I found the image here.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
That was good... that was bad... that was good...
Someone called to book me for a birthday party.
That was good!
Unfortunately, I already had a previous commitment.
That was bad!
But then, the program coordinator for the Seattle Children's Museum contacted me to lead an Arts in the Afternoon program on July 3rd at 1 pm.
That was good!
Then... well, it's all good. The point is that when I tell one of many variations on the "That Was Good/That Was Bad" story, I talk about how often a day isn't all good or all bad, but a mixture of the two-- and sometimes deciding whether or not the day was a good one depends on how you look at the overall picture. I don't wish to downplay the real troubles that people have to deal with on a daily basis, but when you're a child, sometimes the immediate event often crowds out memories of the past or expectations of the future.
I plan to use a specifically-tailored version of "That Was Good/That Was Bad" for my Arts in the Afternoon presentation. Here are my props to hold up to prompt the audience responses:
I made the "Good" and "Bad" signs with construction paper and used high-contrast text for those children who might be color-blind or have other sight issues. Here is the outline of my last "Good/Bad" storytime-- the park version. Feel free to expand upon it or make your own version, and if you do on-the-spot improvisation, be sure to have a good idea of how it's going to end.
That Was Good/That Was Bad: Park edition
I got to go to the park today.
THAT WAS GOOD.
When I got to the park, all the swings were filled with other children.
THAT WAS BAD.
A little girl said, “Here, take my swing—I’m all done.”
THAT WAS GOOD.
I forgot to hold onto the handles, and I fell out.
THAT WAS BAD.
My grownup hugged me until I felt better.
THAT WAS GOOD.
But then another child took my swing.
THAT WAS BAD.
I saw some of my friends playing in the sandbox, and they said, “Come play with us!”
THAT WAS GOOD.
When I got to the sandbox, there were no shovels for me to use.
THAT WAS BAD.
I played with a dump-truck instead.
THAT WAS GOOD.
Then, my grownup said, “It’s time to leave the sandbox.”
THAT WAS BAD.
But it was snack-time!
THAT WAS GOOD.
However, my grownup forgot the snacks.
THAT WAS BAD.
Whoops—she didn’t forget them, they were in a different bag, and she had sandwiches, celery sticks and crackers to eat.
THAT WAS GOOD.
However, she forgot the water-bottles, and we were so thirsty.
THAT WAS BAD.
Fortunately, there was a water-fountain nearby.
THAT WAS GOOD.
Unfortunately, there was no water in it.
THAT WAS BAD.
We were so thirsty!
THAT WAS BAD.
However, a friend of ours said, “We’ve got an extra thermos of water. Have some.”
THAT WAS GOOD.
But then it was time to go home.
THAT WAS BAD.
When we got home, I walked through the door and people shouted, “Surprise! It’s your birthday party!”
THAT WAS GOOD.
And that is the end of that story.
THAT WAS GOOD.
Why, thank you!
That was good!
Unfortunately, I already had a previous commitment.
That was bad!
But then, the program coordinator for the Seattle Children's Museum contacted me to lead an Arts in the Afternoon program on July 3rd at 1 pm.
That was good!
Then... well, it's all good. The point is that when I tell one of many variations on the "That Was Good/That Was Bad" story, I talk about how often a day isn't all good or all bad, but a mixture of the two-- and sometimes deciding whether or not the day was a good one depends on how you look at the overall picture. I don't wish to downplay the real troubles that people have to deal with on a daily basis, but when you're a child, sometimes the immediate event often crowds out memories of the past or expectations of the future.
I plan to use a specifically-tailored version of "That Was Good/That Was Bad" for my Arts in the Afternoon presentation. Here are my props to hold up to prompt the audience responses:
I made the "Good" and "Bad" signs with construction paper and used high-contrast text for those children who might be color-blind or have other sight issues. Here is the outline of my last "Good/Bad" storytime-- the park version. Feel free to expand upon it or make your own version, and if you do on-the-spot improvisation, be sure to have a good idea of how it's going to end.
That Was Good/That Was Bad: Park edition
I got to go to the park today.
THAT WAS GOOD.
When I got to the park, all the swings were filled with other children.
THAT WAS BAD.
A little girl said, “Here, take my swing—I’m all done.”
THAT WAS GOOD.
I forgot to hold onto the handles, and I fell out.
THAT WAS BAD.
My grownup hugged me until I felt better.
THAT WAS GOOD.
But then another child took my swing.
THAT WAS BAD.
I saw some of my friends playing in the sandbox, and they said, “Come play with us!”
THAT WAS GOOD.
When I got to the sandbox, there were no shovels for me to use.
THAT WAS BAD.
I played with a dump-truck instead.
THAT WAS GOOD.
