
- You didn’t feel okay with this arrangement
- Then another discovery happened
- I saw something on your pantleg
- Is that road salt on the cuff of your jeans?
- It’s from a La Cava tour
- You took me on a tour
- You showed me a magical secret
- You can ring these natural structures like a bell
- Bells above and below the earth
- And I used my tuning fork and we were laughing
- My tuning fork was making its own noise
- It sounds like the night-blooming jasmine
- You told me about another magical world
- I imagined crossing over to it
- The night-blooming jasmine makes an unpleasant sound in this myth
- Then you told me another myth about a hero discovering this mythical world
- I felt like I could still hear this sound
- The hero kept going
- What did the night jasmine need?
- It needed something practical
- The wind whistles through the jasmine on the night of a full moon
- A practical thing of creation
- This hero comes from a world that needs water too
- This hero travels back and forth, learning to make the sound of the night jasmine
- The night jasmine summons the water
- This inspires me to make a myth about a bellmaker and night jasmine
- Bringing the spirit of the night jasmine
- Is there night jasmine perfume? I could go for that
- The path doesn’t stop with a broken bell
- It continues on
- Still on a path of goodness and curiosity
- I’ll wish you goodnight
Listen on your favorite app
