she should try
pudding...seriously, this isn't finger painting...
prodigypretty amazing stuff. hopefully she'll continue to grow, both as a child, and as a painter.
oh, and I don't feel that her work is Emperor's New Clothes stuff; she really has a great sense of balance, and color, and rhythm.
hmmm
what to say...I actually started a blog last night, but then had a computer problem which forced me to restart the computer, and so I lost it all. anyway, it was about time flying by, so that's that. time is going by quickly. already almost Thursday. whew.
a big weekend coming up with Counterpoint traveling to Albany, NY on Sunday afternoon. it will be a great concert. sadly, a couple of online friends, who I was going to meet in person for the first time, had to change their plans and can't be there. it's a bummer, but we'll find another time. a group of us(we're on the Word A Day forums) are planning on meeting for a weekend up in Montreal sometime next summer, so hopefully that will work out. they're a neat bunch of people.
the boys have been busy with soccer and school, and friends, and this evening we had dinner at Marnie's folks along with Marnie's sister and family. we had a great time, and a delicious dinner. roast turkey from the rotisserie... very yum.
Saturday has soccer games for all three boys, and Marnie is helping out at the chicken pie dinners at church, so I'll be driving taxi... I'll have to drop Chellis off at his game, and then take E & L to theirs, and after they're done we'll zip back and catch the last bit of Chel's game, hopefully. talk about whew.
Sunday morning, after church choir rehearsal (I'll need to miss the service), I'll head to Albany...
one more whew. catch you sometime...
Vermont
is afire in the autumn...an absolutely stunning day. the colors are really starting to come alive. the ride home from church has an incredible panoramic view of the range that includes Spruce Mtn, and the colors are spectacular. it is a very red year, especially in the upper elevations. this is quite a beautiful place. even having lived here nearly twenty years has not taken that away. so many moments driving anywhere are filled with views that spark in me a love of this place. come visit!
the beautiful weather allowed me to be outside working, and we nearly have the south side finished. a small, perhaps six square foot area over one window, and a single row above another window, and it will be done. Marnie has a bit of painting to do, before we move the scaffold to finish the last row. it's been three summers of working, and it feels very good to be this close. it's becomng the house we could see so long ago, if we blurred our eyes just a bit... come visit....
power
and sunshine...well, the power went out here around 11:45am, and finally came back on at 5. now, I know that's nothing compared to those suffering through the hurricanes, etc., but it sure makes you appreciate it! thankfully, the rain hasn't yet arrived, so we were able to get a lot of work done outside(shingling, gardening, and general puttering...), and it was an easy way to get the boys outside, too. glad it came back on before dark, though... pretty hard to blog via candlelight...
though, you know, I could use the iBook on battery power. hmmm...
oh, they said that a transformer had blown somewhere...
Saturday morning
sitting on the deck...drinking coffee...
I woke up this morning thinking about politics, education, and religion. sheesh. of course, I solved all the problems, but... mostly I just want to say:
ok, George, you've had your little fun, now it's time to get the hell out. you ransacked the treasury, you raped the environment, you've destroyed our standing in the world. I think you've done enough.and
give me more teachers, and smaller class sizes, and we can improve education. does a doctor try to diagnose 20 patients in the same room, at the same time?and
I don't think I'll get into religion this morning. but I was thinking about the idea of perfection. again.supposed to rain here today, but there's things to do inside, so I'll manage... it has been a beautiful fall, so far.
the end of the week
deserves a blog...I guess I've been a bit remiss in my blogging duties... so perhaps a run-down of the past week is in order. (more likely out of order, but...) though I did give you Calvin and Hobbes and floods already...
anyway, though I blogged of floods on Wednesday, I forgot the biggest event of Tuesday evening: the moose. Marnie had a meeting in Barre, and shortly after she arrived there, she called and said that she had seen a moose on her way into town. she thought that perhaps Emerson and Lincoln and I would want to go see it. Chellis was at a soccer game. so, the three of us climbed into the car, after I grabbed Amy's digital camera which I still have(sorry, Amy...), and we headed to the fields down the road. the moose was still there, though quite a way out into the field. we had some binoculars in the car, and those worked very well. (though trying to take a picture through the binoculars didn't work nearly as well...) We sat there for nearly a half an hour, and though the moose eventually did move closer, he still wasn't very close. but it was a beautiful evening, and we got to see a moose, so it was pretty cool. three or four other cars also stopped while we were there. we needed to go get Chellis after his game, otherwise we probably would have stayed longer. I'll see about putting up a picture or two...
Marnie didn't work on Wednesday, so she spent the day shingling, and painting. it's getting pretty close, now.