Then, my grownup said, “It’s time to leave the sandbox.”
THAT WAS BAD.
But it was snack-time!
THAT WAS GOOD.
However, my grownup forgot the snacks.
THAT WAS BAD.
Whoops—she didn’t forget them, they were in a different bag, and she had sandwiches, celery sticks and crackers to eat.
THAT WAS GOOD.
However, she forgot the water-bottles, and we were so thirsty.
THAT WAS BAD.
Fortunately, there was a water-fountain nearby.
THAT WAS GOOD.
Unfortunately, there was no water in it.
THAT WAS BAD.
We were so thirsty!
THAT WAS BAD.
However, a friend of ours said, “We’ve got an extra thermos of water. Have some.”
THAT WAS GOOD.
But then it was time to go home.
THAT WAS BAD.
When we got home, I walked through the door and people shouted, “Surprise! It’s your birthday party!”
THAT WAS GOOD.
And that is the end of that story.
THAT WAS GOOD.
Why, thank you!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Comment Moderation
I have just changed the blog settings so that I can moderate comments. I hope this will be just a temporary measure. Don't worry, no one said anything vile, but someone did leave a spam message that had me seriously concerned it was linked to a computer virus. If this is going to be the nature of spam comments, I want to make sure no one inadvertently invites anything harmful onto their computers. I check email frequently, so there shouldn't be too much of a delay in publishing your comments.
P.S. I did laugh out loud recently when I got an anonymous comment that said, "Get a life, losser [sic]."
P.S. I did laugh out loud recently when I got an anonymous comment that said, "Get a life, losser [sic]."
Song of the Week: The Hippo Swam Up the River
While I don't offer themes in my programs,* I will ask parents and caregivers what sorts of things their birthday children like to incorporate into a storytime performance. Recently, a parent told me that her young child liked all animals, but hippopotamuses, giraffes and monkeys were particular favorites. I composed a song using the "piggyback" method of taking an existing tune and creating new words for it. The song is called "The Hippo Swam Up the River" and it's to the tune of "The Bear Went Over the Mountain." I haven't tried it out yet, but you're welcome to give it a go in your storytimes or home surroundings. If you improve upon it, let me know. For a fun, original song in both verse and melody, check out Eric Ode's The Hippopotamus Song (complete with hand-motions) off of his "I Love My Shoes" album.*In my experience, whenever I've had storytimes with specific themes, I've felt I often had to sacrifice quality for stories and songs added as padding to flesh out a set. However, just because I don't do themes doesn't mean you can't! Favorite hippo stories: everything about George and Martha by James Marshall, Hot Hippo by Mwenye Hadithi and Adrienne Kennaway, Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton, and many stories in which these river-horses play supporting roles but secretly steal the show(s). Then again, I think of Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein as an ensemble piece.
Here's the song (click on the image to enlarge it):
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
It's Good to Be a Princess
My best friend from high school (and the one friend from high school with whom I still keep in touch) is submitting a proposal to teach a course on fairy tales with a focus on Cinderella stories* and our society's fascination with princesses. In the closing to one of our emails, she wrote, "If you asked Lucia, 'Beside being pretty, what is it that is so special about princesses?' what would she say?" This is the conversation that followed:
Q: Why do you like being a princess?
A: It’s good to be a princess!
Q: What do you like about being a princess?
A: Pretty things.
Q: Like what?
A: Pretty dresses. Pretty crowns.
Q: What do princesses do?
A: Carry pretty purses.
Q: What do princesses do that is good?
A: Be kind! Don’t whine! Don’t glug juice!
Q: What do you like best about being a princess?
A: Playing dolls.
It was a humbling conversation from my point of view. I'd never talked about princesses as "pretty," and in fact, talked about them more in terms of attempting to get Lucia to do what I wanted a la "Princesses don't pick their noses."
When I was Lucia's age, I was never a princess-- I was always the Queen. For some reason, I equated princesses with marriage, and I was having none of that. I wasn't going to go to college, either. Both marriage and college seemed too grown up, and I still wanted to dress up and play with dolls.
Lucky me. I got to go to college, get married to Bede and I still get to dress up and play with dolls.
April 8 update: Here are two more princess interviews via Librarian Mom (a.k.a. Book, Book, Book) and Crunchy Granola.
*Caveat emptor: Some of the stories listed in this link are not accurate representations of the cultures they claim to represent.
Q: Why do you like being a princess?
A: It’s good to be a princess!
Q: What do you like about being a princess?
A: Pretty things.
Q: Like what?
A: Pretty dresses. Pretty crowns.
Q: What do princesses do?
A: Carry pretty purses.
Q: What do princesses do that is good?
A: Be kind! Don’t whine! Don’t glug juice!
