by turns

On Music and Bad Influences

I just got a hold of the new album by Ida, called Lovers Prayers, and I've pretty much been listening to it non-stop ever since. It's just so...beautiful. I realized there's not too many albums that I think of as beautiful. Some of the new songs on In Rainbows by Radiohead are really beautiful, and I was thinking about Come on Feel the Illinoise by Sufjan Stevens, but I think most of the songs on that album are more transcendent, even sublime (yeah, I really dig what he did on that album), but nothing else comes to mind in terms of recent stuff. Definitely worth a listen. Check this out for a short interview and an amazing in studio song with their daughter on an NPR show.

In school news-- I knew it would happen sooner or later. Amia came up to me and asked if I wanted to hear a joke. I said sure. "Okay! Why did the chicken go on the road...Because he had to wipe his butt!" If you and I are ever on the phone or otherwise together somehow you have to hear this joke first hand, not just for the delicious non-sequitur nature of the joke, not even for it's all-in-one-breath delivery, but mostly for the unbridled joy and giddiness behind the telling. It's really quite something.

I Wish I'd Known That

I just figured out that red food dye, such as is found in Twizzlers (also known as The Red Temptress in...well, mostly in my head), makes Amia and I irritable and prone to freak outs. If I'd known that before I could have saved us both a brief but intense couple minutes before bed tonight. Oi.

Amia's Sites

Amia, fulfilling her tradition of tech savvy begun when she took her first steps towards our Apple laptop (not exactly what I imagined when I pictured her first steps), has really taken to a new website.

She was really grooving on the Ready Set Learn site for a while. Those are some of the first puzzles she ever did. Something about the colors and movement I think, because she did those matching games and puzzles before she wanted to do them in real life. We've noticed that she's very visually oriented and is really drawn to bright colors and interesting patterns.

Yesterday I found this site listed in the current issue of Newsweek and it's really really great so far. It's called Poisson Rouge and is designed specifically for kids. What does that mean? It means it gives free rein for them to explore. There's no introductory text telling them what to do. It has an easily navigable layout with over 200 games and puzzles which they're currently adding to. Amia LOVES it. I think she understands it better than I do! The games are challenging but in a fun way and her fine motor skills are really coming along as she learns to finesse the mouse. AND there's no ads! These two sites are the ones we feel most comfortable with because the pages are simple and calm.

Any sites that you particularly like for the childrens?