E's newest passion has been learning to sing. He spent most of the weekend surfing over YouTube, checking out performances of his favorite songs by other enthusiasts. I had heard some weird sounds coming out of his room last night, but I assumed that is was random tennis ardor.
So, tonight, after he came home from work, tyoma and I were sitting at the table eating dinner when he let walked in the house and let out a whoop.
E: "Whooooooooo! "
(T & Me): Shocked silence and stares.
E: Puts down lunchbox. "Whooo- Oh, sorry! I've been doing these voice exercises all day. The folks at the desks next to me must think that I've lost my mind."
M: "Oh. Going 'Whooo' is a voice exercise?"
T: Shocked silence.
E:"Yes! I saw it on YouTube! I'm trying to build my range."
M: "I see."
E: "Whooooooooooo! "
I heard the whoops at random intervals for the rest of the evening. Tyoma, playing is his room while papa whooped, would yell: "Stop that! Stop that singing!!!"
It was odd, especially since Egor was so sincere about his practice. He wasn't self-conscious or the least bit reserved, singing out lusty "Whoooooooos" all evening long.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Elevator Animation
Tyoma dearly loves the elevator animations on youtube. He is particularly fascinated by the types of number displays, so when I brought out a peg board toy he hasn't seen for a while, guess what his first impulse is?
I have twelve more photos, which I will post as a slide show as soon as I get smilebox figured out!
I have twelve more photos, which I will post as a slide show as soon as I get smilebox figured out!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Pathology
I wasted some time today with a Comcast On Demand movie, Pathology. Pretty typical film, predictable and gory, but well-acted by a talented cast. I especially liked Michael Weston as the villan. He has the creeepy psycho routine down pat.
While predicatble, I liked the character development. Hero/bad guy stereotypes have their place, especially in campy movies, but in general I find them monotonous and irritating. It was refreshing to see an uncharactaristicly flawed and nihilistic hero. All of the cast did well, making the somewhat preposteous plot believable. The film was raw, but I could see the good and wounded side of the characters without having my intellect insulted.
While predicatble, I liked the character development. Hero/bad guy stereotypes have their place, especially in campy movies, but in general I find them monotonous and irritating. It was refreshing to see an uncharactaristicly flawed and nihilistic hero. All of the cast did well, making the somewhat preposteous plot believable. The film was raw, but I could see the good and wounded side of the characters without having my intellect insulted.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
What's Up
I am currently moving by livejournal to blogger. I like the editing features and communities much better. It will take me some time to move my 500 or so entries, sooo
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Snow Pictures!!!
Despite the mountains of snow that we have had, it's been looking less than pristine. I suspect that all the blasting and rock crushing behind us is coating everything with a barely discernable film of dust. Anyway, a few inches of snow overnight freshened up the neighborhood.
This is across the street.
And this is to the left out our front door.
This is across the street.
And this is to the left out our front door.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Questions
I am feeling a bit better today , cheerful at least. I took a ton of recycling down to the transfer station and found some cool books from the 1920s. The recycle grandpas watched me carefully to make certain I did not take more than my fair share. I suspect after I left a small scuffle broke out over the juicer I left behind. Those guys looked spry. Whole fruits must be in their diets!
Tyoma came home very grumpy today, of course, he had a fever. Have you every been in an irritable pissy mood and all you wanted to do was argue or bitch about Bill O'Reilly ? That was him. Turns out he had serious stuff on his mind.
Out of the blue he said, "Why do we have to die?"
After I picked my jaw off the floor I said, "It's part of the circle of life, we are born and then we die." (thank you Land Before Time).
T: "No but, why do we die??"
M: "Uhm. Well, when we get older, our bodies wear out."
T: "When will I die? When will my body wear out?"
M: "Ahh, uhm. Well, not for a long time."
T: "I don't want to die. I don't want to wear out. When will I die?"
Now I read about answering these types questions. Keep it simple for four year olds.
M: " We don't know when we will die."
T: "But I want to know when I will die. How old will I be?"
M: "Very old, sweetheart, it''s a long way off."
T: "How old will I be?"
M: "Oh, in your eighties."
T: "No. Nineties. I'll be a hundred and eleven when I die. And also, I will have 10 billion friends."
M: "10 billion?"
T: "Uh-huh. Right now there are 8 billion people on earth and they are my friends. When I die it will be 10 billion."
M: "Okay."
T: "When will my stomach wear out? Will I die when my stomach wears out?"
And so on. In the end I was unable to keep it simple, so I went on a monologue about how doctors will one day be able to fix people so you don't have to die, but he lost interest. I think if I give him a body maintenance schedule, next time he asks I can avoid the question "What happens when you die?" And heaven help me if he learns that accidents can make you die...
