Not a radio fan

In the car this morning, Colleen and I were listening to the radio and a Janis Joplin song came on, Piece of my Heart. I automatically cranked up the volume but Colleen protested, saying "Is that lady injured or something? This song is awful."

So I turned to another station. Forget You by Cee-lo was on, right at the part where he cries "Why?! Wwwwwhy?!"

Colleen says, "Turn off the music. It's too depressing."

Next time I'll bring the Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat CD she received as a Christmas gift from her godmother, Jennifer. That she loves! I think this photo conveys the awesomeness of Joseph.

Singing a rainbow

Robert said something tonight that triggered my memory of seventh grade choir. Here are some of the songs we sang.

Keep in mind, this is 1985.

Theme from Ice Castles
Ben
Brian's Song
You Light Up My Life
Sing a Rainbow
For church, Pass It On and Amazing Grace.

So Robert got three completely new songs for him tonight. And I got to curse this steel trap of a brain that can remember every lyric from songs from 24 years ago but not to fold the shirts the way Cate wants them.

Still the Beatles

I'm working from home today and a Beatles song just came on the radio. Colleen jumped off her chair, literally, and ran over to the radio, before announcing Here Comes the Sun!

It's all right.

A moving experience

Cate and I had an interesting evening last night, taking in an evening of Handel music performed by a soprano, a harpsichord and a viola da gamba. The soprano, Carrie Henneman Shaw, is a friend Robert and I met at the Twins game last month.

In a word: impressive.

First of all, Cate and I both played string instruments growing up but neither of us had ever seen a viola da gamba being performed. It's about the size of a cello, played upright, with seven strings and tuned somewhat like a guitar. It's bowed underhanded and it doesn't have a stand -- it's held between the legs. Fascinating.

And of course, our friend the soprano was brilliant as well. All in all, a nice evening in St. Paul -- bookended by dinner at Cafe Latte and drinks with Carrie and some of her friends afterward.

But the highlight of the evening was probably the up-close-and-personal encounter with the harpsichord. I helped carry and move the instrument after the performance. Barely, I basically helped load it onto a dolly. But moving a harpsichord was something new to me.

A net loss, but a clarinet gained

Minneapolis public schools don't offer Spanish, for whatever reason, but they do offer band. So while Elizabeth hasn't been getting twice-weekly instruction in the language anymore, she is getting clarinet instruction once a week.

There was much debate among us as to which instrument Elizabeth should take. Clarinet won out over the saxophone -- she wanted to play the sax but there were already too many playing it in her class.

The good news is that Elizabeth is very enthusiastic about taking an instrument. The bad news is that neither Cate nor I can help her with the clarinet. Both of us have string and brass experience to draw on but neither of us played a woodwind.

So far, though, it hasn't been a problem. Her tone has improved vastly in the week she's been practicing. (Her playing tone, not her speaking tone.)

At this point she can play any song that contains C, D, E, F and G.

Mom even pulled my old music stand out of a drawer in the linen closet for her to use!

So far, so good.

Speaking words of wisdom

The Beatles are making a comeback, at least in our house. Elizabeth recently received 1, the compilation album with all 27 of the Fab Four's No. 1 hits. And it's been a hit here.

Elizabeth and Robert listen to this constantly and Robert in particular loves to sing along. When he found out I could play Let it Be, for example, he joined in on the chorus.

For Elizabeth, the favorite song is Eleanor Rigby, and she was doubly impressed to hear -- from both me and Cate independently -- that the lyrics were in our literature texts in junior high. She likes how it's different -- if you recall, there are no drum, guitars or bass in the song, just a string quartet. Plus, she keeps her face in a jar by the door.

Robert's favorite, not too surprisingly, is Ticket to Ride. Presumably it's the love of trains playing a part.

But Colleen is the cutest. Her favorite song off the album is Yellow Submarine. Except, of course, that for most of a week she insisted that it was Blue Submarine. Only today did we manage to convince her otherwise!

We're within a week of packing up the piano. I'll miss my music.