Many years ago, back when I was trying to make this East Coast Girl into a L.A. Lady, I heard Brian Eno's "An Ending (Ascent)" and the first thought that popped into my mind was "Aha! Now THAT's the song I want to be played at my funeral!"
Wait... what?
Why do I do this? Why, when I hear beautiful yet somewhat mournful songs, does my head automatically go to that weird place where I start envisioning people gathered around my casket, whispering to each other in hushed tones? Why do I feel the need to come up with a playlist for my funeral, as if that is what everyone is going to be talking about afterwards, as in "Man, that was a really moving service, but the music?! Blew.. my... mind... That was the best funeral music EVER!"
It may have something to do with my more-than-the-average-bear fear of dying, which surfaced somewhere around my third birthday and hasn't left me since. Obviously, I have some weird kind of control issue and fear of the "unknown", so I placate myself by planning the soundtrack for my death party. How fun am I?
Humor me. Here are the four ABSOLUTELY MUST BE INCLUDED songs for my funel d.j.'s playlist:
1) The aforementioned "An Ending (Ascent)" by Brian Eno
2) "Rise" by Eddie Vedder (from the Into the Wild soundtrack)
3) "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys
4) "Fireflies" by Owl City
I am sure I will come up with more to add to this list, but am open to suggestions from any similarly morbidly-minded folks...
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Dance, Emmy, Dance!
Yes, I am completely biased, but I believe my 14 month old girl DOES have a chance of becoming the 2029 winner of "So You Think You Can Dance". She's got some moves, yo!
Don't worry. I am not about to post a video of her moving her little body in rhythm to "Moves Like Jagger" on Facebook (as much as I would REALLY like to). Though I am thoroughly amused by her waving her arms and turning in circles, I get creeped out by the thought of "strangers with issues" looping the video.
I do, however, want to foster Em's love of dancing. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I am a big fan of the dance floor. And if there is no dance floor available, I am a big fan of other floors, as long as I can DANCE on them! My mom also LOVED to dance and embarass me to no end with her crazy moves, and I am sure my own dancing will be a source of grave embarassment to Emmy in the near future, but it is comforting to know that I've handed the "wacky dance love" gene (or genetic mutation) down to Emmy.
To encourage her creative dance expression, we've started to incorporate "Family Dance Party" into our daily routine. It started off as a Sunday morning thing, because that's when we are all together, and when we can kind of laze around the house in our pajamas for a while without any sense of obligation. Sunday mornings quickly became pretty much EVERY morning due to the popularity of the ritual. We turn on "Toddler Tunes" on ye olde cable television, and start hopping, stomping, skipping, and shaking what our mamas gave us all over our living room. "Dada" sometimes dances in his underwear, which adds to the humor and delight of the event. Emmy likes to be held and "swooped" this way and that way through many songs, but recently she has enjoyed being on her own two feet, kicking and clapping, walking backwards, flailing her arms, and making little circles with her whole body.
To take this to the next level, I am hoping we can join a local music class aimed primarily at toddlers and their enthusiastic parents. I am searching around, and have found a few options offering "trial classes". I have signed us up for one and will see how that goes before committing us to an entire 8 week session. I am imagining the classes are either incredibly awkward or incredibly entertaining, based on who teaches and who participates.
I am highly doubtful that ANY class will let my husband show up in just his underwear, though... huge bummer.
Don't worry. I am not about to post a video of her moving her little body in rhythm to "Moves Like Jagger" on Facebook (as much as I would REALLY like to). Though I am thoroughly amused by her waving her arms and turning in circles, I get creeped out by the thought of "strangers with issues" looping the video.
I do, however, want to foster Em's love of dancing. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I am a big fan of the dance floor. And if there is no dance floor available, I am a big fan of other floors, as long as I can DANCE on them! My mom also LOVED to dance and embarass me to no end with her crazy moves, and I am sure my own dancing will be a source of grave embarassment to Emmy in the near future, but it is comforting to know that I've handed the "wacky dance love" gene (or genetic mutation) down to Emmy.
To encourage her creative dance expression, we've started to incorporate "Family Dance Party" into our daily routine. It started off as a Sunday morning thing, because that's when we are all together, and when we can kind of laze around the house in our pajamas for a while without any sense of obligation. Sunday mornings quickly became pretty much EVERY morning due to the popularity of the ritual. We turn on "Toddler Tunes" on ye olde cable television, and start hopping, stomping, skipping, and shaking what our mamas gave us all over our living room. "Dada" sometimes dances in his underwear, which adds to the humor and delight of the event. Emmy likes to be held and "swooped" this way and that way through many songs, but recently she has enjoyed being on her own two feet, kicking and clapping, walking backwards, flailing her arms, and making little circles with her whole body.
To take this to the next level, I am hoping we can join a local music class aimed primarily at toddlers and their enthusiastic parents. I am searching around, and have found a few options offering "trial classes". I have signed us up for one and will see how that goes before committing us to an entire 8 week session. I am imagining the classes are either incredibly awkward or incredibly entertaining, based on who teaches and who participates.
I am highly doubtful that ANY class will let my husband show up in just his underwear, though... huge bummer.
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