Thursday evening was a Counterpoint rehearsal that I got to run. that is always great, though I do get a bit nervous before hand. I felt like we made some progress, and I got good feedback from everyone. I think that I may be doing rehearsals on a bit more regular basis. which makes sense; Bob doesn't need to spend his time helping us learn notes... so it will be interesting to see how that develops.
Friday was a Friday, and when I got home after school, Marnie was already working on the shingling, so I helped a little bit with that, checked my email, and then mowed the lawn. actually, I should probably say, I cut the hay... it had been a while since the lawn had been mowed, since Chellis has soccer after school every day, so it was long overdue. I'm hoping that this may be the last time this year... I really ought to rake the lawn now, but, heh, I don't think so... it looks better, at least.
and now, here I am, writing the blog. there are several things I could be doing tonight, though I'm not sure I'll do any of them... Chellis has a friend over for a sleepover, so they'll be up late going at Baldur's Gate... (it's a video game...) Emerson and Lincoln have soccer tomorrow morning, though we are forecast for some rain. the rest of the weekend looks good, and maybe we'll nearly get the house done... enough for now... how'd I do?
amazing
what people have to deal with...I got to this paper via a round-a-bout way, but, these were sad and amazing flood damage pictures...
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Calvin and Hobbes
explained...via Language Hat:
25 great Calvin & Hobbes stripsa fun way to start the day and maybe get you thinking just a bit...
have a great one!
Arrgh!
where's me parrot?Talk Like a Pirate Day
Arrgh! 'tis tomorrow, Sunday the 19th... now blow the man down, ye bilge rat, and start talking like a pirate!!
a beautiful day
silly me...I spent it mostly indoors... I've been working on simplifying entry of information on both the church site and the Counterpoint site. I wish I knew more of what I was doing because there a couple of tweaks that I'd like that I just can't figure out. all it takes is one mis-placed comma, or \ and kablooey! the whole page is wrecked... oh well. it looks ok, and it will certainly be easier to put up new information on several of the pages. I've been adapting the old blogware that I used to use on this site, and I really could use a course in php programming... not too likely to get that anytime soon. anyway, that's what I've been up to.
Chellis is at a friend's and then on to the Tunbridge World's Fair for some carnival rides and food and livestock and veggies... he should have a great time. after we dropped him off, Emerson and Lincoln and I went shopping for a new video game that they had saved up for. they've been busy with that most of the day. Marnie has been busy working on tomorrow's Sunday School kick-off, and baking bread and brownies. it smells great!
I hope things are as bucolic around your place as they are here...
new pics!
looking good...if I do say so myself... I borrowed Amy's camera today, and got some new pics of the deck:
new deck picturesthere's also some shots of the terrace, and the shingling on the south side, and I threw in one of a jet that happened to be going over... come and visit!
we're in a spell of beautiful weather, come and enjoy that, too!
Chellis had a soccer game today(away), and he almost scored a goal! his team won, which puts them at 3-2. pretty neat. he also finally agreed that he's going to audition for the Winooski Valley Music Festival Chorus, which we're very pleased about. ok, ok, we bribed him, but he's going to do it. ;) he's got about a month to prepare, and he'll sing with a quartet and get judged. he, of course, has a very good shot at getting in, as boys that sing well are a hot commodity, but I think he would get in anyway. we'll see how he does. I haven't judged for several years, since I stopped teaching HS, but maybe this year... it will be neat to hear about him...
ok, enough. have a great day!
deck is done
yeehaa!well, what a day. choir went very well this morning, and it was a nice service, too. a good start to the year. I had a small, but well balanced group, and they jumped right in. We did Bob's arrangement of Beautiful River, and they were wonderful. a rousing recessional(an African chant), with me on djembe, finished the service off right. hope it is foreshadowing the rest of the year!
then the boys and I came home, (we took two cars in, and Marnie stayed later at church), and I had a bit of lunch(pb & j on toast, with a slice of American cheese-thanks, Daddy!), and then out to finish the lower terraces, and then Marnie (obviously she was home by now...) and I set up the scaffolding on the south side. she started shingling and I set to work on the last bit of deck. and by 6:30 or so(about 4 and a half hours later), I was done! it looks great, and no, I haven't taken any pictures yet... maybe later this week. I think I'm finally home a bit on Wednesday... heh. perhaps I'll borrow Matt's digital camera and get some good quality pics. we'll see. speaking of pictures, I'm looking forward to seeing the pics we took for Counterpoint on Saturday. I think that Amy will get me those on Thursday. she sent me a couple low-res versions and I think we'll find one or two that will look good.
ok. enough for now. have a great week!
what day is this?
smile...well, Kathy's comment from a day(or so...) ago kind of hit the spot: I'm busy! we had an all-day Counterpoint meeting-picture taking-rehearsal today. it was all good, and an absolutely idyllic day for it, but whew! go, go go...
