Poet in the making

Scene: Overworked Spouse enters to see Wild Thing staring blankly out the window.

OS: What are you doing, Wild Thing?

WT: I'm just watching the clouds rolling along.

(Isn't that a John Lennon song?)

The Weather Outside

Not so frightful, but it is very snowy. Wild Thing was a very happy lad this morning.

(Sorry for the blurry photo. Anonymity, you know.)

Friday Random Ten: Late Night Minimalist Edition

1. Somebody to Love--Jefferson Airplane.
2. Tribulations--Estil C. Ball.
3. Shine on Sweet Jesus--The Flaming Lips.
4. Flamenco Sketches--Miles Davis. My, that's a jarring transition.
5. What Were the Chances--Damien Jurado
6. Billie's Bounce--Charlie Parker
7. It Ain't Necessarily So--Miles Davis.
8. Moor Ndaje--Youssou N'Dour
9. Remember--Bill Frisell
10. Up on Cripple Creek--The Band. And the circle is complete.

Difficult-to-explain behaviors, part xicmxii

Yesterday, Wild Thing walked into the living room, holding his head at a very strange angle, as though he were having a terrible neck spasm.

Me: "What are you doing, WT?"

WT: "I'm a head-shoulder guy!" (cackles)

My initial guess--that Head-Shoulder Guy would appear as a minor villain in the next Spider Man film--has proven unfounded, so I remain baffled.

More annoying notes on reading skills

Wild Thing, when asked in the car how to spell "November" (we have to keep him busy somehow, after all) managed to come up with

N - O - V - E - B - R

I assumed this meant that Overworked Spouse had been coaching him on this one, but she says not. This means that if trends continue, WT will be a better speller than I am before he hits kindergarten.

Observation

Even in a smaller city, there's still something a little embarrassing about sitting in a nice, quiet, darkened restaurant with a pantless preschooler.

Discerning why sitting next to such a preschooler might on occasion be preferred to the alternatives is left as an exercise for the reader.

Friday Random Ten: Can't Buy a Theme Edition

1. This Time the Dream's On Me--Ella Fitzgerald
2. Perfect World--Liz Phair
3. Gone, Gone, Gone--Miles Davis
4. Whatever Happened to You?--The Mendoza Line
5. Ariskanning Duu-Ol Bahrinda--Igor Koshkendey
6. El Payande--Lhasa de Sela
7. The Only One--My Dad is Dead
8. Obscured by Clouds--Pink Floyd
9. Danny Boy--Johnny Cash
10. Roscoe--Bill Frisell

Reading skills update

Scene: Tonight, at the mall, headed for Kohl's.

Wild Thing: What does that spell? K-O-H-L-S.

Overworked Spouse: That spells "Kohl's."

WT: What's the H for, then?

At least we have our priorities straight

In the Columbus, Ohio-area, elections officials are delaying the count of more than 9,000 provisional ballots by one day so it doesn't disrupt the much-vaunted Ohio State-Michigan football game on Nov. 18.

We here at Partial View Inc. will shortly return to our regularly-scheduled Wild Thing programming.

A note on Phill Kline

The commenter who shall remain known only as "my mom" points me to the Interfaith Alliance's press release on Phill Kline. I link to it here as a reminder that most religious leaders are not all that attracted to creepy megalomaniacs.

Friday Random Ten: Autumn is Definitely Here Edition

1. "Come On, Israel"--Belleville A Cappella Choir, Southern Journey Volume 11 (Alan Lomax, ed.).
2. "Criss-Cross"--Thelonius Monk, The Composer.
3. "Matchbox"--Carl Perkins, Best of Sun Records Vol. I. Another shout-out to my colleague AW.
4. "Blues in the South"--Louis Armstrong, Blues for Yesterday.
5. "Joe Friday"--Alvin Youngblood Hart, Big Mama's Door. I don't know how Jack Webb would feel about this one.
6. If You Don't I Know Who Will"--Bessie Smith, Complete Recordings Volume I.
7. "Miss Monaghan / Maggie On the Shore (Reels)"--Matt Molloy & Arty McGlynn, Music at Matt Malloy's.
8. "People Will Say We're in Love"--Ray Charles and Betty Carter, Ray Charles and Betty Carter. Wow, that's smooth.
9. "The End"--The Doors, Best of. I love the hypnotic guitar work, but who has time to listen to 11 minutes of Jim Morrison rambling?
10. "A Song For"--Townes Van Zandt, No Deeper Blue.

And #11, because it comports with today's bluesy theme:

"In the Hidden Places"--The Mountain Goats, Get Lonely.

It's a good night

Any night in which Kansas elects a Democrat to national office is a good night.

Oh, and dumping Phill Kline? That just makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.

On (not) winding down

I'm starting to realize that, for whatever reason, Wild Thing does not find it restful to lie down in a quiet room with nobody around. Rather, it seems to remove whatever ordinary distractions there are that might impede his tendency to free associate, role play, etc. He seems to actively enjoy the act of sitting in his bed singing, inventing strange little dialogs, and generally yammering on. He must be enjoying it, or he'd just get bored and go to sleep, wouldn't he? My conclusion is that he just has a lot of stuff floating around in his head all the time, and that he needs some time to discharge this at night or at naptime.

Edible

Me: "Wild Thing, you are one sharp cookie."
WT: "Well eat me, then, Daddy!" (cackles)

Pretty quick wit on that boy.

Friday Random Ten: Lithuanians and Lats Edition

1. "Let's Fall in Love"--Ella FItzgerald.
2. "Work On the Railroad"--Trailer Bride. My good friend Ancrene Wiseass put me on to this band more years ago than I like to think about.
3. "Wi' Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Me Beget"--Magnetic Fields. A thousand thanks to my blogless friend who introduced me to Stephin Merritt.
4. "Lonelyland"--Trentalange.
5. "Dofana"--Ali Farka Toure.
6. "Holy Ground"--The Clancy Brothers. Hmm. Not quite what I'm in the mood for at the moment.
7. "A Glow"--Okkervil River.
8. "Beeville by Morning"--Michael Hall.
9. "Birdhouse in Your Soul"--They Might Be Giants.
10. "Jail-House Blues"--Bessie Smith.

Halloween Report

As some of you may be aware, we have a very stubborn little boy on our hands here.

Case in point: the Halloween costume. For several days before the holiday, he asked about the costume--a pullover toucan, though we called it a parrot, just to keep it simple--with some regularity, even agreeing to try it on. But as we prepared to get out of the car in the designated neighborhood for trick-or-treating, Wild Thing suddenly wasn't so wild about the costume anymore:

"I don't want to wear that. NO!"

So we walked across the street to the neighborhood bookstore to negotiate. I assumed that his resistance would end once we explained to him that no one was going to give him any candy unless he put on a costume. That assumption was incorrect. He refused to even say so much as "trick or treat" to the nice high school student who was handing out candy at the bookstore. He did, however, flash her his winningest smile and began wrapping her around his little finger, for which he was rewarded not only with candy but with a job offer of sorts. Soon he was handing out candy to other (costumed) preschoolers.

So, he never did put on the costume. We stayed in the bookstore for about an hour, watching as costumes wandered by and as Wild Thing occasionally mooched candy from other preschoolers.

Watch this space to see if Wild Thing agrees to taste the cranberry sauce later this month. My bet is no...

Songsmith

Song heard coming from Wild Thing's bedroom at 5:53 this morning.

I'm Not Sleepy
(sung to the tune of Frere Jacques)

I'm not sleepy,
I'm not sleepy,
No I'm not!
No I'm not!