"Mellow geeks"
[email protected]
I had a really busy week last week. SCA business July 13 with the delivery
of the gift cello, trip to Espanola (90 miles) to get my niece so she could
attend every-day art lessons with Holly. Driving people, extra kids, go go
go.
But Monday night a week ago, we went to CiCi's Pizza, Keith, two of my kids
(Kirby was at work) and Gina my sister's daughter.
Gina is the girl in the article about my sister's kids having a school option.
So we're at the pizza place, and in walks Paul McClure. We invited him to
sit with us. Paul is the dad of the family with the late readers, which is
still the featured article at www.unschooling.com (if you go there and click
on library, that will come up).
Paul is an ex marine and a city fire fighter. Paul races bicycles up the
back of the Sandia Mountains (steep; vertical mile). Paul has two teenaged
daughters. They hang around our house quite a bit. I thought, perhaps, as
Paul could kick the butts of our whole family if he took a mind to, that
perhaps I might want to reassure Paul that my boys were kindly souls with
honorable intentions. Or something.
So I was trying to work up to it, saying Renee and Julie had been over a lot
lately, with Kirby and his friends, and...
And he said, "Yeah, I asked Chris (his oldest, 18, not living at home
anymore) what he thought about that, and he said he's hung out with that
bunch, and that he wouldn't worry about them, that they're just a bunch of
mellow geeks."
YES! Paul didn't want to beat my husband and sons up!
Hooray for mellow geekitude.
I thought it was a kind of rarified atmosphere, sitting there with characters
from two currently-in-view essays on kids, freedom and learning. It was a
cool coincidence.
Sandra
of the gift cello, trip to Espanola (90 miles) to get my niece so she could
attend every-day art lessons with Holly. Driving people, extra kids, go go
go.
But Monday night a week ago, we went to CiCi's Pizza, Keith, two of my kids
(Kirby was at work) and Gina my sister's daughter.
Gina is the girl in the article about my sister's kids having a school option.
So we're at the pizza place, and in walks Paul McClure. We invited him to
sit with us. Paul is the dad of the family with the late readers, which is
still the featured article at www.unschooling.com (if you go there and click
on library, that will come up).
Paul is an ex marine and a city fire fighter. Paul races bicycles up the
back of the Sandia Mountains (steep; vertical mile). Paul has two teenaged
daughters. They hang around our house quite a bit. I thought, perhaps, as
Paul could kick the butts of our whole family if he took a mind to, that
perhaps I might want to reassure Paul that my boys were kindly souls with
honorable intentions. Or something.
So I was trying to work up to it, saying Renee and Julie had been over a lot
lately, with Kirby and his friends, and...
And he said, "Yeah, I asked Chris (his oldest, 18, not living at home
anymore) what he thought about that, and he said he's hung out with that
bunch, and that he wouldn't worry about them, that they're just a bunch of
mellow geeks."
YES! Paul didn't want to beat my husband and sons up!
Hooray for mellow geekitude.
I thought it was a kind of rarified atmosphere, sitting there with characters
from two currently-in-view essays on kids, freedom and learning. It was a
cool coincidence.
Sandra
Tia Leschke
>I had a really busy week last week. SCA business July 13 with the deliveryGift cello? Do you play?
>of the gift cello,
Tia
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt
*********************************************
Tia Leschke
leschke@...
On Vancouver Island
[email protected]
In a message dated 7/23/02 12:25:30 PM, leschke@... writes:
<< Gift cello? Do you play? >>
No, I play recorder and guitar. Keyboard less proficiently. (I'm going to
do a pump-organ accompaniment for one of the cello pieces.)
But our friend Mike who rents our old house (who as Bohemond was Gunwaldt's
squire) had his cello stolen four or five years ago, and hadn't gotten
another one. He was being made a Master of the Laurel (the big SCA arts
award, like an order of knighthood for artisans; he's already a knight), and
so a bunch of us went together to buy him a cello as a surprise, and so we
can get some live music going together again. We used to have two cellists
and a bass recorder player and in the past few years they've moved, wandered
away, etc. So with Mike getting this cello together (it needed new strings,
and he bought a mute for duets so he won't drown out a single "opponent"
<g>), we're playing again! I was over there last week going through pieces
he had practiced (me on recorder) and helping pick some others. It's cool!
Kirby said he wants to learn recorder too. So I showed him a three-note
harmony for a really pretty medieval piece called "Edi Beo," which HAS to
have that harmony, but it's simple. We've done it with one vocalist (it's in
Middle English and my friend Barb, Holly's godmother, knows three verses by
memory in Middle English!) and three tuned water goblets. That's some fun
impromptu music! <g>
So...
We gave him a cello bought on e-bay. A new student model made in China. Not
the cello of his dreams, but not the cheapest one on earth either. Not even
the second cheapest. <g> (Third cheapest, maybe.) It came with a hard case
and soft case. I got him a stand for it, a tuning fork, resin, a Dampit
(humidifier) and some music.
It was fun being the purchasing agent for our little company.
And he got a piece of calligraphy with the names of the contributors. Our
friend Maria did that. I'll attach it. Don't download it if you're already
bored<g> I'm AElflaed. We put the names in order of length, shortest to
longest, just for a randomish way to do it.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
<< Gift cello? Do you play? >>
No, I play recorder and guitar. Keyboard less proficiently. (I'm going to
do a pump-organ accompaniment for one of the cello pieces.)
But our friend Mike who rents our old house (who as Bohemond was Gunwaldt's
squire) had his cello stolen four or five years ago, and hadn't gotten
another one. He was being made a Master of the Laurel (the big SCA arts
award, like an order of knighthood for artisans; he's already a knight), and
so a bunch of us went together to buy him a cello as a surprise, and so we
can get some live music going together again. We used to have two cellists
and a bass recorder player and in the past few years they've moved, wandered
away, etc. So with Mike getting this cello together (it needed new strings,
and he bought a mute for duets so he won't drown out a single "opponent"
<g>), we're playing again! I was over there last week going through pieces
he had practiced (me on recorder) and helping pick some others. It's cool!
Kirby said he wants to learn recorder too. So I showed him a three-note
harmony for a really pretty medieval piece called "Edi Beo," which HAS to
have that harmony, but it's simple. We've done it with one vocalist (it's in
Middle English and my friend Barb, Holly's godmother, knows three verses by
memory in Middle English!) and three tuned water goblets. That's some fun
impromptu music! <g>
So...
We gave him a cello bought on e-bay. A new student model made in China. Not
the cello of his dreams, but not the cheapest one on earth either. Not even
the second cheapest. <g> (Third cheapest, maybe.) It came with a hard case
and soft case. I got him a stand for it, a tuning fork, resin, a Dampit
(humidifier) and some music.
It was fun being the purchasing agent for our little company.
And he got a piece of calligraphy with the names of the contributors. Our
friend Maria did that. I'll attach it. Don't download it if you're already
bored<g> I'm AElflaed. We put the names in order of length, shortest to
longest, just for a randomish way to do it.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]