Dec. 31

to the lobby, because I remember that in the lobby there is a Rist piece called, "nothing", a machine which, every ten minutes, blows bubbles full of smoke into the lobby. So we wait around, for "nothing," and when it comes, wrapped in a luminescent bubble we all just watch in wonder, an event! Nice one, Pippilota. 

We decided to go to Children's Museum of the Arts instead. We walk up Spring Street. Soho is one of the best places in the world to window shop. We saw a display at Papyrus of dozens of incredible wooden music boxes spinning around on a display. We watched tehm for 15 monutes.  

Stop to get tea at T2. Free samples. The new museum is too full so we there is a long line. So we just go into the lobby and look at the machine called nothing. 

We leave and pass a toy store papyrus, look at the music box mobile's for 15 minutes.

Pass a bath store and all the girls get rocksalt rocksalt skin treatment to make their skin soft.

Snow angel

Snow angel made with fairy dust follows child and saves her

Where are me?

Lucia says: 

Where are me?

Becomes family lore

Master

Maze

The way my brain works, like a maze. Sofia showed me this maze she got from a birthday party gift bag. Look Dad, there's a giraffe and an alligator on this maze." I asked, "Why do you think they put a giraffe and an alligator on a maze?" "I don't know." "Maybe because the question that leads to the center of the maze is: would you rather be a kind giraffe, the animal with the largest heart of any land mammal? Or the cold-hearted alligator, laying in wait for his prey, the giraffe?" Sofia said, "That's a tough one." I said, "Yes, it is, a tough question that in some form or another you will be asking for the rest of your life. I think the answer, at the center of the maze, is to be a giraffe that stays as far away from the river as is giraffely possible." "But you what if you have to get a drink of water?" "Then try to find a secret source for water, like a rain barrel."

today unfinished.

TODAY UNFINISHED

Field trip this morning to see a play wherein
Tobias Turkey learns the value of determination.
To get fat.

Then lean again.

Lean in.

Line out.

On the bus a conversation with a Muslim
about the new Pres. Elect's idea of deporting three million
immigrants. He was all for it. Because it was only
to be the criminal element that were sent.

Vent.

Then he talked about how
Islam, Judaism and Christianity all came from Abraham.
That we are all one religion with three books.

Crooks.

I remembered the song:

Father Abraham had many sons
Many sons had father Abraham

I am one of them and so are you
So let's just praise the lord.

Right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg
turn around, sit down.

Lord.

That song's subversive
Because the subtext is that
we all come from the same place
have the same origin
which, no matter what you believe
is very likely true
and therefore let's just praise
the origin of said origin.

And praise basically means dance.

Encouraging.

This got me thinking about all the other children's songs.

Row row row your boat (do your work)
merrily merrily merrily merrily, (do it with joy)
life is but a dream (but no need to take it so seriously)

And I once wrote a whole essay on Do Re Mi.

See me after class.

Ack, I'm not in teacher mode am I?

Sorry. Still.

After the field trip, the park.

Chatting up an au pair.

Ugh, did I just say chatting up?

Was I doing that? Tell me I wasn't.

I was just having a conversation!

Wasn't I?

Paola. From Spain.

Where they pronounce it Powla.

I said her name packed a pow.

I told her about my daughter Lucia,

the way I prounounce her name with an S sound.

But her mother pronounces with a ch.

Lucia means light, so onomatopoically "s"

is lighter, and therefore more transparent to light

Ch is like film on the window pain.

But it gives the name strength too, hardness

so I still find it beautiful either way.

Paola pronouced Lucia's name with a soft th.

And that was somewhere in between.

And in her lips sublime.

I wanted to tell her the whole story of Analucia

the way I'm about to tell you now

you lucky so and so

hearing the best story I know

Analucia comes out of Andalucia

Because my friend had a dream he was King there

this beautiful place, something about the art, but what?

I was drawn to Andalucia, and so the name arose for my daughter.

But, alas, when she was born, my mother said

"Please don't call her Andalucia!"

Why mama? Why?

"Because my friend dreamed

(her friend dreamed?)

that an evil spirit inhabited Andalucia."

Mom, what? That's absurd.f
We're talking about a whole region.

And she said, "Nevertheless."

