Ussins

I’ve been very taken with a tune I found (and what it necessarily has to do with Christmas re the album I have no idea, and I’ve otherwise been nonplussed with this artist’s work). I’d kept thinking it captures my feelings about Nem-nem’s arrival, and that I’d like to use it in my video here depicting my idea of that. I’d kept meaning to look up the song origin and finally did. I at first mistook it for one of many old Scottish folk tunes but it was apparently written by two Germans in 1982 for a bagpipe festival in Scotland. It’s called Highland Cathedral. Two prominent sets of words (at least) have been written for it; I very much like this set:

There is a land far from this distant shore
Where heather grows and Highland Eagles soar
There is a land that will live ever more
Deep in my heart, my Bonnie Scotland

Though I serve so far away
I still see your streams, cities and dreams
I can’t wait until the day
When I’ll come home once more

So Lord keep me from the harm of war
Through all the dangers and the battles roar
Keep me safe until I’m home once more
Home to my own in Bonnie Scotland

On first reading these lyrics, I was overhwelmed by the coincidence that the tune both expresses my feelings about Nem-nem’s birth and that these lyrics are so similar in several ideas to words I wrote for Mago’s Lullaby:

So together we’ll hie
Through the sky love, and fly
To the sunny bright places we’ll see
With the Irish we’d die
For our mothers would cry
For the days to be sunny and green

Both are songs of a fair distant land of my ancestry, both speak of soaring/flying, both refer to battle (that’s what I mean by “With the Irish we’d die”).

So Highland Cathedral is Nem-nem’s lullaby.

I’ve got Scottish blood, so I suppose it isn’t necessarily fair to give the Irish all the attention (as I do with my children’s nicknames). But I don’t have any children for England, or for Wales (yet), or..

I’m also struck by allegory in the words; Nem-nem arrives from a distant land she left (her place with God) to serve in a battle (the war for souls on this earth) and will long for her eternal home. So I sing it in homage to both God and my ancestors. Further, I hadn’t even realized when I wrote Mago’s lullaby that it maybe could work allegorically in the same way.

Here is the song with this video for Nem-nem; only it isn’t so “lullaby” here, though it can be sung that way and has been child-tested and found to work. It’s versatile. Click the image.

The stills in this are deep space photography which I color-alter, distort, zoom, pan, cross-fade, and change lighting of to give a sense of travel, merging into the opening sequence from CONTACT reversed and sped up. CONTACT had it wrong. In that film, pious scientists/priests repeatedly declare that the remainder of space without any life apart from Earth would be a “waste”. On the contrary I feel it isn’t about how far we can look or travel out there and whether it means anything to anyone else, human or alien, but how amazing, beautiful and meaningful it all makes our existence here. Not that life elsewhere isn’t compelling.

Incidentally, I hope my video, while philosophically in great sympathy with this amusingly distasteful schlock I found at YouTube, may be better. Even a little better would fill me with hope.

These were Tia’s comments on my video: “It’s good”. Later I sought clarification on this:

“So you like it?”

“I don’t like that music with it. This Scottish tune to that.. it doesn’t fit.”

“You’d appreciate it more if you appreciated Star Trek.”

(Derisive sarcasm) “Well, yeah.”

“You don’t remember [Star Trek II Spoiler!] show

“Did I ever see show

“Well, there you go. It’s really good, I recommend it.”

Tia relates that the other day she was driving with Mago and I assume also Nem-nem, both in their car seats. She told Mago:

“Once you learn to ride your tricycle we’ll get you a bigger tricycle. And when you learn to ride that, we’ll get you a bicycle with training wheels. And when you learn to ride that, we’ll get you a bigger bicycle.”

Mago paused at these words, then said: “And then a motorcycle.”

Here are some recent recordings I made playing with him, edited together.

First it’s me wrapping him in a blanket and carrying him up and down stairs, as mentioned in Update 13, then the other day at a playground to give Tia a break, then at bath-time, he playing at drive-through operator (re Update 16).

(download mp3, 2.4MB, 5:16)

Maybe two weeks ago I played the following music over my computer and he came out of his room, sat in the chair in front of the computer, and simply listened intently. It is a Medieval Anglo-Saxon Nativity (Christmas) piece performed by Synfonye.