Tyoma came home very grumpy today, of course, he had a fever. Have you every been in an irritable pissy mood and all you wanted to do was argue or bitch about Bill O'Reilly ? That was him. Turns out he had serious stuff on his mind.
Out of the blue he said, "Why do we have to die?"
After I picked my jaw off the floor I said, "It's part of the circle of life, we are born and then we die." (thank you Land Before Time).
T: "No but, why do we die??"
M: "Uhm. Well, when we get older, our bodies wear out."
T: "When will I die? When will my body wear out?"
M: "Ahh, uhm. Well, not for a long time."
T: "I don't want to die. I don't want to wear out. When will I die?"
Now I read about answering these types questions. Keep it simple for four year olds.
M: " We don't know when we will die."
T: "But I want to know when I will die. How old will I be?"
M: "Very old, sweetheart, it''s a long way off."
T: "How old will I be?"
M: "Oh, in your eighties."
T: "No. Nineties. I'll be a hundred and eleven when I die. And also, I will have 10 billion friends."
M: "10 billion?"
T: "Uh-huh. Right now there are 8 billion people on earth and they are my friends. When I die it will be 10 billion."
M: "Okay."
T: "When will my stomach wear out? Will I die when my stomach wears out?"
And so on. In the end I was unable to keep it simple, so I went on a monologue about how doctors will one day be able to fix people so you don't have to die, but he lost interest. I think if I give him a body maintenance schedule, next time he asks I can avoid the question "What happens when you die?" And heaven help me if he learns that accidents can make you die...
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Ancestry.com
Today as I was updating my journal with a Tyoma video, I recalled that Dad's uncle was a Vaudeville performer. Of course, I got to googling to see what I could find out, and whoa, I was surprised. The only Miller in the Vaudeville listings is Emmet miller, a semi-famous musician, know for influencing country music. I couldn't find much more, but apparently he did alot of his performances in blackface. I'm a bit shocked. The Mueller's were abolitionists and it seems incongruent that a generation later we'd have minstrels in the family. Probably not him.
Curious, I signed up for a free trial at ancestry.com. I sucked me in like an immense blackhole. I spent almost my entire day engrossed in searches, trying to piece together my Dad's family. His three uncles were quite brilliant, and one of them had an "eidetic" memory like Tyoma. Of the other two, one married a Native American and disappeared into the mountains (prospector/trapper) never to be heard from again. The third wound up working for the Bureau of Investigation, (what the FBI was before it was FBI). I am very curious to track these men and see what became of them, especially since one of them might have been similar to Dad and Tyoma. We shall see.
Right now the most phenomenal thing I have discovered is the peculiarity of names a century ago. I recall childhood stories told to me by Grandmam, with such lovely sounding names as Pearl, Ruby, Olive, Della, Rose, Lillian and Ivy. I somehow had the impression that these named were unique to our family, but as it turns out, these were just popular names for the time period. Here's a great link for popular names for each year. Be warned, this site is addictive!
Anyway, I was quite surprised to find household after household full of iterations of these familiar names. I was also surprised by the size of the households, it seems that women had children until they burst. Thank God for suffrage, Bless you Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood, Ortho Tri-cyclen. What would I do with seven children? Lordy, what am I going to do with even one during winter break?!
Curious, I signed up for a free trial at ancestry.com. I sucked me in like an immense blackhole. I spent almost my entire day engrossed in searches, trying to piece together my Dad's family. His three uncles were quite brilliant, and one of them had an "eidetic" memory like Tyoma. Of the other two, one married a Native American and disappeared into the mountains (prospector/trapper) never to be heard from again. The third wound up working for the Bureau of Investigation, (what the FBI was before it was FBI). I am very curious to track these men and see what became of them, especially since one of them might have been similar to Dad and Tyoma. We shall see.
Right now the most phenomenal thing I have discovered is the peculiarity of names a century ago. I recall childhood stories told to me by Grandmam, with such lovely sounding names as Pearl, Ruby, Olive, Della, Rose, Lillian and Ivy. I somehow had the impression that these named were unique to our family, but as it turns out, these were just popular names for the time period. Here's a great link for popular names for each year. Be warned, this site is addictive!
Anyway, I was quite surprised to find household after household full of iterations of these familiar names. I was also surprised by the size of the households, it seems that women had children until they burst. Thank God for suffrage, Bless you Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood, Ortho Tri-cyclen. What would I do with seven children? Lordy, what am I going to do with even one during winter break?!
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