There's a 2020 song called "Heat Wave" by the new age band Glass Animals, and it sums up my reality right now: "Sometimes all I think about you......late nights in the middle of you.....you can't find me, you can't breathe........." That's the heat wave going through America right now, where in the day time it can hit triple digit temps, and even at night it's 80 degrees........and my A/C isn't working again. A truly horrific problem (and apparently, common) problem to have during the summer, it makes the room super hot and brain feel like it's melting......I felt like taking a nap all day today and my brain didn't feel like it was working, and I felt super inefficient, not being able to get much done all day. Apparently furnaces/ AC units can get clogged and cease working properly and require something to get it unstuck, like pouring vinegar and/or baking soda into the drain pipe to clear up the clog. Really bad timing for it to happen.
This past week, tickets opened up for Jeopardy live audiences, something that hasn't been offered for 2 years since the pandemic began......tickets unsurprisingly sold out like hot cakes, or like Coachella tickets. People apparently really like the show, which explains why it's just about to wrap up its 38th season and looks poised to continue its run. It reminded me that a long long time ago, back in my 2nd year of law school, I did actually attend a morning taping of the Jeopardy! show. (October 14, 2009......I wrote about it on this blog). Looking back at what I wrote, I'm kind of appalled at who I was back then, and what details I focused on back then as opposed to now. It's almost as if I thought I had the whole world in my hands and my whole life in front of me, that I didn't need to cherish individual moments and special occasions because I'd have plenty of opportunities, and like I didn't appreciate the good times when I had them. I didn't focus at all on the gameplay of Jeopardy, more just the overall experience of it and could only remark that the contestants were "really really smart" and that some audience members asked "nose-pickingly stupid questions." I didn't list any clues that came up during the game (to this day I can't even remember any of the contestants' faces, the categories of the clues, the Final Jeopardy question......just the vague overwhelming feeling that I'd never be able to learn all that information that was going on up on the stage), any pearls of wisdom that I gathered from the experience, and I do think I was there for all 3 games of the morning session. I just remember that everything went very quickly, contestants came in, contestants came out, and there was very little re-shooting. There were designated "clapping times" for when Alex came up on stage and one of the contestants got a daily double, and also at the end of the game when a winner was announced. It all seemed a little lonely, like a big sports event was happening but only 30-odd people in the audience were getting to witness it. I can only imagine what it's been like the last couple years of no studio audience! As a contestant you know the taping will be broadcast to the entire country in a few weeks, but right there in the moment you're just performing in front of the host (right now Ken Jennings) and a bunch of judges. Pretty surreal.
The big takeaway was that Alex Trebek was a good enough guy to talk to the audience during commercial breaks and take questions. Even back then I could tell he had a big presence, distinctive voice, and model personality. I just listened to his final message to the world, his book "The Anwer Is...." written during the pandemic right before his passing in October of 2020. At that point he knew he would die pretty soon, and he wanted to just get his story out there, how he wanted to be remembered by, get some closure. It's a touching story of highlights of his life, the major role that Jeopardy played, and a very poignant last chapter in which he describes his last days of sitting on the porch outside with his family as the day passed by just enjoying it all, and maybe they'd go for a little walk....and do that forever. Book ends. Really inspirational way to go out, not flashy, not suddenly (unfortunately not everyone gets to time when their end comes), and almost a happy ending. Alex chose to stop treating the cancer and just face death with aplomb and bravery and live his last days with dignity....it was a beautiful end to a beautiful story. I only wish I can have the ending he had, and hopefully a long long time from now.
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