So last night, the scene upstairs? Cole searching for as much Weird Al as possible on the new iPod. I figured it was okay if he touched it—he’d just had a shower and his hands were free of that awful 9-year-old grit. And then I came downstairs, to see this:
There’s Dan, doing what he affectionately calls his hobby—endless paperwork from his small business of running coffee shops—and yes, he’s using one of the many computers you’ll find at my home (purchased for a steal on eBay) which means he’s a bit techy, himself. However, I also loved that he’d pulled out his old vinyl copy of Paul Simon’s "Graceland" (to the right in the shot) and plopped it onto the rather dusty old turntable to hear this favorite album from his college years.
You should see this guy’s album collection. It’s impressive. And alphabetized. And seeing an album out, after seeing an iPod… well, it felt a bit at odds.
I wanted to post about the contrast between old school and high tech school. I suppose it would have been a lot funnier if Dan were doing his paper work using an abacus.
In any event, there it is. New school and a bit of old school.
Plus, I thought the lighting was great on the shot of Dan. Makes it look like part of my house is just a big, time and space sucking black hole. Which wouldn’t be too far off, actually.
And one more shot to share, which demonstrates our children’s continuing musical education as Dan is seen here, reading Aidan some of his favorite lyrics from the Graceland album.
The musical score card of our lives so far?
Parents: 12 years of highly tasteful and diverse successes
Weird Al: roughly 4 months
Paul Simon: 1 night
Barney: 0
Have a lovely Tuesday.
Dawn H says
so funny! Look how much your daughter looks like your husband in that shot!! Hey enjoyed our phone call on Saturday (I was helping Donna Downey that day) crack me up!! Have a great day!! Dawn H
LoRi Renn says
I can so relate to this post. My boys went through the Weird Al obsession at about the same age as Cole. They even bought the CDs and made me listen to them in the car! Ugh. Oh, and my 3rd boy has no idea who Barney is and I prefer to keep it that way, Amen!
sue Treiber says
My son was introduced to Weird Al via You Tube and his buddy. I hope that’s as far as it goes!
Jacquelin says
Ah, Graceland – I took it with me to Africa and I wore out the tape on my walkman. . . another flash from the past!!! And yeah, gotta say Weird Al is like a a bad cold that just keeps coming around to every generation – anyone remember “Eat it?” what memories, what memories – LOL
Lara says
You guys are so cute. I love that pic of Dan & Aidan.
ashley says
As a music lover, I have a strict no Barney (or other evil children’s music for that matter) policy. Music education is important and if parents aren’t going to teach their children about the classic bands/artists and lay the foundation down correctly, who will?
We don’t want our kids to grow up and listen to top 40! Bah. Bah, I say!
Katie Scott says
when I was pregnant with both of my kids (had them fairly close together) i couldn’t get enough paul simon (sure i listened when i was younger but somehow this was about the only thing i would listen to while i was pregnant) and i played it in the car when they were babies; i had paul simon in my cd player for something like 4 years. me & the kids know all the words by heart & love every song. hey, i think i’ll do a scrapbook page about ps.
Katie Scott says
p.s. we all enjoy a bit of weird al too btw.
sara says
Here’s what I thought… “Aidan will be so happy her brother wasn’t the only one featured in this post…”
Congrats on no Barney… when my 8 year old niece started singing lyrics from Bono I had a whole new respect for my older brother.
Lara says
My husband’s favorite thing to do is go to thrift stores and buy old records. The turntable is in our bedroom and I swear that thing gets more use than the CD Player. As for his iPod? I bought him one, he used it one time and it’s stuffed in a drawer somewhere.
kp says
My 10 year old is going through the Weird Al phase right now too, and to think he was raised on Stevie Ray Vaughn instead of Barney…
Kristin says
I love that – my 3 year old prefers to listen to our music a lot of the time. Especially when we say its our favourite. Her current favourite songs are from Abba and Johnny Cash. Makes it so much easier listening to those songs over and over again!
heidi says
Paul Simon’s “Graceland” is fantastic. I have it on my iPod… so I guess I’ve blended the old and the new 😉
Laura Pineau says
I love that album.
