Kianna woke up yesterday morning and told me about her dream and how I was in it. Apparently, she was playing in her room with her cousins and then at one point I jumped in the doorway and said, "Boo!!!". They all were startled of course. She then went on to talk about what I was wearing and I began asking more and more questions about her dream. At one point she said, "You know, you were there!". I realized that she actually thought I was in her dream and so I should remember it just as clearly as she did.
When I was a kid I never thought that my dreams were real. Well, there was just one time when I woke up after having received an entire toy store for my birthday. I thought I really had all those toys for about 5 seconds before I realized it was just a dream.
I must admit, that the thought crossed my mind that wouldn't it be interesting if Kianna was right and I was wrong about this? Perhaps children know things that we forget as we grow older and people tell us how "silly" some things are. It's something to ponder.
In March of 2005 I received an email from a member of Refuse Boy, a small group from Edinburgh, Scotland who play energetic rock music. He was very interested in using one of my digital images for the band's upcoming EP cover art. He told me that my image, Enchanted Forest, would suit their needs nicely. I was quite happy to grant him permission to do so on one condition; that the band send me a complimentary copy of the album once it was released.
I must admit, I wasn't too sure anything would come of this. But in September I got a package in the mail containing the CD! It featured cover art from me now just how cool is that? Props to Refuse Boy!
There weren't any online samples of their music so I was very curious about how it squared with my personal taste. I speculated the music style was going to be harsh metal and/or punk. I was quite pleasantly surprised after my first listen, and I very much liked the sound. I'm no music reviewer, and it's difficult for me to describe the style in words. I realize that labelling music has its down side, but it is helpful when trying to describe it to others who haven't heard it. I asked my friend beaner his opinion on how he would label the style. He thought it fit the "Math Rock" description rather well and cited allmusic.com's description:
Math Rock is a relation to post-rock, a better known indie-rock style that shares similar aesthetics. Where post-rock has distinct jazz influences, math rock is the opposite side of the same coin -- it's dense and complex, filled with difficult time signatures and intertwining phrases. Also, the style is a little more rockist than post-rock, since it's usually played by small, guitar-led bands. Math rock peaked in the mid-'90s, when groups like Polvo and Chavez had small, dedicated followings among indie rockers on collegiate campuses.
Refuse Boy's MySpace URL is listed under the "Rock / Alernative / Grunge" section.
But I think one of the best descriptions I've seen has to go to Baby Tiger Music's:
Nifty punk rockers with a penchant for anthropomorphic porcine arborealists (Try saying that after a few ales).
But however reviewers choose to label this music, I am certain of its quality and am sure Refuse Boy is going to do very well. Now I'm asking myself when we'll hear more from them!
Wella reported to me one day that Kianna had used the word "stupid". I was a little concerned about the context of the usage. I explained that I had no problem with her using the word as long as it was appropriate. For instance, calling one of her cousins or friends "stupid" would definitely be a problem. Wella agreed we would keep an eye on this.
We have decided to make Thursdays our family days. So we all drive to my work together to drop me off. Then Wella and Kianna come back later, pick me up, and then we go to the beach to play and watch the sunset.
A couple of weeks ago on the way into work I decided to play a little game with Kianna. Everytime she spoke to Wella I answered and everytime she wanted to speak with me Wella answered. This went on for most of our ride in and Kianna was getting all frustrated about it. Wella and I were having a fun time with this.
Just as we were about to reach my work on this Thursday morning, Kianna finally said, "OK OK OKaaayeee fine. You can be mommy, daddy, and mommy can be daddy... but that's just really studid!". Wella and I nearly died laughing and I realized that was about as appropriate of a usage of the word stupid as I could have come up with.
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