I just want to give a cold, metallic welcome to the robots who’ve taken up residence in this entry of my LJ. May you feel my gratitude in all the diodes down your left side.
Sesame Street Alphabet
A while ago I got Riley this Sesame Street alphabet album. It’s essentially the same as a vinyl LP that I had at his age, except with a token Elmo song tacked onto the beginning so they could justify putting him on the new cover art. My LP had a couple of nasty scratches in it too. But it was one of several Sesame Street albums that I pumped into my ears as often as the parents would let me for a few years.
I’ve loved hearing it again (skipping right over Elmo, hehe). The familiar songs feel mostly the same, but also my perspective is obviously a bit different now. As a kid I wasn’t yet able to really appreciate how well done the songs are, plus they were so effective in drawing me in that I wouldn’t have really analyzed them anyway. But a couple of them are pretty complex musically, and of course the whole thing is sprinkled with humor that is too advanced for toddlers. You get the feeling that Jim Henson and company were trying to keep themselves entertained along with the kids. That’s exactly what I like about TMBG’s kids music too, of course. Riley seems to like these as much as I did/do.
But thinking about the Muppets, I also realized how much it says about their relationship that Ernie has articulated hands, while Bert has articulated eyebrows instead. They’re basically doomed by phenotype into their roles in the actor/reactor dichotomy. (I’m a Bert by that measure. And by several others, I think.)
The Keys to Key’s
Our friend Kelly is generously sharing her home with us this summer. I felt this deserved its own post; it’s pretty heroic of her. She’s got two extra rooms, and often rents one of them out anyway, but Riley’s personal physical dimensions belie his awesome Presence (to say nothing of his many accoutrements). The same goes for our dog Winnie. And then we’ll have a newborn in the house too, for the last month of our stay or more. I tried to warn her, I really did. But there’s no way she could really comprehend what she was getting into. So here’s to “Aunt Key”!
She’s like the sister my wife never had. Riley adores her, which is terriffic. In fact I don’t think it would’ve worked if he didn’t. We’ve felt right at home here from the get-go. We’re trying to think of some suitable way to repay her for this.
Emptying the old house felt like it took a long time, especially because we did it in stages. But the very end is always the hardest, and we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Laura’s mom and stepdad. They did basically everything once they arrived, while I was dealing with Riley. Then they drove all of our stuff to Knoxville, where they’ve been unpacking and setting up some essentials for us. Transcendental thanks to you both!
Closing Remarks
The sale of our house is supposed to close today. There’s been some last-minute drama — because really, what better time? 😛 — and so it might not go through. Basically the buyers want to request additional repairs here on the 1-yard line, and although there are provisions in the contract to prevent such a thing, the whole deal could still go south. Cross your fingers.
—
Hey, it worked already! As I was typing, the buyers counter-counteroffered to settle the discrepancy in the repair agreement for five Benjamins, which we’ll accept. Apparently there were actually a couple of requested repairs that went undone after all. As we suspected, it’s too late for them to add new repairs, though.
One single thank to our real estate agent, Linda Boucher, who did the absolute minimum for us once she got us under an airtight contract. Thank you for your adequacy! I’ll be telling all of my friends.
I’ve got a lot of good memories in that house. The best years of my life, so far. But I know I’ve got lots more good memories ahead of me too. It’s amazing how different the house sounds with no furniture in it.
So this also means no BryceLand Wild Plum Festival this year. It’s just as well; we still have a bunch of jam from last year. We just don’t go through it very fast.
A Few TMBG Things
I just started the syndicated account
In a local coffeehouse the other day, I saw a little bookshelf had a sign that said “Free books! Feel free to take these, and bring in any you don’t need.” Glancing through the books, I found to my astonishment a copy of McSweeney’s Issue 6! Naturally I snagged it. Tragically warped in some liquid accident, but the CD is intact. Actually it reminded me of
Now I need to find something to leave at the coffeehouse to restore my karmic balance. Most of my books have been shipped off to Tennessee already, but maybe I can find something here that’d do it.
I’ve been meaning to post about The Else too, but I’m still going through the new album digestion process. I’m a little too in love with it right now, and it’s unclear how much of that is the novelty factor.