Roots

Having finished Bhairavi, as I said in my previous post, by sheer coincidence I picked up The Music Room, by Namita Devidayal. TPB had just finished it, and it was lying around. I had no idea what it was about.

I loved it to pieces. It's a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in Indian classical music.



There is just so much incredible stuff on youtube now. Who knew?

Bhairavi, and Mian ki Malhar

Just finished an amazing book called Bhairavi: The Dawn of Indian Music in the West, by Peter Lavezzoli. It's a must-read -- learned, eclectic, and thorough. Through it, I have learned about Saskia Rao-de Haas. Here's a clip of her playing Mian ki Malhar on her custom-made "Indian cello".



Part 2 is here.

Now that's what I call music.

the faster we go the rounder we get

i fired someone today. my first firing ever.

thankfully, the person was expecting it. no waterworks like the time before she was put on probation. and she made it worse for herself by trying to negotiate the lifeline she was being given.

still, what a way to start a week.

Round and round

Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star
Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like, when you're older, must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town
And they tell him,
Take your time, it won't be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

***

We love you, Joni.

Single parents everywhere

How do they do it?

Last night, I finally succumbed and cracked open the case of Rocky Mountain Holiday: John Denver and the Muppets.

It sucked 45 minutes out of the evening. After the show, the Achiever noted, multiple times, "What is the baby frog doing? Baby frog sleeping, with the blue blanket."

Which is pretty much what my baby frog has been doing for the last ten hours as well. Mercy.