that being said, I don't know that I would change much. things are going very well in all areas of my life right now, school, and music, and... what other areas of my life are there? heh. ah, I suppose family fits in there somehere... the boys are all off to terrific starts at school, and Marnie, though disappointed not to find the perfect job, yet, has immersed herself in the house and gardens, and her work with the RE program at church. besides getting in a couple of subbing days already...
all good stuff.
tomorrow, I should finish the upper terrace, and get the scaffolding set up, so we can shingle and finish the south side, whenever time allows... maybe I'll get some pictures taken... heh. I'll have new Counterpoint pictures to work with, actually, I think I have a disc of recording pictures yet to do, and the pictures we took today will be a new splash page and headshots. I've also been working on the church site, making that much easier to update, by adapting the old blogware.
anyway, enough. have a great rest of the weekend, get those end-of-the-season creemees while you still can... I know I will!
I forgot
about today!heh. while talking to my folks tonight, I realized that I hadn't mentioned today. d'oh. we did get out to camp, and got the boats out, and the docks out, and had some tasty hotdogs from the grill... I wasn't going to get wet, but I managed to fall in when one of the dock frame pieces came apart as I was walking on it and I ended up in the water up to my waist. the water was actually quite warm, and no damage was done, so it was fun! a lovely day to be at camp.
we got home about 3, and after checking my email, Marnie and I got outside to work on the terraces. we got the lower one pretty much finished, I just need a few more spikes to finish the job. Marnie got most of the dirt moved into place, and now we can get the upper terrace finished sometime this week. going to look nice. pictures will follow. sometime. heh.
Chellis had soccer tonight, and then finished his homework for tomorrow. yikes. Advanced Physical Science! H2CO3 and all that... Emerson and Lincoln watched a movie, and then were off to bed.
huh. I don't think I ever ate supper. better see what I can find...
what a weekend!
can we do it again?what a great way to spend a weekend! about 16 hours of singing over two days, with some great music, and some great instrumentalists to accompany us, and yeehaa! it was terrific! I am very excited about this album, it's just got a bunch of very listenable, interesting music. the Jewish CD is wonderful, but it has history behind it. a history of struggle and suffering (albeit incredible music). this Latin American album is full of life, so visceral, especially when the sikus and quenas and guitars and charango kick in. so exciting. I watched some of the video I shot over the two days this morning, and it came out quite well. the footage is just for archival purposes, but at some point I'll edit some of it down to something that maybe we can have as a memento. there are funny moments, and time just standing around, but it was great to get to re-live the music-making. maybe someday when Vermont Public TV gets around to making a documentary about Bob, they can use some of this. we also (don't tell anyone) got to add some background tracks to an upcoming PBS program about an up-and-coming young singer from New Zealand. we won't get credit, and I really am not supposed to say much more than that, but if you happen to catch it, listen for the tenor soloist on Benedictus. apparently he kind of looks like me... and he'll sound JUST LIKE ME... maybe at some point I can tell you more, but special thanks to John McClure for getting us the gig! John and Susan are the best!
ok, back to school tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to that, too! have a great week!
clean
clothes...finally, the washer is fixed. actually, apparently, there was not much wrong with it, other than a out-of-whack "snubber". the snubber is a circular, nylon thingamajig, that helps keep the tub stable as it spins and gyrates. ours, which is probably quite worn(we ordered a new one), had gotten out of place, allowing the tub to move much more freely than it should. the repair guy rocked the washer back up on it's hind feet, and we guess the snubber slipped into place, and presto! the washer is working... I suppose it's just a matter of time before it slips out again, but hopefully by then we'll have the replacement part, which should be easy enough for me to install. all in all, we got by at about a seventh of the cost of a new washer, and for that we are grateful! needless to say, Marnie is quite happy...
Counterpoint is recording this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, for a new Latin American CD. we have had a Latin Am program for a couple of years, and Albany Records would like to release the CD. it should be great fun; we have a group of musicians coming in who play all the great South American instruments, the charango, the sikus, etc. (you can look them up on the Music Dictionary site I linked to yesterday...) I'm going to take the video camera and simply record the whole session, so I'll let you know how it goes.
Monday, we'll take the boats and the docks out at camp, and then maybe have a bit of time leftover when we get home to work on the house.
school is going great, and the boys are starting off very well. Chellis has had two soccer games already, his team is 1-1. he is enjoying high school, and Emerson and Lincoln can't get enough of 5th grade. Marnie subbed for the first time this year today, and has put her name in at a couple of other area schools. she'd like to keep busy. no doubt she will!
enough for tonight, have a great weekend.
music dictionary
just had to sharejuat wanted to share this great online musical dictionary I discovered:
Music DictionaryI was searching for the written range of the accordion. I have only begun to explore but have already found some terrific teaching resources... in particular, check out the appendices. enjoy!