Roxanne Tellier: What’s For Breakfast?

Ah – morning. A new day stretches before you like the silliest of putty. You are Captain Invincible – today, you will lose that last ten pounds, quit all of your vices, and possibly cure the common cold. Fresh from sleep, rested, and ready to greet the world, you throw back the duvet, and leap from your warm and fragrant nest, humming a cheery tune. Yes? Or maybe no.

Squeeze –When the Hangover Strikes

No matter your attitude when you wake from sleep, you’re probably hungry. Whether you’re up for a ‘whore’s breakfast,’ (coffee and a cigarette) or a full English, your stomach just realized that it’s been several hours since you last ate.

“One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast.”  Robert Heinlein

Frank Zappa – St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast / Rollo (with John Belushi)

In breakfast, as in most aspects of my life, I am a contrary cuss. Some days I’ll completely forget to eat, while other days I’m a total carnivore, jonesing for a plate full of the rarest of steaks. Sometimes I’ll flash back to sunny mornings in Paris, where breakfast consisted of a fresh bakery roll with a slice of cheese and a slab of dark chocolate after a jog through the Tuileries.  Or maybe I’ll remember a drizzly start to the day in a British café, where everyone fills up as though they’re off to work in the mines.

Adam and the Ants – Omelette from Outer Space  

Breakfasts are important. I know, because my mother, who was a morning person, would tell me so all of the time. When we were kids, mum would try to impress upon my sister and I the necessity of starting the day properly. “It’s the most important meal of the day!Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper!”Breakfasts back then were usually shredded wheat or wheat puffs and maybe toast if you were lucky, so I wasn’t sure that we were setting a very high ‘king’ bar in my family. But mother knew best.

Streetband (Paul Young) – Toast

My grumpy teenaged self would cringe as mum would march around the kitchen table, morning radio blasting, trying to instil a little energy into our day, or at least get us to do more than just grunt.

Ray Davies – Is there Life After Breakfast

It wasn’t long before I was living on my own, dreading the shrill of the alarm clock, and usually having to choose between getting to work on time or grabbing a bite to eat. Weekends were a welcome exception to the grind. Breakfasts in Montreal could be magnificent. Having a date for brunch was even better.

Julie London- Nice Girls Don’t Stay For Breakfast (’68)

I married far too young, caught up in girlish fantasies of love and marriage and a baby carriage. Be careful what you wish for. I soon discovered that being the only one frying up the bacon wasn’t quite as romantic as it first seemed.

Jane Powell & Vic Damone(with TheFour Freshmen)”How D’Ya Like Your Eggs In The Morning”

Soon I was single again. “Much depends on dinner” said Byron, but equally important is finding someone with whom you want to share breakfast.

Deep Blue Something  – Breakfast at Tiffanys 

Or someone that has their priorities straight …

Prince – Breakfast Can Wait

… and who knows that the way to a woman’s heart isn’t that much different from a man’s.

UB40 & Chrissie HyndeBreakfast In Bed 1988

And I’ve said before, I love to eat good food, perfectly prepared and beautifully presented. How we feel about food says so very much about our approach to life itself. There may be better and wiser ways to determine whom we share our lives with, but a common attitude towards how we start our days bodes well for how we’ll choose to end them.

Bon Appetit!

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Roxanne’s column appears here every Sunday 

Contact us at dbawis@rogers.com

Roxanne Tellier has been singing since she was 10 months old … no, really. Not like she’s telling anyone else how to live their lives, because she’s not judgmental, and most 10 month olds need a little more time to figure out how to hold a microphone. She has also been a vocalist with many acts, including Tangents, Lady, Performer, Mambo Jimi, and Delta Tango. In 2013 she co-hosted Bob Segarini’s podcast, The Bobcast, and, along with Bobert, will continue to seek out and destroy the people who cancelled ‘Bunheads’.