Monday, November 23, 2009

Well, as far as weeks go, last week was one of the tougher ones.

When I was a kid, my mom used to describe my younger cousin Mikey as a 'muler and peunker'. 'Peunker' (pe-yunker) is a word that defies conventional spelling and dictionary definition. One of those secret insulting invented family terms that my brother and I overheard often and definitely would never stoop to being, since we weren't like Mikey. It meant a kind of passive aggressive whiny-ness of the most irritating sort, similar perhaps to a pig squeal.

Anyways, old habits die hard, and I still try to avoid muling and peunking as much as possible. Last week however, I indulged myself in full scale pig squealing as we gave notice at the Bad Dog for our premises, let our staff know we'd be done at the end of '09, informed our families and canceled what remained of our live music gigs...

***

To say this is a strange place is an understatement. From the exciting idea phase, through the day to day grind and finally the post script, the Bad Dog has been my life. My brother, who's worked on many theatrical productions, commented on the strange void that comes with tearing down a set at the end of a production run. The camaraderie runs deeps among those who create something together and tear downs are hard. I can hardly imagine life without the restaurant. I think this is true for all us who have loved and lived the Dog.

***

Scott wrote over here on our Bad Dog facebook about the closing. It's perfect. Exactly what I might have said if I could see beyond my constant, pathetic tearing up. Maybe one day when I can think again, I'll make a list of all the great things I've learned this past couple years. In the meantime, I'm just trying to live by the words of the world's greatest psychiatrist, Dr. Suess.

'Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.'

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Smiling because it happened, still brings a tear to my eye.
R

Erin said...

Can't read Scott's piece, but let me just say it again... you've done a great thing. Don't let this part dimish it!!

Connie said...

I'm sorry, Lori.