Q: What do you like best about being a princess?
A: Playing dolls.
It was a humbling conversation from my point of view. I'd never talked about princesses as "pretty," and in fact, talked about them more in terms of attempting to get Lucia to do what I wanted a la "Princesses don't pick their noses."
When I was Lucia's age, I was never a princess-- I was always the Queen. For some reason, I equated princesses with marriage, and I was having none of that. I wasn't going to go to college, either. Both marriage and college seemed too grown up, and I still wanted to dress up and play with dolls.
Lucky me. I got to go to college, get married to Bede and I still get to dress up and play with dolls.
April 8 update: Here are two more princess interviews via Librarian Mom (a.k.a. Book, Book, Book) and Crunchy Granola.
*Caveat emptor: Some of the stories listed in this link are not accurate representations of the cultures they claim to represent.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Egg Tree
Did you read Adrienne's recent post about the book called The Egg Tree, by Katherine Milhous? If not, here it is. The post spurred me on to make sure that this year we would indeed have our own egg tree for Easter. Here is a photo of me as a little girl standing by the family egg tree:
Egg tree 1980
Here is the egg tree now with some of those same eggs from childhood:
Egg tree 2008
I accidentally broke one of the childhood eggs while attempting to restring it. Bede volunteered to restring the rest of the eggs while I worked on removing raw egg from two whole shells.
I'd been yammering on for years about the need to bring back the egg tree. I kept my eyes open for a good branch, and when I found one, Bede anchored it in a plant pot with lots of rocks. Once we'd hung up all the decorated eggs, he said, "Now I get why you wanted an egg tree."
Egg tree 1980
Here is the egg tree now with some of those same eggs from childhood:
Egg tree 2008
I accidentally broke one of the childhood eggs while attempting to restring it. Bede volunteered to restring the rest of the eggs while I worked on removing raw egg from two whole shells.
I'd been yammering on for years about the need to bring back the egg tree. I kept my eyes open for a good branch, and when I found one, Bede anchored it in a plant pot with lots of rocks. Once we'd hung up all the decorated eggs, he said, "Now I get why you wanted an egg tree."
Friday, March 21, 2008
Song of the Week: I Bind My Heart This Tide
The Mennonite hymn "I Bind My Heart This Tide" is one that is best sung a capella. The words were written by Lauchlan M. Watt in 1907, and the tune as we know it today was written by J. Randall Zercher in 1965. You can hear the MIDI here and listen to the Farther Along octet sing a harmonious version here. For those who are interested in the hymns found in Hymnal: a Worship Book, the link provides MIDIs of all the hymns listed! This is good news for someone who usually has to plunk out the melody lines very carefully on a small electronic keyboard.
This song is an appropriate hymn for Good Friday, but also for other times. The hymn was one of the four songs sung at my wedding. My wedding was in a Catholic church where the guests were a mixture of Mennonites, Jews, Catholics, Protestants, athiests, agnostics, and seekers. The reason why I chose the hymn was for the second verse:
I bind my soul this day to the neighbor far away
And the stranger near at hand, in this town and in this land.
This verse is evocative of the one in the book of Exodus 23:9:
You shall not oppress a stranger: for you know the heart of a stranger, seeing you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
If I were to take a mission statement from the Hebrew scriptures, that would be it.
Although "I Bind My Heart This Tide" sounds best sung without accompaniment, I have provided guitar chords for private study:
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Spinning Wheel: Act!vated Storytellers
I saw the traveling performers Act!vated Storytellers when I worked as a children's librarian for King County Library System between 2000-2001. They were performing for a school assembly in Bellevue, but the library was hosting the show. Performers Kimberly and Dennis Goza and their young son Zephyr used acrobatics and props to make poetry kinetic. When Kimberly fit her body through the head of a tennis racket (strings removed), I was quite impressed.
Years later, Act!vated Storytellers are still traveling all around the country, presenting theatrical shows in English and American Sign Language with humor and high energy. Zephyr is now 17 with three books and a punk band called A Simple Disaster.
I am pleased to introduce Act!vated Storytellers for the penultimate interview in the Spinning Wheel children's performers series. Here they are-- Dennis, Kimberly, and Zephyr Goza-- in their own words:
What exactly do you do for a living?
DG: Actor, writer, producer
KG: I theatrically perform folktales and classics with my family. I am an actor, web designer, fall guy, entrepreneur, booking agent, costume designer, director, business manager, set designer, seamstress, travel coordinator and squeeze through tennis rackets. Basically, anything you see on the stage I do, anything you hear Dennis does (but even that is a fuzzy line).
ZG: I'm a performer. My family and I each portray multiple roles in our shows. We also serve as our own setup/teardown crew.
How long have you been working in your chosen profession?
