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I'd like to introduce you to our new pet, Sticky, a giant African millipede. Initially, Evee had named him "Butterfly" when we thought he was a girl, and that seemed like a nice name for a millipede, but then we checked and found out that he was a "he", after all, so "Butterfly" didn't seem like the best name. I suggested we call him "Velcro" because he sometimes attaches himself to you like velcro, but Becca invoked her right to name him (as Evee had named Tiggy). Becca preferred "Sticky", so officially, for all court records and bank accounts, he will be known as Stick E. Velcro, but we'll just call him "Sticky" for short.
So how did we end up with a pet millipede? Well, Roseann and the girls went out to a pet store today and when the owner noticed Roseann taking an interest in the millipede she offered him to her for half off (only $5) because nobody had bought him after several months. Roseann felt bad for him and apparently she had always thought it might be interesting to have a millipede for a pet (you know, the whole "a girl and her millipede" thing). She did some research on them and they are very low maintenance and docile, so she talked me into getting him. He is very cool looking and it's amazing to watch all of his legs working together. It's also quite a chore when he decides he wants to back up and has to shift gears to start all of the legs going the other direction. Our best attempt at counting his legs added up to about 260, but he'll still grow some more segments and legs, so it might get up to about 300. At first, Tiggy didn't seem to have any interest when Sticky was in his cage, but then Roseann had him out on her shoulder and Tiggy was suddenly very eager to check him out and pet him. We made sure he kept his paws (and claws) away, though. Sticky will stay over at the clubhouse, where he can curl up safely in his cage.
There's a big game store warehouse in Spokane, so we stopped by there this morning and picked up some new games. Then we went to the Spokane Valley Mall, where they have a fun play area for the girls. We went to McDonald's to meet our friend, Phil, and his kids. We met Phil a couple years ago through his great blog, A Family Runs Through It. He lives in Coeur d' Alene just over the border in Idaho, and we've become good friends and try to meet up when we're in the area to talk about music and family and life in general.
I had only one show today at the Argonne library, and that was a lot of fun. After the show, we headed back to the RV park and had dinner and played a couple of our new games, then went to bed.
With Phil and his kids...
Having a rest after some serious bouncing, flapping and twisting...
We went back to Kenn's house this morning. Roseann talked with Kenn's wife, Ann, and the kids did some finger painting and other crafts, while Kenn and I went over to record an interview for Carlos Alden. Carlos has hosted a radio show on KPBX in Spokane for many years which features a combination of Celtic music (which he performs with the local Celtic Nots band) and kids' music. The interview was a lot of fun and Kenn and I got to talk about some of the things we've worked on, which we've never really done together in an interview (there have been some written articles about the two of us, but we were interviewed separately for those). Kenn read a few of his poems and I played a couple of the songs that were adapted from Kenn's poems, including "The Tale of the Sun and the Moon" and "Snow Day". I also did "The Elephant Song" with Kenn providing the impromptu interruptions. It's a good thing he picked up on the idea to do that, because I forgot to ask him ahead of time if he would. After the interview, the three of us sat around and talked for quite a while, and kind of wished we had recorded some of that conversation. It turns out that Carlos and I share a lot of favorites in the kids' music world, including Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang and Trout Fishing in America.
Kenn and I grabbed some deli food, then picked up Roseann and the kids and went to the park for a while. It was beautiful out at first, but then a sudden rain cloud came by, so we had to make a quick dash under a big tree. We said goodbye to Kenn and headed out to my gigs at the Otis Orchards and Airway Heights libraries, both of which went really well.
With Carlos Alden...
The finger paintings...
This morning we went over to Kenn Nesbitt's house. Kenn is a very popular funny poetry author and I have used several of his poems for songs of mine, or collaborated together with him for the words for several songs. We had already worked together on a few things before I moved out to the Tri-Cities, but it was particularly nice when we moved out West to be able to get together in person. We've always had a good time and a lot of laughs together. The thing is, even though we only live two hours apart now, we rarely see each other anymore since we're both traveling a lot... he was out of town the whole week last time we were in Spokane... so it was good to hook up again for the first time in well over a year. Roseann and I talked with Kenn while the girls played with his kids, Max and Madison, and met their pets. Then Kenn and I did some recording... I recorded some guitar for a song he's doing for a CD of recorded poems he's including with his next book, and he recorded some spoken parts for my next album.
I had two more shows this afternoon, at the Fairfield Library and Moran Prairie Library, and both shows went very well with very enthusiastic audiences. The girls were napping during the first show but came in to the second, but there was an incident at the end of the show that upset Evee. She had gone out in the hallway with Roseann right before the last song, and when I announced that I was going to sing "This Little Light of Mine" and Becca was going to come up to help me (realizing that Evee wasn't there), another little girl ran up and sat on my other knee where Evee would normally have sat. There was a big "awww" from the audience, she was probably about 20 months old, and I was at a loss for what to do... it's not like I was going to push her off or something, even though as a general rule, I wouldn't encourage random kids coming across the line to sit up there with me during a show... so I just let her stay there. But then Evee came back into the room upon hearing the music for that song starting and saw the other girl in her place and got very upset. I felt terrible, as I knew it would seem to her like I had betrayed her or replaced her. Sure enough, afterwards she said that it was not okay and that there couldn't be "another Evee". I talked with her for a while and apologized for the mistake and assured her that she is definitely my one and only Evee. The four of us also worked out a plan for what to do if that kind of situation ever comes up again.