And I was pissed.

Yes, this whole region a mess,
infidels on both sides, two thousand years
of distress over beliefs, from one father
to two tribes, coming together and then
killing each other en masse,

Inquisition style.

Inquisitive much y'all?

So yes, there's an evil spirit, of sorts, mom.

It's called murder in the name of belief.

I grew up with it.

With the idea that I'd be as good as dead

to you if I didn't believe as you did.

That sounds dramatic,
but I ratchet it up to make a point
because there was a heavy sense
that you would mourn my loss;

that if I wasn't a child of Christ
didn't share your beliefs
that I was banished from your heaven.

I think that's why I yelled so hard at you
on the phone the next day
for putting your evil spirit hex
on the chosen name of my daughter.

One day old. We still hadn't named her yet by then.

Tired of my ranting you said shouted back at me,
"What do you want to do?"

And I practically screamed,

"I want you to love Muslims!"

Meaning I want you to love me.

And anyone else who believes differently.

I want you to love, which doesn't mean pity,

but merely accept, like the basic animal

you are, like any barnyard cow or pig

accepts their own unconditionally,

without original sin, or any sin,

with only love.

Can you even do that?

I'm wondering now.

Or do your beliefs get in the way?

That's the question, the meditation

the "prayer," if you will.

So here's what happened with the name.

I did a little research and get this.

The southern part of spain, Andalucia
 was originally called Vandalusia,
Arabic for "land of the Vandals,"
named by the conquering Muslim Moors
200 years after an earlier captor of the region
 the Vandals, conquered the area in 100AD.

The Vandals were cruel brutes,
 thus the current meaning of the word vandal.

So imagine the implicit insult of one ruthless invading overlords
calling a people by the name of the last ruthless invading overlords.

But then something happens, something conciliatory, over time.

Something I discovered in the very process of naming my child.

Something remarkable.

Eventually la lengua drops V from Vandalusia,

softening the violence of that hard vee sound

and opening the word up to it's vowel, it's air,

the ahhhh sound. Ahhndalusia.

This happened from within
seemingly from the unconscious will of the people.

And then there was another evolutionary mutation
to the name. It began, rather recently too,
to be known as Andalucia.

The latin "lucia" (light) instead of the arabic "lusia" (land.)

Light over land.

(Sounds like some kind of Robert Smithson piece.)

Light over land.

Which is shorthand here for love over possession.

So now that you have "lucia" for "light,"

then "Anda" takes on the meaning of the verb "andar."

The name now contains the sentence, "You, walk light."

This is where the words stemming from the heart

takes us. The language of the heart

softens (like the French and Italians,

with their love of vowels,) goes

from the ooze of "Lusia," of land,

to the clear ssss of "Lucia," light.

That's what the word itself does over time,

it walks into light.  Walks

from Vandalusia to Andalucia.


So, you go with it, with the word,

and the whole country does too,

because now she blends what is beautiful

in both the Muslim and Christian world

into something rich beyond compare.


And so we named our daughter Analucia Grace,

(took out the "d", which softens the word even more)

and named her what she is; walking light,

a daughter of Abraham and Sarah,

and the reconciliation of the sons,

from infidels to idylls,

the flesh made word.


If not too prosaic, after that
here's how I ended the night:

There was a cross school G&T seat fight
at the CEC tonight about the DOE,
A101 was the ruling, local school politics,
3 hours worth of sound and fury. Right?

And then I finally ended up, exhausted, brain dead
around a fire pit with some neighborhood dads
drinking Aperol and lemonade
and arguing about politics.

TODAY UNFINISHED

Fieldtrip this morning with Lucia to see a play wherein
Tobias Turkey learns the value of determination.

To get fat.

Then lean again!

Lean in.

On the bus a conversation with a Muslim dad
about the Pres. Elect's desire to deport three million
immigrants. He was all for it. Because he thinks
it will only be the criminal element that are sent.

Then he talked about how
Islam, Judaism and Christianity all came from Abraham.
That we are all one religion with three books.

I remembered this song from church:

"Father Abraham had many sons
Many sons had father Abraham

I am one of them and so are you
So let's just praise the lord.

Right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg
turn around, sit down."

