Addicted to Nuttin But Stringz

I started playing the violin at 6. played all through h.s. and for a couple years at UCLA. So I am very critical when it comes to what i see on TV. i was flipping channels last month and happen to catch an audition episode of America's Got Talent. These two black kids came onto the stage carrying violins and i thought, oh great, they are going to be miserable. i was cringing even before they started to make a noise. everyone knows they either chose the best or the WORST to profile when they show auditions on these shows. then they started playing. i tell you, i was mesmerized. these two are the most amazing musicians i have seen for a long time. not only do these brothers from Queens have an electrifying stage presence, they have the chops to back it up. their performance from last week:



so i watch every week now, mostly to watch them. I completely believe that a ton of kids will start taking violin lessons because of them and that they could change the way people look at the classical violin. if you share my interest in cross over classical music, catch them next week in the finals and vote for them! (wed 9/24, nbc, 9pm pst)

btw, the younger brother is an absolute prodigy - he was accepted at Julliard (one of the best music schools in the world) at the age of 10, after taking up the violin for only 2 years. his older brother isn't too shabby, got into julliard shortly after. they write most of their own compositions and got invited to play at the White House for Black Music History month. Julliard got it right with them! if you want to see more of NBS, their audition performance is also on utube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbWRkulvXbE

trip to berkeley

Last Saturday (Sept 6th) we drove into Berkeley for our friend Doris & Darren's baby shower. It had been hot for 4 to 5 days straight with 100F+ temps in Dublin & Pleasanton. It's the last gasp of summer and I hope that was the "Indian" summer for the season.

Saturday was just as warm so even though we were next to the bay in Berkeley, it was still mid 80's.

Here's a picture of Thomas standing next to some flowers outside Andronico's grocery market in El Cerrito. Catherine was down the street at a store gathering baby shower presents.

Andronico's coffee selection was amazing ompared to Dublin's Safeway or Lucky's. Prices are perfect too...must be the gourmet coffee drinking population in Berkeley. The same 8oz package of Lavazza espresso coffee was $12 in Walnut Creek's Italian grocery shop and it was $7 here... Makes me want to binge drink espresso coffee...but I have to wait until the weather cools off.

Anyhow, Thomas was rummaging through the store and I tried to keep tabs on him. I lost sight of him for about 5 seconds and he rounded the coffee aisle. I heard his little feet picking up pace so I started after him. I quickly checked the entire small store down each aisle my heart starting get panic-ky as each aisle turned up blank of little Thomas.

I kept hearing his little footsteps and but couldn't seen him. Turns out he took the 1st aisle next to the coffee aisle where I was and I had completely missed that first one (thinking he'd ran further down.) So finally he popped out and looked at me frantically running back towards where he was wondering what took me so long to figure out where he was. "What r u doing daddy?" He asks...my heart rate was now back to normal rate....

Crazy kid! So fast...amazing what little feet can do when no hampered by adult common sense...they sure pick up speed fast. Since we were late for the baby shower...Thomas and I took a lot of free bread samples for a small pre-lunch....(seen in the picture in his little hands)

-William

personality differences

thomas has love-hate relationships only with certain friends, not all. for some reason, he just fights more with certain ones. this is chad. they are only 2 weeks apart and they fight all the time!!! i managed to catch this one relatively peaceful moment where both of them where enjoying their lollipops. of course, this is after thomas stole chad's lollipop. one of my friends actually caught him in he act in the top pic :) such a funny picture!
he was casing out the situation with chad, waiting until chad was relaxed, then struck like a predator. grabbed the lollipop and ran off with it. as thomas ran to the kitchen, he looked up at me excitedly, while running to me, "look mommee, i have a yellow lollipop!" of course, by this time chad was hot on his heels, so i quickly said " that's very nice thomas, but i think chad wants his lollipop back. i have a new one for you." i quickly pulled it out of thomas' hand, gave it back to chad who was now crying uncontrollably. chad stopped crying and i handed thomas his own lollipop. chad was happy, thomas was happy and all was well. they walked back to the living room together and sat down next to each other to enjoy their respective treats.



this is my favorite group of moms from my mom's group. i know it is bad of me to have a preference, but can't help it. this one particular group really clicks. this was our last meeting for the summer and we had a baby shower for one that is pregnant. as you can see, we got really creative making little boy outfits out of just tissue paper and tape. fun!
starting this week, 3 of them have their kids in preschool, all on slightly different schedules, so the likelihood of us all getting together again is pretty slim. we'll still meet for playdates, just not with all 8 of us...