Busy Few Weeks

The past few weeks have been really crazy and I can't believe that it's nearing the end of June!  We've celebrated both Father's Day and my dad's 50th birthday in the past few weeks and had a lot of fun.  His birthday party was a success and I'm sure everyone had a great time.  We had a big water fight after dinner and I was completely drenched.  Alex had a blast, but he still likes to get everyone else wet, yet keep himself as dry as possible.  Presley, who has been afraid of any body of water, including a bath, suddenly LOVES water.  He had little tennis shoes on and the water was gushing out of them with every step.  He had so much fun.  It was definitely the best day of the summer so far.

I've been busy making barrettes for the Bazaar and I'm also working on an RA Alphabet Book.  I've finished like 5 books in the past couple of weeks, but I'm still reading Girls Like Us.  It's a pretty long and intense text about some of the 70's greatest female artists.  I really didn't think I learned anything in Theory until I started reading this book.  I'm realizing just how important these techniques are.  I'm really interested in reading more about the Cinderella Complex that is discussed frequently about women of this era.  As much as I love Carly Simon, I thought I knew quite a bit about her life, but I was wrong.  Her life is so intriguing -- the challenges that she has faced, from being absolutely terrified of speaking in public, to dealing with an addict as a husband, and being both a celebrity and a mother.  At one point in the text it says, "When a newborn girl was given the name Carly -- virtually unheard of before 1971 -- it was usually the mother who had chosen it.  Women looked at her and said: 'Oh, you can be gorgeous and smart and educated . . . and be a rockstar."  I loved the name before, but now, now I really want to name my daughter a name with that connotation.  

For the first 400 pages of the book, I complained about how much of the book is dedicated to Joni Mitchell.  As a  Carly and Carole fan, I found Joni's life less interesting.  I had never really been interested in her music, but I decided that maybe I'd give it a chance.  And, I was wrong, again-- I LOVE Joni Mitchell!   It's not necessarily her music that is so interesting to me, or even her voice-- but her lyrics are absolutely beautiful.  My two favorite songs now are probably "Circle Game" and "Both Sides Now."  They are so melancholy and beautiful.  I also must say that Alanis Morrisette's new CD Flavors of Entanglement is excellent.  Check out "Underneath" and "Not as We."