That song's subversive for a church song
Because the subtext is that
we all come from the same place
have the same origin
and therefore let's just praise
the origin of said origin...
Wherein praise basically means dance.

Encouraging.

This got me thinking about all the other children's songs.

Row row row your boat (do your work)
merrily merrily merrily merrily, (do it with joy)
life is but a dream (but no need to take it so seriously)

And I once wrote a whole essay on Do Re Mi.

See me after class.

Ack, I'm not in teacher mode am I?

Sorry. Still.

After the field trip, the park.

Talking with Lucia's friend Ada's au pair.

Paola. From Spain, 
where they pronounce it, Powla.

I said her name packed a pow.

I told her about my daughter Lucia's name,

the way I pronounce her name with an S sound,

but her mother pronounces with a "ch."

Lucia means light, so onomatopoetically,
 "ess" is lighter, and therefore more transparent to light
whereas the "ch" sound is like a film on the window pain.

But "ch" gives the name strength too, toughness,
so I still find it beautiful either way.

Paola pronounced Lucia's name with a soft th,
and that was somewhere in between.

I told her the story of Lucia's name
just like I'm about to tell you now

Lucia's full first name is Analucia.

"Analucia" comes out of "Andalucia"
because my friend had a dream he was the king
of this beautiful place, something about the art, but what?

I was drawn to Andalucia after that,
and so the name arose for my daughter.

But, alas, the day she was born, my mother said,

"I have one request, please don't call her Andalucia!"

Why, Mom?

"Because my friend dreamed
(her friend dreamed?)
that an evil spirit inhabited Andalucia."

Mom, what?! That's absurd,
we're talking about a whole region here.

And she said, "Nevertheless."

And I was pissed.

Yes, it was true, this whole region was a mess,
infidels on both sides, two thousand years
of distress over beliefs, from one father
came two tribes, coming together and
killing each other en masse,

Inquisition style.

So yes, I'd say there's an evil spirit, of sorts, mom!

It's called murder in the name of belief.

I grew up with it, in my own way,
with the subtle idea that I'd be as good as dead
if I didn't believe as she did.

That sounds dramatic,
but I ratchet it up to make a point,
because there was an underlying sense
that if I wasn't a "child of Christ,"
didn't share her belief,
I was banished from her heaven.

I think that's why I yelled at her
on the phone the next day
for putting her "evil spirit" hex
on the chosen name of my daughter.

She was one day old
and we still hadn't named her yet.

Tired of my ranting she said shouted back,
"What is it you want me to do?"

And I screamed,
"I want you to love Muslims!"

Meaning, mostly, I want you to love me,
but also anyone else who may believe differently.

I want you to love, which doesn't mean pity,
but merely accept, like the basic animal
you are, like any barnyard cow or pig
accepts their own unconditionally,
without original sin, or any sin,
with only love, me.

Can you even do that?

I'm wondering now.

Or do your beliefs get in your way?

That's the question, the meditation
the "prayer," if you will.

So here's what happened with the name.

I did a little research and get this.

The southern part of spain, Andalucia,
was originally called Vandalusia,
Arabic for "land of the Vandals,"
named by the conquering Muslim Moors
200 years after an earlier captor of the region
 the Vandals, conquered the area in 100AD.

The Vandals were brutes,
thus the current meaning of the word vandal.
So imagine the implicit insult of one ruthless invading overlords
calling a people by the name of the last ruthless invading overlords.

But then something happens, something conciliatory, over time.
Something I discovered in the very process of naming my child.
Something remarkable.

Eventually La Lengua drops V from Vandalusia,
softening the violence of that hard vee sound
and opening the word up to it's vowel, it's air,
the ahhhh sound. Ahhndalusia.

This happened from within
seemingly from the unconscious will of the people.

And then there was another evolutionary mutation
to the name. It began, rather recently too,
to be known as Andalucia instead of lusia

The latin "lucia" (light) instead of the arabic "lusia" (land.)

Light over land.

Which is shorthand here for: love over possession.

So now you have "lucia" for "light," which enables
"Anda" to take on the meaning of the verb "andar."

The name now contains the sentence, "Walk (toward) light."

This is where the words stemming from the heart
eventually take us. The language of the heart softens.
It goes from the oozy sound of "Lusia," of land,
to the clear ess of "Lucia," light.