DG: About 20 years, give or take a diversion or two
KG: 20 years or so. Kinda lost track.
ZG: 14 years.
What prompted you to work with/ perform for children?
DG: Had a childhood dream of running away to join the circus, and never grew out of it.
KG: Dennis and I met doing children’s theatre and decided to form our own company. I love the immediacy of the feedback from the uninhibited audience.
ZG: I grew into it, really. Mom and Dad started the theatre company before the family, so by the time I came along they were already well into it. I started reciting Shakespeare at two, starred in a commercial at three, and played Tiny Tim and Ghost of Christmas Future on a national tour of A Christmas Carol at age four. If anything, they had a hard time keeping me off the stage!
Why do you continue to do it?
DG: I like to think I'm helping to build the future. Plus, it's just plain fun.
KG: Love it! Can’t imagine doing anything else. I love all aspects of theatre, on stage and off. Which is why I love running our company.
ZG: I'm a natural entertainer. If it has to do with entertaining people, chances are I've had some experience with it.
Which performers are your inspirations for your work?
DG: Buster Keaton, Marcel Marceau, Laurel and Hardy, Garrison Keillor
KG: I’ve been told my physicality is very Jim Carrey. I draw inspiration from Lucille Ball though.
ZG: Buster Keaton! I'm a huge fan of his. I'm also partial to Johnny Depp, and I love any quirky/odd/offbeat/unusual characters and anything on Broadway. Beyond that, the number of performers I draw inspiration from is too long to list. (Although I have to mention that Colin Farrell and Shia LeBeouf are cool.)
What are some of the things you enjoy doing outside of your profession?
DG: Composing music, drawing, bicycling, writing poetry, studying philosophy, betting on horse races.
KG: Gee just about everything I do is tied to the business from performing to traveling to web design and promotion. It rather consumes me. I do enjoy biking and wish I had more time for some epic journeys. I am still trying to figure out how to make enough money to eat while touring the world by bicycle.
ZG: What are some things I don't? I do all kinds of work in the entertainment industry, so technically I have a bunch of different professions. When I'm looking to unwind, though, I usually go to the movies, hang out at the bookstore, or just chill around with friends.
What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?
DG: Hmmm.. quite a paradox. If I told people the things they don't know about me (of which there are many), they'd no longer be things people don't know about me. Oh well, here's one: I was once in the Navy.
KG: I feel like an open book. We have been keeping a travel journal online for the past 4 years. Ummm… I air dry my feet after a shower by wiggling them in the air. And I like to dance like crazy when no one is looking.
ZG: I'm into something called parkour, which is a little like urban gymnastics.
Was there ever a time when your audience surprised you? What happened?
DG: At a school in Kansas City, we dropped some pennies on the stage that were used as props, and several kids scrambled onstage to pick them up, practically breaking each others' necks.
KG: After 200 shows per year for the past 15 years or so there isn’t much we haven’t seen. One time in particular wasn’t so much the audience as the janitor. We were in the middle of a show in a gymnasium. The kids were seated in the bleachers when the janitor starts mopping. We didn’t know why she chose that particular moment to clean. We were in the middle of a scene that took place on a ship so Dennis just ad lib a line thanking her for “swabbing the deck.”
ZG: There's been a few times the audience has caught us off guard, both in a good and a bad way, but usually it's just in some small way like laughing someplace where we weren't expecting a laugh.
What’s in heavy rotation on your stereo/iPod lately?
DG: Lately, I've been in love with the song “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World. It's a simple tune (which is part of its charm, I suppose) but what a shot in the arm! It never fails to lift me higher than a kite on helium.
KG: I am reliving the 80s. I recently learned that I love Styx. Oh and “Damn Good Story” by A Simple Disaster is getting a lot of play in my ears. Shhh! don’t tell Zephyr. He hates it that his mom rocks out to his band’s music.
ZG: Avenged Sevenfold's new CD! (Also, I'm prone to singing anything by Tenacious D at random intervals in time.)
If you could headline a festival with three other performers, who would they be?
DG: Judy Kuhn, Dory Previn and Garrison Keillor
KG: I’ve been headlining with two of my favorite performers for the past 15 years!
ZG: .......I have no idea. I'd love to perform with pretty much anyone.
What’s the song or story that never gets old for you?
DG: The Odyssey is still the greatest story of all time for my money.
ZG: What's My Age Again. I sing it incessantly, much to the annoyance of my peers and family.
I asked Zephyr how his perceptions about his audiences changed over the years as a child (and now teen performer), and also about his hopes and ambitions for the coming years.