“There were angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity…”
Alejandra says
Hi, i’ve put a link to your blog in mine. i hope you don’t mind.
Alejandra from Spain
Visit me!! (scrapovertherainbow.blogspot.com)
Kate Carpenter says
believe me, your kids will thank you for the proper upbringing one day.
tammyt says
Barney never had a chance in our house either. It’s one of the only things we put our foot down over.
One of our fav’s is the Father & Daughter…lovely.
t
Anam says
i love that score – i am very very proud of the fact that my nearly 5 year old daughter recognizes Foo Fighters songs faster than Barney ones… and i hope to keep the brain washing that way 😉
caroline says
I love Paul Simon! And the timing of this post amuses me. I work at a scrapbook store and after work one day I crossed my legs and got a glimpse of the bottom of my shoe, which had a gemstone stuck in the tread. “Look! I’ve got diamonds in the soles of my shoes!” I said to my man-friend. His response? “Huh? What are you talking about?” Yeah. He somehow missed that part of the 80s.
Paulo says
Cathy, you take such great pictures…how DO you do it? Is it the camera? The lens? The angle? The composition? Or is it that you are just so talented that every click of the shutter button produces magic?
Even the most simple of scenes turn into such a spectacular slice of life. Amazing!
SusanH says
I love albums – the feel of them, the sound! And a friend of mine had an album in her hand when her 9 year old son walked into the room, stopped, stared with his mouth dropped open, and asked “what kind of CD is THAT?!” Kids.
Nancy C. says
Love the comments about Graceland, too. Great album!
I noticed Cole using the Touch without a case…! It must have the Invisible Shield on it or my goodness the scratches. I bought this case for mine and love it:
http://www.senacases.com/Brands/IPOD-TOUCH-CASES/Premium-Stand-Case-for-iPod-Touch
It opens and folds backwards to prop it up to watch movies, etc. You can probably find it cheaper if you do a search.
Just a thought.
Kim says
this scene is so familiar in our house…and we have had some of our best ‘bonding’ nights sharing the music of our misspent youth…love it!
Canay says
I just love the fact that you have an IPOD going on upstairs and vinyl going on downstairs. Makes me wonder where the heck our turntable is?????
Canay says
I just love the fact that you have an IPOD going on upstairs and vinyl going on downstairs. Makes me wonder where the heck our turntable is?????
Canay says
I just love the fact that you have an IPOD going on upstairs and vinyl going on downstairs. Makes me wonder where the heck our turntable is?????
Canay says
I just love the fact that you have an IPOD going on upstairs and vinyl going on downstairs. Makes me wonder where the heck our turntable is?????
Gwen says
Okay, so I’m going for the nuts and bolts: could you post a bit of advice about your experience buying Macs (laptops in particular) on ebay? Would love to add one to our house, but have a budget, and buying computers on ebay is unchartered waters . . .
jenn b says
We are doing our best to give our children an eclectic taste to music as well. We listen to a lot of country, AC/DC (got tickets to the show in Philly!!!), Led Zepplin, classical (my husband plays the classical guitar EVERY NIGHT) and 80’s music too. We listen to new stuff and old stuff and my 4 (almost 5) year old can sing any verse you play for her. It’s amazing! Great job on raising your kids to love music no matter what genre it is!
Megan says
haha! hilarious video of Cole!
Sabrina says
We’re a three-person family. Three iPods, innumerable boom box/CD alarm clock combo thingy’s/One undercounter radio/CD player/two laptops/one iMac/and … one turntable purchased just a few years ago to honor the LPs that we can’t part with. We have to help preserve the earth’s balance, right?!
Tracy says
I just noticed that you have Muse listed under what you’re listening to – very cool! I love Supermassive Black Hole! I had never heard of them until I got my My Chemical Romance tix last year, and they were opening for them, so I checked them out and got hooked as well.