Saying "hello" to Kenn's dog, Jesse...
Evee getting ready to play some baseball...
The girls meeting Madison's rabbit, Lola...
Kenn recording some "P-U"s for "Stink Bug"...
We're in Spokane for the week and I had a very busy day to start things out. First thing in the morning I had two assembly programs at Mullan Rd. Elementary. There are two main assembly programs that I offer; Say "Yes!!!" to Life, about positive character motivation, and Thinking Outside the Box, about creative thinking and problem solving. By and large, schools choose Say "Yes!!!" to Life, so much so that before today I hadn't done Thinking Outside the Box in over a year and a half. I did go over it, though, on my drive home from Salem the other night, and added a few new talking points and elements to the program. I always liked that program a lot, but felt like it needed some editing, so it seemed like a good time to do that. I'll admit to being a little nervous beforehand, but everything went really well. The second assembly went very well, too... but I'm pretty sure the first one edged it out, in terms of the energy level.
We stopped at a park where the girls played for a while and I was trying to get a nap when a car pulled up next to the bus with full bass hip-hop blaring. So much for the nap! We drove out to Deer Park, where I had the first of my Spokane County library shows of the week. We had come here in late January to perform at all of the Spokane County libraries, but Spokane was hit with a record snowfall that kind of hampered things a bit. I was impressed with the number of people who did come out to the shows, weather notwithstanding, but the attendance was probably lower than it would have been otherwise and they did have to cancel two of the ten shows due to bad road conditions. So I was very grateful when they asked me to come back again in the fall. For this trip, they wanted me to do my "Musical Zoo" show, where I combine a number of different animal songs with a simple message about taking care of our pets and being safe around animals. Deer Park is kind of out of the way, so there were only about twenty people there altogether, but they said that was a big crowd for out there, and it was quite a few more than the 5 or 6 who were there in January.
The next show was at the North Spokane library, and there was a good crowd there which included our friend, Gwendolyn, and her daughters, Becca and Elizabeth, who we had met last time we were in town. Gwendolyn had invited us over to her house and we had a great time talking with her and her husband while the kids played. Elizabeth is a few years older than our Becca, but their Becca is 5 and is right in between our Becca and Evee in every respect, so the three of them really hit it off in a big way. And when they saw each other again tonight, they picked right up where they left off, running around the room and laughing like crazy. Hopefully, we'll all get together again sometime this week.
We drove back to the RV park and I ate a little something, checked the internet quick and then went right to bed. I don't think it's the four shows in a day that tires me out... I could probably do ten shows a day and be just fine... it's the setting up and tearing down and hauling the equipment around and driving from place to place that makes a day like today particularly exhausting. I did use my new "sound system Jr." for the first time today, so that helped!
I probably shouldn't sleep in the middle of a school assembly...
Business as usual this past week... I've been working on recording for the new album and booking some shows, the girls have been playing and going to preschool and homeschool, Roseann's been working on various different projects, and Tiggy's been very busy napping and eating and occasionally going outside in our back yard for a few minutes.
Earlier today, the girls had their friend, Ellie, over and played and had a lot of fun. Roseann went to the temple tonight with her father while Jean watched the girls.
I drove today to Gresham, Oregon, on the way to Salem where I have an audition tomorrow. Every two years, librarians (and other children's event coordinators from all over Oregon gather at the Salem Library to see five-minute presentations from all available performers throughout the region. I remember thinking what a strange thing it was last time; driving five hours to get there, doing a five minute set for a bunch of librarians, then driving five hours home. But I got quite a lot of gigs from doing that, so it was definitely worth the trip and hopefully worth doing again.
On my way to the hotel, I stopped to eat somewhere, and as I was leaving I did one of the biggest double-takes of my life when I saw a guy riding by on a bicycle with several cocker spaniels. I had to drive around to catch up with him so I could 1) make sure I wasn't crazy and seeing things 2) take some pictures. He was actually really nice and not the kook I might have expected. He pulled up and said, "Do you want to see the cat, too?" Turns out there was also a cat curled up in the front basket among the cocker spaniels. Then he said, "Do you want to see the rabbit?" and pulled out some rabbit ears to put on one of the dogs. Okay, maybe he's a little bit of a kook...
Anyway, here's a few pictures from throughout the week, including some of the pictures Becca or Evee had previously taken with Becca's new camera. I'm sorry I couldn't keep up with a daily blog this week, but this will probably be how it is from this point on... more sporadic with posts and pictures every so often instead of every day.
