When I was a kid I played the euphonium, an instrument about as well known as the hurdy gurdy. For reasons I cannot now explain, I got pretty good at it and went to college on euphonium scholarship, eventually dropping it and dropping out to pursue life as a loser.
Anyway.
My niece, Jo, turned me on to the music of The Arcade Fire this summer. I was looking at some video of them on youtube last night, when lo! what should appear in the lower right hand corner at 1:04? A euphonium! Playing Neon Bible!
At first I thought I should have become an indie rocker too, since I happen to have that skill. But then I remembered they also sometimes play the hurdy gurdy.
Stephanie wanted to see my sort of new look. Fear me.
Also pictured is one reason for my long blog absence. That stupid camera was really nice when I got it eight years ago, but now it won’t hold a charge for even 5 minutes (see, it is plugged in so I could take my own photo there.)
But another reason I’ve been gone so long, Steph, since you are the one who has been bugging me to come back, is that I think my tone has changed. Maybe you won’t like it. Read at your own risk.
I asked Pi to get the baby dressed, and rather than choosing, you know, clothes, this is what she came up with:
“Oh please! Mr. Tiger, don’t eat me up, and I’ll give you my beautiful tie dyed bandana plus a little sass to boot.”
Not to be outdone, here is Ood a couple weeks ago
sporting manly pajama pants on his head, what else? The world looks to Ood when they are wondering what to wear–especially for fancy occasions like holidays.
Thumbing through these photos, I kept wondering where these people get their idea of what makes a legitimate outfit? Of course, this is what I dressed the baby in the day Ood chose a raccoon suit:
Nice tie dye, no? Especially with those clown socks, I think. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
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Pi is publishing her novella in her blog!!! Read the first chapter and a half here.
Would you look at this? A mainstream TV show depicting a family with four children and both a mother and father. Now there’s something you don’t see much.
As long as we are wasting time on YouTube, my little Star Wars fans loved this one!
I’ll post my own blog material tomorrow, though, k?
Some of you have been wondering what to wear as the seasons begin to change. Naturally, we look to the avant-garde trend setters in the fashion world to let us know what is around the corner in style. Ood’s paparazzi recently spotted him wearing this:
Tood is asleep now, but in a few minutes I’m going to wake him again to spoon some water into his lips and perhaps feed him a bite of yogurt. Just before I got up this morning he had to race to the bathroom for what would be the first of fourteen quadrillion hard purges. Poor guy. It’s not fun being sick.
Friday and Saturday the children’s choir Tood sings in hosted a big choirfest, which was a wonderful and exhausting festival for his and some visiting choirs. You can see they are wearing their various performance clothing in this photo of their final concert.
They are just getting on the risers here. Tood is easy to spot, because not only is he the cutest, he is also the smartest (and perhaps he is also the shortest.) They sang many fun songs, including a long scene scene from Ahmal and the Night Visitors with opera students from the university singing the lead parts, and an entire children’s opera The Emperor’s New Clothes, also with university cast playing the leads. I thought it was amazing they could put together such a polished program in only two days.
The choirs also sang a few songs individually.
I love the clear, beautiful sound of this children’s choir and always get choked up when they start to sing. Maybe it sounds like this when angelsl sing, at least I imagine. It is a good fit for Tood, and I am proud of him.
I don’t know why I ever bother making New Years resolutions, right in the thick of the darkest and bleakest days of winter, but I do. My resolutions are invariably of the same genre: get organized with a sprinkling of getting in shape. I always give them a good college try too. But you must remember that my college days were spent gorging on pizza, shopping for makeup, and indulging in all-night cram sessions for whatever it was I studied. By mid-February I cannot remember what the color green looks like, let alone which closet I was going to create a haven of clutter-freeness from. Thank heavens for March 4.
When I was a kid we would always spend a few seconds marching about and often make a dessert in honor of the pun. Now that I look grownup it has become a day of re-commitment, of marching forth, often accompanied by dessert, usually cake. March 4 is the day for knowing that whatever storms may roll in, the worst ones are over. There may be snowy gray clouds today, but odds are tomorrow will be sunny and slushy. We shed a couple blankets from the beds. We clean a closet we had forgotten we were supposed to, just because. March 4 reminds me what green looks like, I can smell the approaching sun.
I always make a few goals for the coming Spring on this day. What am I Marching Forth to do this year? I am going to exercise every weekday for three months! Who’s with me?? <crickets chirping>
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For those who only come here for photos of the Baby:
This little face got foody, this little face came clean.
I should write nursery rhymes for a living. And yes, she is saying “quack quack!”
Notice that her security item that day was a toothpaste lid. Blankies are highly overrated.
I am not always a sagacious potentate endeavoring to succor my progeny. What I consider benevolence is considered by them parsimony. My new rule of keeping the game boys out of the bedrooms has caused the lachrymonius bunch to weep until their eyes are tumid. Will they die of ennui?
I’ve been playing the vocabulary game at Free Rice, where my level hovers around 38/39. See what a good writer it makes me? Plus proceeds from their ads go to the UN World Food Program, so playing is also doing a good deed.