ZG: I never really had any feelings about performing in front of people my own age when I was younger (or now, for that matter). By the time I was old enough to have any problems in front of people my own age, I'd already been doing it for long enough that it was intuitive. Now that I'm closer to moving out, my future will probably with my band in North Carolina. I'll also be doing several other things, such as designing haunted houses/themed attractions, making movies, doing whatever stage productions I can get my hands on, writing more books, performing stunts, and starting numerous businesses.
***************
The Pivot Questionnaire, as popularized by the Actor’s Studio:
What is your favorite word?
DG: Cuspidor
KG: Yes
ZG: Hmmm...at the moment, it's "superfluous"
What is your least favorite word?
DG: Conservative – because it's almost never used accurately anymore.
KG: No
ZG: I try not to have a least favorite word. It's not nice to demote verbage.
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
DG: Music, especially Broadway. Philosophy. And absolutely everything about my wife.
KG: I use my drive time to get the ideas going and organize my thoughts. I keep a notebook by me to take notes. When I need ideas for props or costumes I go shopping. Living in an RV we don’t have space (or the desire) to collect a bunch of stuff. So I have no need to buy things – just look at them. I also enjoy working out. It’s nice to get away from all of the demands of day to day life and just take some time for yourself.
ZG: Going to one of the Disney parks or any sort of themed attraction, or writing music with my band.
What turns you off?
DG: Religion. Or more precisely, religiosity. The overwhelming compulsion that many people have to impose their simpleminded beliefs on everyone else in the galaxy has resulted in more evil than just about anything else in history.
KG: Being told “You HAVE to....” No I don’t.
ZG: Bad comedy movies and sitcoms
What is your favorite curse word? (optional)
DG: The F-word has a certain raw elegance to it, although I get tired of its overuse as a swear word. I often swear with “Crap “ or “Yodsnarotch”.
KG: Bite me!
What sound or noise do you love?
DG: The female voice
KG: Laughter! Especially from our audiences.
ZG: The gentle buzz of a guitar amplifier
What sound or noise do you hate?
DG: Boisterous speech
KG: Street sweepers and leaf blowers in the parking lot in the middle of the nights or pre-dawn hours
ZG: Rap and country music
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
DG: There are other professions??
KG: Web Design or astronaut
ZG: Perhaps being a forensic pathologist (I'm a pretty big CSI buff)
What profession would you not like to do?
DG: Politician, salesman and deodorant tester.
KG: Fold tissue by hand and insert in boxes
ZG: Professional cleaner of anything
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
DG: “Hey kiddo, wait until you get a look at the record of your life; it turned out far better than you ever thought.”
KG: NOW, the party can start!
ZG: "DUDE! That was the best entrance anyone has made in a long time. The fire was a nice touch. Also, I love your band. Can I have your autograph?"
Monday, March 17, 2008
Children's Books in a Bowl
Until recently, Lucia was a good sport about eating food. There were certain foods she couldn’t have, like citrus fruits and apple-juice, but for the most part, she’d eat what we gave her and enjoy it. When she entered kindergarten, that all changed. She came home with a whine in her voice and the phrase, “I don’t liiiiiiiike it.”
Once, I asked her not to be a pill. “What’s a pill?” she asked.
“A pill is someone who says, ‘I don’t liiiiiiiike it,' when you set out food," I said.
“Is Bluebell a pill?” she asked. Bluebell is one of Lucia’s more opinionated classmates.
“A-ha,” I thought. “Now I know where she gets it.”
Last week, Lucia told us once again that she didn’t like soup. I tossed some cheddar bunnies into her butternut squash soup and said, “You don’t have to like it. You just have to eat a few bites. Here, this bite is Peter Rabbit.” She ate the spoonful of soup with a cheddar bunny floating in it. “Now, here’s Flopsy… here’s Mopsy… here’s Cottontail… and this, my dear, is Jemimah Puddle-Duck….” I went through the pantheon of Beatrix Potter characters until the soup was all gone. Then, Lucia asked for more soup.
I thought that night was a fluke. However, we’ve had a few more meals in which foods she’d claimed she didn’t like were broken down bite by bite into children’s book characters. Now, she names the characters herself. She devoured last night’s curry and asked for more. As I cleared up the dishes, I overheard her say, "Here's Ginger, here's the little girl, here's the naughty kitty, and this, my dear, is Mog."
Take that, Bluebell!
Once, I asked her not to be a pill. “What’s a pill?” she asked.
“A pill is someone who says, ‘I don’t liiiiiiiike it,' when you set out food," I said.
“Is Bluebell a pill?” she asked. Bluebell is one of Lucia’s more opinionated classmates.
“A-ha,” I thought. “Now I know where she gets it.”
