It’s amazing what they’re doing with produce these days. While on a summer picnic this week, the Girl and I happened upon a tomato with a convenient handle for easy portability.
The irony is that the Girl doesn’t like tomatoes. No amount of tomato-ey convenience will sway her.
“I’ll like tomatoes when I’m growed up,” says she.
"Jump back, baby, jump back. James Brown is gonna do his thing ..." (photo: Soul Portrait)
I talked about driving home from a special Father’s Day night at the Girl’s school, and randomly singing a bit of James Brown’s “I Got the Feelin’”. Well, that prompted me to introduce the Girl to the essential greatest hits collection (not too many essential greatest hits collections out there, but this is one …) James Brown 20 All-Time Greatest Hits.
She took to it – I mean really took to it. “I’ve Got the Feelin’” was an easy in. But, “Mother Popcorn”, “Give It Up, Turn It Loose”, “Make It Funky”, “The Payback”, “Superbad”, and (my favourite where the Girl is concerned) “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)”, are also favourites. There is nothing quite so magical as the classic call-and-response structure on that last one, where your five year old yells “I’m black and I’m proud!” on cue from her carseat.
I suppose there is something of a cultural anomaly happening with all of that, given that, for all intents and purposes accepting that we’re all from Africa, we’re not actually black. But, I think what she’s picking up on, beyond the primal, celebratory, and intrinsically particpatory nature of funk music in general, is how empowering that message actually is, black or not. It’s joyful.
This has gone beyond simple appreciation for the music, and the constant requests to have it played in the car as we travel (OK by me!). She’s started to write her own James-inspired jams. The most notable of course is her signature “Gonna Get Some!”, which is a little ditty she made up one day, with little more words than that, true to the tradition. It makes me laugh. It is very well observed. I’m waiting for her to call out “Maceo! blow your horn!” halfway through it.
Also, her own crafted response to “Hot Pants” has been to inquire, “What about cold pants?”. Maybe she’ll write another one that is temperature-inclusive.
It completely makes sense that this stuff resonates with her. James Brown’s music is all about groove. It has very accessible lyrical themes. It’s pretty easy to sing along to.
I haven’t quite worked up the nerve to expose her to “Sex Machine”…
We all have our gifts. Spatial relationships and how stuff goes together is not, and never has been, one of mine. As such, jigsaw puzzles and I never really got along.
But, the Girl is different. Her ability with jigsaw puzzles is far removed from my own, even now.
And yes – that’s a unicorn.
She and I do them together. But even now, aged 5, she’s talking me through the process of what goes together where. She says that she needs my help. But, I think she’s just being kind.
We’ve got a 1000 piece one, which she isn’t quite ready for (and I know I’m not!). But, we’ll see.
It’s summertime. And time for that staple ingredient of summer, the timeless wash-on tattoo.
She got this one at a birthday party of a classmate’s. It was in her ‘loot bag’. Remember those?
When she gets older, she may decide to get a real, permanent tattoo. I’m guessing it won’t be Strawberry Shortcake, but I’m hoping it also won’t be a raven carrying a human skull, or something.
And not the face!
My only rule: no tats above the collarbone. You wouldn’t want the judge to see it during a court appearance. And it could bias the jury, too.
Last weekend, The Girl and her karate class were a part of the North Delta Family Day. This was big news for the Dojo, just because it’s free advertising. But, for the Girl it presented that key ingredient to childhood: something to look forward to. The night before, she told me that she couldn’t sleep, because she was so excited that she’d get to walk in the parade.
So, the next morning we hightailed it to the high school on 112th street in North Delta, where the troops were rallied.
And, soon the parade was on!
We marched, a little raggedly, for a few blocks while the crowds looked on in their deck chairs. The parents were invited to march too, I think mostly to serve as cattle drivers.
She was looking forward, I think, to seeing her Mum in the crowd. Once she had, she turned to me: “When is this going to be over?”
Fair enough. It was a long way to walk. But, the kids had fun, including the Girl.
