Random Thinking

I haven’t been keeping my blog up to date so here is a little ancient history. Mikey was off to camp in upstate NY the week that I took Beth and her friends to MOMA. The nurse at the camp was worried about him and called us because poor Mikey had some kind of swelling around his eye. She sent us a picture and as you can see he looked like he was having a good time even with the swelling. We decided that it looked like a bug bite and since it wasn’t bothering him the nurse said she would just keep her eye on it. Mikey had a great time at camp. They went swimming and played on the golf carts and just generally had a lot of fun. We are hoping that next year that they will let Mikey go on the two week session.

When Mikey came home he was exhausted. He collapsed on the couch as soon as we got him in the house. When he is away, it reminds us how much we miss him. The counselors who took care of the little guy signed a little card for him. Some of the counselors are British and one of them described Mikey as being “cheeky”! I love that. Another young man from England said he is hoping Beth will be a counselor next year! Yikes!!!

Life just flows along so I’m a little late but here is the song of the week from my iPod.

Feist is the name used by Canadian singer-songwriter, Leslie Feist. Born in Nova Scotia, Feist spent most of her time growing up in Saskatchewan and Alberta after her parents divorced. Feist was one of the 1000 dancers who performed during the opening ceremonies of the Calgary Olympic Games in 1988. Feist has been in various groups since she was 15 in 1991. Her solo career began in 1999 but it was 2008 that was her huge year. At the 2008 Juno Awards in Calgary, she was the top winner with five awards, including Songwriter of the Year, Artist of the Year, Pop Album of the Year, Album of the Year, and Single of the Year.

The album The Reminder, her third solo album, has been hugely successful. The song “1234″ which she co-wrote with Sally Seltmann of New Buffalo was a huge surprise hit based solely on downloads. The song was used in a commercial for the iPod Nano which caused it to crush the charts reaching #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 on the UK charts. Time magazine named “1234″ one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #2. Writer Josh Tyrangiel called the song a “masterpiece,” praising Feist for singing it “with a mixture of wisdom and exuberance that’s all her own.” Feist performed “1234″ on Sesame Street. She said working with the Muppets was a career highlight.

1234
One, two, three, four
Tell me that you love me more
Sleepless long nights
That is what my youth was for

Old teenage hopes are alive at your door
Left you with nothing but they want some more

Oh, you’re changing your heart
Oh, You know who you are

Sweetheart bitterheart now I can’t tell you apart
Cosy and cold, put the horse before the cart

Those teenage hopes who have tears in their eyes
Too scared to own up to one little lie

Oh, you’re changing your heart
Oh, you know who you are

One, two, three, four, five, six, nine, or ten
Money can’t buy you back the love that you had then
One, two, three, four, five, six, nine, or ten
Money can’t buy you back the love that you had then

Oh, you’re changing your heart
Oh, you know who you are
Oh, you’re changing your heart
Oh, you know who you are
Oh, who you are

For the teenage boys
They’re breaking your heart
For the teenage boys
They’re breaking your heart

I was off from work last week so I finally kept the promise I made to Beth and her friend Irene. A few months ago when I took them to the Museum of Modern Art, the most famous painting in the museum, Van Gogh’s Starry Night, was on loan. I promised them that I would take them back to see it. This time we also brought Beth’s friend Alex.

We spent a lot of time in the museum and saw a lot of cool things (and odd things too). We went into one room and noticed what look like some kind of black marker all over the wall. It turned out that the entire room itself was the art! The artist was in the room and he was drawing a line at each person’s height and then writing their name. Only Irene would do it though. You can see in the picture that it looks like just a blob of black but it really is the names of lots of people.

We had a lot of fun and Beth only got in trouble twice. Once was for standing too close to a Jackson Pollack painting (you must stay two feet away!!!) but I forget what the other one was for. Perhaps Beth can remind us in the comments. MOMA really is an amazing museum with a very diverse range of art. There are things that make you wonder, “Is that really art?” and there are things that leave you almost breathless. I have said before that you can’t judge art until you actually see it in real life. Looking at a painting in a book just can’t replace seeing it in real life.