Open and Closed

 Upon driving down to Sanur for my takeaway coffee and pastry this morning, I found that the cafes had reopened in advance of the previously announced date for the conclusion of lockdown, which was supposed to have been August 1st. Cool, except that having believed the original schedule, I had not brought a book to read or my cigarettes, and of course without these there is no point in staying at the cafe. Tomorrow I will make certain to remember these necessary items, though who knows, perhaps I will find the cafes closed again. That's what I love about Indonesia. The organization! Terrific! 

I was looking through the "coming soon" section of the Netflix screen this evening and noticed one titled "Brand New Cherry Flavor". Hmm. That sounded familiar. I realized, after some cogitation and just a bit of googling, that not only had a read this novel some years ago, but that it was written by my high school acquaintance, Todd Grimson (which is a pen name for Todd Spillum), which I why I read the book in the first place. Ah, it all begins to come back to me. I remember for some reason reading at least part of the book by a swimming pool, though I cannot remember whether this was in the US or in Bali. I remember being impressed with the writing itself (for if nothing else, Todd was (is) an accomplished stylist. I don't remember the story, which is not at all unusual for me. 

At Washington High School, Todd was the boyfriend of the girl who would later become my girlfriend, and then my first wife. Even then (I was 17, he 18), Todd was interested in becoming a writer, and had not a little bit to do with me trying my own hand at it. He was also interested in classical music, as was I, and we would share these interests, both before, during, and after the girlfriend changed hands. Ultimately, one of us succeeded in becoming a successful writer (Todd has three novels and a book of short stories to his name), and one of us got the girl. 

And now he has a Netflix movie? Go Todd!