That's what the word itself does over time,
it walks into light.  Walks
from Vandalusia to Andalucia.

So, you go with it, with the word,
and the whole country does too,
because now she blends what is beautiful
in both the Muslim and Christian world
into something rich beyond compare.


And so we named our daughter Analucia Grace,
(took out the "d", which softens the word even more)
and named her what she actually is; walking light,

Father Abraham had many daughters...

If not too prosaic, after all that
here's how I ended the night:

There was a cross school G&T seat fight
at the CEC tonight about the DOE
A101 ruling, local school politics,
3 hours worth of sound and fury. Right?

And then I finally ended up, exhausted, brain dead
around a fire pit with some neighborhood dads
drinking Aperol and lemonade
and arguing about politics.

Then this.

Peeps

Cute

Stellascope

Stellascope

Sofia

Mama, you're cute when you're mad

Lucia

Pres

Good answer

" maybe he wants to sell his caps because he doesn't have any money and he's hungry?"

top five funniest people

Top Five funniest people, according to Sofia and Lucia

1. Uncle Grandpa
2. Grandpa David
3. Mr. Noodle
4. Peewee Herman
5. Dad

(woo hoo, I made the list!)

SOFIA'S WISH

I wish across the street there was an enchanted part of the park. And there was a wishing well in the enhchanted part of the park. And I made one wish. That everytime I looked beside me the wishing well was there. And I wished we went back to the park and I wished for infinity wishes that would never end and one my wishes would be, "don't wish...don't wish..."

And then I went back to the park and I wished to have an enchanted part of my house that no one knew. Then I looked for a small mouse hole and I found it and I looked up to my wishing well and I said, "Make me small. There's so much treasure and jewels and money."

Then I lived happily ever after and I was the richest one in the family. And I always wore my "fame is in the future" shirt in a different style because I wished I had a different "fame is in the future" shirt which didn't say "fame is in the future." It says, "I'm famous and it will never end." Instead of a pair of sunglasses on the shirt, it has money.


EDITED TO PERFECT VERSION

I wish across the street there was an enchanted part of the park. And there was a wishing well in the enchanted part of the park. And I made one wish. I wished for infinity wishes that would never end and one my wishes would be, "don't wish...don't wish..."

Lucia's Wish Poem

I wish I was riding on a unicorn's back.
The unicorn was pregnant.
the baby unicorn came out.
The baby kid came out.
The mother was riding on the mother unicorn's back.
The baby was riding on the baby unicorn's back.

A fairy came along and said,
"Wow, 've never een a real unicorn before."
The human yelled out, "I have!"
The fairy said, "I'm pregnant.
I have to go home and sleep a lot."

lucia joke (4 yrs old)

Why are gymnastics sticky?

i don't know, why?

Because gymnaSTICKS, get it?

Mother's daughter

Sofia says. At red light: if I was at ared light I would turn off true car...to save fuel."

Independence Day

Firsts today, both girls jumping off the pier at the lake. Independence. Followed by first cannonballs. "Candy balls." Then both girls holding hands and jumping. All smiles. 

Also Lucia crossed the monkey bars by herself. 

And, asking the girls riddles. Which cousin has a ring in her name? Lucia gets it, Isabella. Which cousin has a scream in her name. Sofia gets it, Gabriella.

Joker!

Sofia asks what do you eat out of a bowl with a fork?

Me: don't know what

Sweet potato.

Okaaay.

What do you eat off a plate but with a spoon?

I don't know.

Cake.

Good riddles Sofia!

Ok if you like those I'll come up with a better one. Hmmm. How did the candle call a cab?

waxy!

Secret garden Rondavoo

There's always going to be another Frito

you're always going to want to make it move-

Sofia to the tune of Miley Cyrus mountain song

fifth head

Lucia, what's that on your forehead?

Sofia said, just get rid of it and get her fifth head

THE RED HORSE (bedtime story from last night)

THE RED HORSE

There was a red horse. It was highly coveted by everyone in the kingdom because it was twice as fast as all the rest of the horses. All of the knights wanted to own the horse.