Becca riding her new bicycle (with no cocker spaniels or cats)...
I woke up at 4 am to get to the airport and was surprised to hear a rooster crowing when I stepped outside. A rooster would be perfectly normal to hear if I were staying out in the country, but this was downtown Las Vegas. It kind of surprised me to hear a rooster in downtown Vegas...
Anyway, the flights home were fine, but lugging bags through airports is always a pain. The rule is that the more you feel encumbered by the bags you're carrying, the further away the gate for your flight will be. That definitely held true this morning.
Roseann and the girls went to church this morning and Roseann had her final (for now) day subbing for Evee's class. They picked me up at the airport and we went home and had naps and later had dinner with Jean and Larry.
I checked out of the hotel and headed over to the BaloonaPalooza festival again. There were more people there today, but it still wasn't really crowded. I had about 30-40 people in the audience at peak, which was better than yesterday and seemed to be the average for everyone's shows. I was able to meet some other great kids' performers, including Wendee (a fun children's singer from L.A.), Debi Derryberry (best known as the voice of Jimmy Neutron, but also a great all-around children's entertainer) and Brady Rymer (whose last album is one of my favorites in the genre). I only caught the last two songs of Wendee's set and wished I'd have seen the rest, but I had a great time watching Debi and Brady's shows and hanging out and talking with them. Debi and her assistant Becky put on a really fun show with a lot of props and interaction, and she was able to get the biggest crowd of the day with about 50-60 people. Brady has, without a doubt, one of the best bands in the kids' music business, and though he only brought two of the band members (Seth on organ and vocals and Liz on mandolin and vocals), they had a very full sound that was really terrific, and Brady's energy and enthusiasm is totally unbridled. I wish there were more people there to enjoy their show and get up dancing... most of their audience was huddled under the shade trees... I know if Becca and Evee were there they'd have been right up in front dancing like crazy and would have gotten more kids to dance along. Maybe I should hire them out for that purpose...
I was also able to meet some notable cartoon celebrities at the event, which was really cool, including Spongebob, Scooby Doo, the Funshine Care Bear and the Cat in the Hat. Becca and Evee are gonna be soooo jealous when they see those pictures...
After Brady's show I headed over to Lanyard's and we ate some pizza and sang some songs and did some script readings, which was a lot of fun. His granddaughter, Ashley, is a big fan and she requested that I play some songs for her, so I was glad to oblige her (especially since she was giving up her room for that night for me to stay over). She's really sweet and gave me four of her stuffed animals to take home for me, Roseann, Becca and Evee.
With Debi Derryberry and Brady Rymer...
Happy Real Birthday, Becca the big 6 year-old!!
I met my friend Lanyard for lunch at the Fiesta buffet and we talked for quite a while about a variety of things, as we are known to do. I headed over to the BaloonaPalooza event at the Craig Ranch Golf Course and had just missed the shuttle from the parking area to my stage, so I decided to walk, which wasn't a good choice as it was a much longer walk than I thought and I was carrying my guitar and a nearly 50 lb. box of equipment. After all of the walking and bag hauling yesterday, this was not a very welcome or leisurely stroll. I had requested to do my shows on Friday and Saturday instead of Saturday and Sunday and that didn't turn out so well in terms of audience, as everything was still being set up and people were just starting to come in to the event during my set. There were about a dozen people in my audience altogether by the end, but nobody at all for the first few songs, which is really tough for a show that is meant to be very interactive. I had a couple of the women who were doing driving demos at the nearby Hyundai booth playing and dancing along, but that was about it. I guess there are expected to be several thousand people there tomorrow, and my show is in the middle of the day, so hopefully I'll have a decent crowd for that.
After the show I went over to the West Las Vegas Library, where Lanyard was doing a final rehearsal for his Reader's Theatre series. I was hoping to catch the actual performance tomorrow, but it'll be during my set. He and another guy, Adam, were doing a reading of Edward Albee's first play "A Zoo Story". It's a very heavy piece, quite sharply written, and Lanyard was really incredible as the main character, Jerry. I knew he'd been an actor for many years doing theater and some television, but I'd never seen him perform and I was totally blown away. Adam did a great job, too, as the straight man of sorts, but it is really Lanyard's character that drives the show.
I went back at the hotel and watched some TV for a while, then went to bed. Back home, the girls and Roseann made some sand castles in the back yard sandbox, went to Taco Bell where Becca had another scary bee experience (Roseann talked that out for a while with her, as that's twice now recently that she's panicked with bees around), and then went out to the annual Sausage Fest in Richland. I'm not sure if they ate any sausage, but Becca and Evee apparently were quite the spectacle dancing to some of the live music they had there. Roseann was going to take some pictures of them with Becca's camera, but Becca had already used up all of the batteries by taking pictures the past two days. Thankfully, it automatically shuts off when it's not being used so the batteries don't drain as fast, but still, considering how often she'll likely be using that camera, we'll have to keep a supply of batteries on hand at all times.
Adam and Lanyard performing A Zoo Story...
