love the one you're with

So tell me, how cool is this?

Q's band director used to be a drummer for the Isley Brothers.

We had the big beginner band meeting tonight at the gym of a nearby elementary school, and the band director for Q's school got up to tell his story. He was a 4th grader on the track to nowhere, but ended up finding music (drummer) through the band program and found his niche and became a leader, and then he went on to tell how he ended up going through college on a music scholarship and how he got to see the world with the Isley Brothers as a drummer. I decided at that point he was either a complete nutcase or was this really amazingly cool guy. Being the trusting soul that I am, I rushed home to check up on his story with google, which proved that, huh, he was right. He really did play with the Isley Brothers for a while. So the dude really is a very cool. :-)

Sniff.

I just got off the phone with Mare talking about beginner band and what we remember and how weird it is that one of my offspring is starting off on the bandkid path. I didn't remember how arbitrary the choosing of an instrument was. I mean, there are clarinet players, there are trumpet players, there are drummers. It's like choosing your name or choosing the shape of your nose. I mean, this is serious stuff. For a bandkid, it's the all-defining factor, and it's chosen on such a whim. Huh. Who knew, at the time. Now, Q has said he's wanted to play the clarinet for several years, so his whim has been pretty well hashed out. (I swear I had nothing to do with his choice. I was pulling for drums or the trumpet or another "cool" instrument). His good buddy Morgan, however, switched from clarinet to trombone pretty much on the day they signed up. That's a big switch. Q's best friend Robert is signed up for clarinet, too, though his parents would have preferred the strings program for him. It's ok though. Q and I will work full time to make him into a stellar bandkid.

I remember my decision to play be a clarinet player was easy. Being the daughter of the banddirector, the girls in the band loved to entertain me, and I absolutely adored Margaret Rush, the first chair clarinet player. I picked that instrument in my attempt to be her. I didn't up being her, but I loved the clarinet and I loved band, and now I get to watch Q start out on his trip. Good lord, but this is fun. I was scoping out the kids at the meeting, wondering who'd end up being the all-state player or the al-most-state player (like Mare and I were), and who'd be the band president. I'll be working the concession stands at football games in a few years. Q (and E, in a few years) will be trying out for district and region band and will be going on spring band trips. BIG SIGH. Fun!!!!

Oh, and totally unrelated, but I have to throw this in, with the whole Isley Brother tie-in. Apparently, I am surrounded by celebrities. Neighbor M told me that she met the guy down the street (who I don't know but recognize as the guy who walks around with his shirt off and is in the running for Mr. Redneck.). She said he ambled down the street this weekend, and responded to her introduction by a grasp of his cut-offs and throwing his head back and telling her "Hi there, m'aam. My name is Earl." I kid you not.