One night ("Wait, which kind of night/knight?" asks Sofia, "How do you spell it?") One night, with an N, all of the knights, with a K, got together to discuss who was going to own the red horse.

Sir Reginald said, "I should own it, because I am the oldest and therefore have seniority." Sir Nigel said, "No I should own it because I am the strongest." Sir Gerald said, "No, I should own it because I am the fastest. And after all it is the fastest horse." Sir Alistair said, "No I should have the horse because I am the best swordsman." And Sir Findlay said, "No, I should obviously have the horse because I am smartest!"

(Sofia suggests, "Maybe they can share the horse, each have it for one day of the week?")

"Here, Here," said Sir Reginald, "I don't want to share the horse and this is obviously going nowhere. Why don't we have a contest to see who gets the horse?"

"What kind of contest?" asked Sir Findlay.

"I propose a history quiz," answered Sir Reginald. Whoever does the best on the quiz will win the contest."

"Pshaw!" said Sir Nigel. "You would win that easily as you are the oldest one here and know the most history. How about a contest to see who can lift the heaviest weight?"

"Fiddlesticks!" said Sir Gerald. "You would win that one because you are the strongest. How about instead we have a foot race?"

"Nonsense!" said Sir Alistair. "You would win that one because you are the fastest. I propose we have a sword fight for the red horse."

"I beg your pardon!" said Sir Findlay. "You would obviously win that one. Just as I, being the smartest, would win a contest of the wits. What we need in which none of us has an advantage."

(Sofia suggest a race in which each contestant holds one leg and hops on the other leg to the finish.)

juggling.

The knights thought that was a great idea, but before they could hold the contest a messenger came to tell the nights that the princess had taken pity on the red horse and decided to help it escape out of the royal stables and now it was gone with the wind.

Sofia wrote the Tuesday meditation.

On Tuesdays I practice meditation with the girls. Yesterday, unbidden, Sofia wrote a meditation for us.

"Close your eyes and take 10 deep breaths. Now think about how happy you are. Think about your day. What was your day like? Think about it. Close your eyes and listen to the music and you will fall asleep. (Sofia sings) Okay, now, open your eyes. And remember, meditation is a head replacement."

Remember!

First written Sofia poem

Second written Sofia poem

I see a dog. Now
I see fog all
I see is whites
I can fhite with
the white fog. Oh
No! Fhiting with the
fog did not wrke! Now
I can see a little
thing of sun now.
Wow now theres no
fog and I see the
dog.

I see a dog. Now
I see fog. All
I see is white.
I can fight with
the white fog. Oh
No! Fighting with the
fog did not work!
Now I can see a little
thing of sun. Wow
now there's no
fog and I see the dog.

What did you do in dancing today, Sofia?

We read a book about dancing. I was in the yellow group.

Who's in your group?

All girls. And Martin. We passed notes back and forth.

Oh yeah?

Yeah. He doesn't even know how in love with him I am.

I turn around and look at her in surprise.

She says, Oops! Did I just say I was so in love with him? She covers her mouth as if she didn't mean to say it out loud and then with a big smile says, It's because I am!

What does it mean to be in love with someone? I ask

It means you want to marry them.

But you're too young to get married.

It means you would marry them.

Taking things apart at nyhs

I got a screw out!

I got the lid off!

Good point

I don't want to go to school tomorrow says Sofia. I say you only have a month left of kindergarten and you should enjoy it because it's the only last month of kindergarten you will ever have. Sofia  says, yes but we can always dream about it.

Lucia says (from 4/24/14)

AnaLucia says

Daddy is lucky he can walk

Lucia moving herself

Lucia says, "sometimes when I sing in my beautiful voice I get tears."

Gen, "Really?"

"Yeah, I don't know why, I'm not sad!"

Gen, "You move yourself."

swimming through soundwaves

Sofia: "Sometimes when I am laying in the sun with my eyes closed I see music notes swimming through the water like a duck, turning around. And there is flute music playing. I dream that sometimes too."

Me: "It sounds like the music is swimming."

Sofia: "Yeah, through soundwaves."

Lucia story

Once upon a time there was an old woman. And she sat in an old chair. And she had lots of fun couches. She had couches everywhere, even on the wall. Even hers black roller. She had all black couches. She couldn't stop buying black couches.