Last week, Lucia told us once again that she didn’t like soup. I tossed some cheddar bunnies into her butternut squash soup and said, “You don’t have to like it. You just have to eat a few bites. Here, this bite is Peter Rabbit.” She ate the spoonful of soup with a cheddar bunny floating in it. “Now, here’s Flopsy… here’s Mopsy… here’s Cottontail… and this, my dear, is Jemimah Puddle-Duck….” I went through the pantheon of Beatrix Potter characters until the soup was all gone. Then, Lucia asked for more soup.
I thought that night was a fluke. However, we’ve had a few more meals in which foods she’d claimed she didn’t like were broken down bite by bite into children’s book characters. Now, she names the characters herself. She devoured last night’s curry and asked for more. As I cleared up the dishes, I overheard her say, "Here's Ginger, here's the little girl, here's the naughty kitty, and this, my dear, is Mog."
Take that, Bluebell!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Alkelda's Feast Day
This is just to say that Alkelda of Giggleswick's feast day is this month: March 28, to be exact. I just thought I'd mention that to you because it might be of interest to those of you who are in a scholarly mindset...
Oh, all right, it's also my 36th birthday. You know what I've always wanted for my birthday? A surprise party. Actually, I've already had one. Here's the story:
For my twentieth birthday, I wanted to go to the fantastic Indian restaurant in South Bend, Indiana. It was an hour's drive, and completely worth it. My college friends and I made dinner plans to eat there on my birthday, March 28. My former roommmate said she would handle all of the arrangements.
Then, some friends said there was a concert they wanted to see that night. I wanted those friends to join us, so I said, "Okay, let's make it March 27, then." Plans were set in place. Then, other friends said, "That guy's senior music recital is that night, and we want to go to it." They convinced me to move it to March 29. So, March 29 (the day after my birthday) rolled around, and I was all set to go to the fantastic Indian restaurant in South Bend, Indiana. As my friends picked me up, my former roommate said, "Guess what! The Indian restaurant is clsoed on Sundays! We're going to the Olive Garden."
I cannot tell you how much I wanted to behave badly. I wanted to throw a tantrum and say, "I'm not going to the confounded Olive Garden. I need curry, and I'm not getting it in Middle America." However, a friend of mine had come in from Chicago specifically for my birthday. So, I kept my demeanor pleasant, but I made sure I rode in the car that did not have my former roommate in it.
We went to the Olive Garden. While we were there, my former roommate kept looking at her watch. She said, "I don't think I'll get dessert," and looked pointedly at the rest of us.
I thought, "I didn't get to go to the fantastic Indian restaurant, but I am jolly well going to get dessert on MY birthday celebration," and ordered the cannoli. However, the whole meal was just awful. On the way home, my former roommate invited all of us over to her apartment, but we all said we were too tired. For some reason, my former roommate looked stressed out about this. She told me, "At least come inside and get your present."
I didn't feel like it, and I told her so, but then I relented. I thought, "I am more of a detailed person than my rooomate is. I shouldn't have let her organize my party, and it's not fair for me to blame her for what wasn't a good time for me. I'll go in, get my present, and pretend to be cheerful about the whole thing."
We went inside her apartment, and I saw a number of lumps on the floor covered with blankets. These lumps rose up and said, "Uhhhhh--- SURPRISE!!!!!" They were my friends who couldn't join us for dinner but wanted to help celebrate my birthday. However, we had started dinner late and had gotten home so late that some of the celebrants had finally left while the few remaining faithful decided to take naps.
The rest of the evening was delightful and merry. Friends acted out my favorite skits, sang songs and played Truth or Dare. My former roommate explained to me that everyone who went to dinner with me was supposed to come to the surprise party too. Her pointed remarks about not eating dessert was to remind them that we were working on a time-limit (unbeknownst to me).
Needless to say, I forgave my former roommate for flubbing the organization of the fantastic Indian restaurant excursion. She had given me the surprise party I'd always wanted (after a fashion).
However, I did make sure I was in charge of all future restaurant reservations.
Oh, all right, it's also my 36th birthday. You know what I've always wanted for my birthday? A surprise party. Actually, I've already had one. Here's the story:
For my twentieth birthday, I wanted to go to the fantastic Indian restaurant in South Bend, Indiana. It was an hour's drive, and completely worth it. My college friends and I made dinner plans to eat there on my birthday, March 28. My former roommmate said she would handle all of the arrangements.
Then, some friends said there was a concert they wanted to see that night. I wanted those friends to join us, so I said, "Okay, let's make it March 27, then." Plans were set in place. Then, other friends said, "That guy's senior music recital is that night, and we want to go to it." They convinced me to move it to March 29. So, March 29 (the day after my birthday) rolled around, and I was all set to go to the fantastic Indian restaurant in South Bend, Indiana. As my friends picked me up, my former roommate said, "Guess what! The Indian restaurant is clsoed on Sundays! We're going to the Olive Garden."
