this morning, i worked on two of my sped assignments (due today). that occupied a majority of my attention, while (sadly) my kids played with themselves. after that, the three of us headed over to walmart to purchase a gift for nicholas (the 2 year old son of a friend, who, by the way, shares my birthday), and to have breakfast over at mcdonald's. we picked mommy from her working place (she had to train an assistant manager from another store) and then dashed off to nicholas's party. we were late (as usual), but no more than 35 minutes (which, sadly, is kind of a record). thankfully, most of the other guests were late. i spent a blurry half hour or so at the party, which took place over at one of the teahouses at my friend min's apartment complex. it was a nice party (at least the scant time i saw of it), with a few of min's close friends. nicholas himself is truly a little man. there is a calmness and certainty about him that i admire.

taiko practice was at 1, and it was important that i attend, since we hadn't gone to practice in two weeks. so i quietly excused myself from the party and headed over to pearl harbor kai elementary, where the practices are held. we worked briefly on two of the songs (kaizen and kansha); the second song, i really have little idea how to play, since i haven't had any direct instruction on how to do it, and i haven't taken the time to examine/memorize it. after that, we worked on the nameless song we've been focusing on for the majority of our time with the group. this song has a solo portion, and our leader has been wanting us to develop this aspect in particular. so three drums were set up on the stage facing the rest of the players. we played through the song a few times, with three players showing off their solo "stage presence" at a time. i had my chance, and i think i did alright, although i'm still shaky on my solo at parts, and i tend to be, as andrea puts it, "stiff", not looking up, focusing on what i'm doing.

the group has a great energy. it, like my previous taiko group (yoki daiko) seems to have a fresh, open energy. yoki daiko was an inexperienced group; the advantage of being an amateur is that there is little pressure to "do things right," and there is a lot of room for creativity and innovation and expression. anyway, this group, ryusei taiko, has that same energy, that same fun spirit.

certainly, there's a lot to be said for "expertise" and "professionalism" and "tradition." but these can be terribly stifling and stultifying things. to me, for art to stay alive, it has to "carry" tradition, but it must leave a constant opening, a way forward, in much the same way that a plant must remember its roots, but at the same time, have a way to grow up towards the light.

after picking the kids and wife up from the party, we headed home, and took a nap. then, i drove lynn off to a meeting at work, and went to a dinner with thomas and irene and rita, and debby, soukan, ian, and nia (lynn's sister's family, who had just come in from minnesota for great grandpa hashimoto's funeral). it was nice to see debby and her family again, particularly ian (because he'd grown so much) and nia (the new cherubic addition to her family).

and then, it was off to home, to put the kids to bed (it's school tomorrow!!!).

altogether, an okay day. sorry to bore you all.