Scary fun scribble bird

 

On the plane home yesterday we hit some bad plane turbulence. Sofia said, "This is scary fun!" Then a few minutes later, once the plane settled, she said, 

"This scribble I made when the plane was going crazy is now a reflection of the bird." 

"Sages are wise enough to withhold such scortching wisdom from adults. Thankfully no one takes children seriously; for here is a divine vignette of birth, what life is, death, the soul and it's eternites... entire." Darin Stevenson, FB

River philosopher

Lucia

It looks like it's following us, but it's not it's staying in place. Standing over the Hudson river

Activate cheetah power, raindrops

On our drive home I overheard Lucia talking to the rain. She said, "Activate cheetah power, raindrops!"

One pinch scary

Sofia, how do you like this story?

Well, it's just one pinch scary. Just a pinch.

Chuck e cheese review by Sofia

I give Chuck e cheese 1000%

It was pretty perfect huh?

It might have been too perfect?

Too perfect?

I like it like that!

New York Day

While eating a late, lazy breakfast we looked up what was happening today on the Mommy Poppins Blog (the best source for finding out what to do with kids in NYC.) We saw there was a concert for preschool kids at the Lincoln Center; Aaron Nigel Smith, reggae, from the PBS show Between The Lions. Can we make it by 11? If we hustle. So we got a lunch packed, got dressed, etc and were out the door by 10. We got there at 10:45. The venue was already at capacity, but there was still a long line of parents and kids waiting. We got in line. It was drizzling. We waited a half hour and got in. Danced, enjoyed. Then we headed a few blocks north to an event at the Ella Anderson school called Artopia, which we also discovered on Mommy Poppins. The girls took a Step Dance lesson, then made a bird feeder and a princess tiara. After Artopia we went around the corner to New York Historical Society to see a Mo Willems exhibition, a children's author the girls like. Then after that we went across the street to the Museum of Natural history to see the cast of the new Titanosaur, which is huge, 122 feet long.  Then home to clean, do laundry, etc, and finally over to play at Sunnyside Gardens park before dark. Sofia made up invitations to a book club and passed them out at the park. Then home for Pizza. A stellar New York day.

She got it

I told Lucia a joke and she said, "I get it." 

I said, "What do you get?" 

"I get the joke."

 "Are you sure you got the joke?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"What's the joke?"

"The joke is that I don't get it."

Lucia's poem for Genevieve's birthday card

Paw Patrol On The Go

Once upon a time there was
a Rider, the owner that takes
care of the pups, and then
they had an emergency
because Santa was going into
a storm, and then Santa
said thank you to them and
gave them a group hug.

They went back to the house
and made it wooden, so no
one could get through the walls.

But they could get through the doors.

Sofia says

I've got a new nickname for you Dad, "sweet old man."

Lucia says, "Hulk's a good guy? That's incredible!"

Sofia says

There always room for you daddy 

Today as we were in the car on our way to Brooklyn Children's Museum Sofia said, "I know what your message is."

I said, "You do? What's my message?"

"Love your enemy."

"Wow! Where'd you hear that from?"

"From lots of places."

"So you think that's my message to the world?"

"Yes."

"Well, I do believe that. And not everybody does."

"I know, that's why it's your message."
 
"How do you know that that it's my message though?"

"Because I know you."

"You think so? I guess I know you too now that I think about it."

"Then what's my message to the world?"

"Hmmm. Take care of your friends and family?"

Sofia: <grins>

Pretty please

This morning Sofia wanted to ride on my shoulders as we were walking to school. I said, I don't think so. She said, Pretty please, with sports and thunder on top? I could hardly refuse her after that.

Sofia says

What if all of us lived in this bathroom, and could only eat what we grew in here?

Butterfly cookie

Lucia says who wants cookies? I say I'll take the butterfly one. I try one. I tell lucia it has too much butter in it. Sofia says and it's got a fly in it too.

Sea of desert

Sofia query

If Joy's inside Riley's head, who's inside Joy's head?

Dream hop

Lucia: Sissy! I had four dreams:

1 was a scary dream

2 was about Alvin and the Chipmunks

3 was another scary dream

4 was a fairy one

And you know how I had four drains? Dream hop!