I cannot tell you how much I wanted to behave badly. I wanted to throw a tantrum and say, "I'm not going to the confounded Olive Garden. I need curry, and I'm not getting it in Middle America." However, a friend of mine had come in from Chicago specifically for my birthday. So, I kept my demeanor pleasant, but I made sure I rode in the car that did not have my former roommate in it.
We went to the Olive Garden. While we were there, my former roommate kept looking at her watch. She said, "I don't think I'll get dessert," and looked pointedly at the rest of us.
I thought, "I didn't get to go to the fantastic Indian restaurant, but I am jolly well going to get dessert on MY birthday celebration," and ordered the cannoli. However, the whole meal was just awful. On the way home, my former roommate invited all of us over to her apartment, but we all said we were too tired. For some reason, my former roommate looked stressed out about this. She told me, "At least come inside and get your present."
I didn't feel like it, and I told her so, but then I relented. I thought, "I am more of a detailed person than my rooomate is. I shouldn't have let her organize my party, and it's not fair for me to blame her for what wasn't a good time for me. I'll go in, get my present, and pretend to be cheerful about the whole thing."
We went inside her apartment, and I saw a number of lumps on the floor covered with blankets. These lumps rose up and said, "Uhhhhh--- SURPRISE!!!!!" They were my friends who couldn't join us for dinner but wanted to help celebrate my birthday. However, we had started dinner late and had gotten home so late that some of the celebrants had finally left while the few remaining faithful decided to take naps.
The rest of the evening was delightful and merry. Friends acted out my favorite skits, sang songs and played Truth or Dare. My former roommate explained to me that everyone who went to dinner with me was supposed to come to the surprise party too. Her pointed remarks about not eating dessert was to remind them that we were working on a time-limit (unbeknownst to me).
Needless to say, I forgave my former roommate for flubbing the organization of the fantastic Indian restaurant excursion. She had given me the surprise party I'd always wanted (after a fashion).
However, I did make sure I was in charge of all future restaurant reservations.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Your turn to be appreciated
To Cheer or to Covet? writes author Liz Garton Scanlon of Liz in Ink about other people's successes. I added the question mark, even though I know the answer: cheer. Of course, you always cheer. "And yet," writes Liz. "And yet, it is another writer's success that can most swiftly and surely send us to the darkest little hole in our heart."
This post was in response to the good (i.e. great) news about author Sarah Lewis Holmes' two-book deal with Arthur A. Levine Books. Holmes herself acknowledges that, "that there is no hearing about another person's good fortune without a tinge of 'But what about me?'" Scanlon has a follow up post in which she is glad to discover that, "... It turns out that very few of those 'why not me' moments translate into 'why her (or him)' moments."
The "Why not me?" question is poignant. It speaks to the need for people to take turns being recognized and appreciated. There is so much emphasis on success in terms of being in the spotlight. People who were once famous but now are on the sidelines are disparaged as "has-beens" if they try to make come-backs and fail. In ordinary life, for the majority of us who will never be widely-renowned, it can smart when our best efforts are simply not deemed good enough for the prize.
In my senior year of high school, I threw my energies into the school paper, and strove repeatedly to write the editorial that would rock the county. The only problem was, the co-editor of the paper was already that editorial writer. The opinion pieces I wrote were well-written, but they didn't have that extra depth that made them compelling to print. Then, I wrote a news story about one of the state functional tests everyone had to pass in order to graduate. The writing prompt was to describe a "recreation center." The problem was that the students in the ESL classes came from cultures in which there wasn't a concept of a "recreation center." I have forgotten the details of what I wrote, but one of the newspaper contests to which I submitted the story ended up awarding the piece first place in the county.
The newspaper staff was surprised. I overheard a classmate say, "Alkelda won it?" My advisor was thrilled, as he was the one who encouraged the story in the first place and helped me with finding the sources to interview. He told me, "It's an important story, and I wanted us [the school newspaper] to be the ones to break it."
There was no fame, no great fuss afterward-- at the school awards ceremony, I accepted my 1st place certificate along with everyone else who had won awards in different areas of newspaper writing. Still, it was fine. After all of those fourth place prizes and honorable mentions, I got to be first in one thing, for a little while.
That is my wish for all of you-- that you have your moments where people recognize how hard you have worked and what you have achieved. May you have your turn to be appreciated, and then pass along that turn to someone else with grace and gratitude.
This post was in response to the good (i.e. great) news about author Sarah Lewis Holmes' two-book deal with Arthur A. Levine Books. Holmes herself acknowledges that, "that there is no hearing about another person's good fortune without a tinge of 'But what about me?'" Scanlon has a follow up post in which she is glad to discover that, "... It turns out that very few of those 'why not me' moments translate into 'why her (or him)' moments."
The "Why not me?" question is poignant. It speaks to the need for people to take turns being recognized and appreciated. There is so much emphasis on success in terms of being in the spotlight. People who were once famous but now are on the sidelines are disparaged as "has-beens" if they try to make come-backs and fail. In ordinary life, for the majority of us who will never be widely-renowned, it can smart when our best efforts are simply not deemed good enough for the prize.
In my senior year of high school, I threw my energies into the school paper, and strove repeatedly to write the editorial that would rock the county. The only problem was, the co-editor of the paper was already that editorial writer. The opinion pieces I wrote were well-written, but they didn't have that extra depth that made them compelling to print. Then, I wrote a news story about one of the state functional tests everyone had to pass in order to graduate. The writing prompt was to describe a "recreation center." The problem was that the students in the ESL classes came from cultures in which there wasn't a concept of a "recreation center." I have forgotten the details of what I wrote, but one of the newspaper contests to which I submitted the story ended up awarding the piece first place in the county.
The newspaper staff was surprised. I overheard a classmate say, "Alkelda won it?" My advisor was thrilled, as he was the one who encouraged the story in the first place and helped me with finding the sources to interview. He told me, "It's an important story, and I wanted us [the school newspaper] to be the ones to break it."
There was no fame, no great fuss afterward-- at the school awards ceremony, I accepted my 1st place certificate along with everyone else who had won awards in different areas of newspaper writing. Still, it was fine. After all of those fourth place prizes and honorable mentions, I got to be first in one thing, for a little while.
That is my wish for all of you-- that you have your moments where people recognize how hard you have worked and what you have achieved. May you have your turn to be appreciated, and then pass along that turn to someone else with grace and gratitude.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Song of the Week: Erie Canal
It's understandable to think that "Erie Canal" is a folk song, as it is a solid fixture in American music. In his Spinning Wheel interview, Robert Resnik said it was the song that never got old. Some websites that have lyrics to this song will say that it's "traditional," and provide no author. However, one person did indeed write this song, and his name is Thomas S. Allen. Allen wrote "Erie Canal," also known as "Low Bridge, Everybody Down," in 1905, after mules were replaced by motors to move the barges. The song is about the mule-barges that hauled goods to different towns in the state of New York during the 1800's. Allen wrote four verses to the song, but today, we usually just sing the first two.
Here's a MIDI for the song. Lots of musicians have covered "Erie Canal" and provided their own harmonic flourishes. So far, my favorite is Susanne Vega's version off of Dan Zanes' Rocket Ship Beach. The most easily found chords on the internet are in E minor. I give them to you in A minor. If it's a challenge for you to get from A minor to D minor in that first line, then feel free to leave out the C chord. I added it because I thought it sounded good. (Think of C major and A minor as "cousins." This also goes for G major and E minor.) Note also that the chords for the word "Buffalo" are sung/played "[E] Buffa- [Am] lo [G] -o."
Click on the image to enlarge it
Friday, March 07, 2008
Did they get complimentary champagne on the flight?
Here's a marriage proposal story I enjoyed reading:
Airport security changes Canadian man's plan for wedding proposal
Minh Le, this story is dedicated to you.
Airport security changes Canadian man's plan for wedding proposal
Minh Le, this story is dedicated to you.
What kind of a horn did Dinah, play, anyway?
As it turns out, "I've Been Working on the Railroad" really is two songs stuck together. Walter Minkel of The Monkey Speaks has the story (and the chords for your ukulele).
The True Meaning of Smekday
I'm a fan of The True Meaning of Smekday, by Adam Rex, which happens to be 2007 Cybils winner for Fantasy & Science Fiction Winner for Elementary/Middle Grade children. It's a buddy road-trip story that has alien invasions (two of them!), plenty of illustrations, a Boov-modified hovercar, a brutally humorous indictment of Manifest Destiny, and... what, you want more reasons? Here are 10 more.Even though it's been around for awhile, I still laugh over the Boov training video for humans to adjust to life after the invasion. You can see it here. Good news! Humans now only have three months to remember instead of those confusing twelve.
P.S. Sam Riddleburger, have you read this book yet? I think the book just bellows your name.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
"When You Smile" CD release concert
You can't keep a good mosh pit down
The House of Glee attended Eric Ode's CD release concert yesterday. The new album is out, and it's called When You Smile. It's got my favorite Ode song, which is "This Song Has No Elephants." We had a good time at the concert, bought the new album, and chatted with Eric for a bit after the show. Eric Ode is one of the performers I interviewed for Spinning Wheel, and you can read the interview here.
Eric Ode and Lucia, post-concert
March 4 update: More photos from Eric Ode's CD release party can be found here.
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