(4:20)

It isn’t legal for me to play that last here - I think I’ll just declare my guilt and settle out of court! So no download link. Synfonye has some free tracks available here. Here are several links to purchase the album - it has a lot of great stuff [1] [2] [3].

I’ve overhauled this blog as of this entry - converted it over to the WordPress blogging platform, with a new design I found and modified. Like it? Older image galleries aren’t working at the moment - they’ll be fixed.

This last June 17th, Father’s day, our second baby, a daughter, was born at 4:35 AM. Happy Father’s Day to me

The arrangements for and the delivery of this second baby were much easier than for our first - which I thought the midwife astutely referred to as the Pioneer - though still grueling and exhausting. We’ve named this baby (my decision less pathetically lethargic than for our first) but refer to her on the internet by a pseudonym. In a bit here is blather about that, her particular date of birth, and Mago’s first interactions with and comments about her, but first a photo slide show taken the day she was born, courtesy Picasa Web Albums, photos taken by an uncle, and also by Tia’s stepmom.

At this blog we call her by a pseudonym. First, “Nem-nem”, which is whimsical nonsense. Second “Naemh”, Irish and pronounced “Neve”, which I expect to confuse, fine for a blog. In Irish mythology (I’ve only just read this), Naemh is the princess of the land of promise (as Niamh, though my sister who served a mission in Ireland informs me there are many little girls over there with names spelled Naemh). I’d wanted “Niam”, Irish for “Bright” in addition to all this before “Nem-nem”, and further nicely confusing as it sounds just like you’d mispronounce Niamh/Naemh, but Tia doesn’t like it.

So her pseudonym here is Nem-nem Naemh. Why the Irish pseudonyms - our firstborn as Mago Elf Liam (Gaelic: Great Elf William)? A tradition of Irish blood on one of my mother’s lines, Mago being born on St. Patrick’s day, and his cousin also born on that date, and..

Now our second baby here, Nem-nem Naemh, shares her birthday with a cousin who has a quintessentially Irish name, who was born six years ago - also on Father’s day. And on the same day of the month as Nem-nem’s older brother born on St. Patrick’s day, the 17th, and his cousin also.. there you go.

The 17th day of the month is also shared with one of Nem-nem’s uncles, and her great-grandfather, and.. I think some others I forget

And on top of all this a cousin - second cousin - was born on this very same day and year that little Nem-nem was.

I was going to do this this entry, but for lack of time, some videos I’ve promised will be posted in a future entry.

Mago has been very eager to meet his sister for a long time since before she was born. He would talk to her through mommy’s tummy, and long since adopted a mistaken reference to her as “FisterBruver”, or Sister-Brother. Since her birth I’ve had an inkling he may use this as a description of their relationship, as he said a day or two after her birth that “Now I’m a FisterBruver.” But it’s clearly also a title, and I suppose especially for her. And he also fondly calls her by her real name.

The first Mago came into the hospital room where mommy was holding Nem-nem, he was very enthusiastically but gently all over her, calling her FisterBruver, softly caressing her head with his hands, and wishing to kiss her, which we couldn’t let him because he had a croup cough. We got a mask for him so he could be close to her, as you see in the slides and video. I don’t recall all he said but one of the first things he said, when I took him a bit away from Nem-nem and held him, was:

“I love that baby.”

Also, speaking to Tia:

“Did she come out of your tummy? Is she going to go back in? Can I go back into your tummy?”

This is no indication at all that he doesn’t want Nem-nem here - though Tia has noticed he’s been more ardently seeking attention as an apparently permanent change since her birth. It’s simple curiosity. A verbose 2-year old informing us of the wonderful ideas that go through his head figuring out how things work.

I had meant to amend this previous entry with a comment after my brother wisely cautioned that you can’t take a kid’s feelings too seriously - indeed that’s true. Sometimes when Mago sadly or sourly insists on something that cannot be, I throw him a loop - he’ll say “Yes!” - I say “No!” - and back and forth “Yes!” - “No!” - “Yes!” - “No!” - “Yes!” - then I suddenly exclaim “Yes!” and he willfully exclaims the opposite, “No!” - not what he wants - and realizes he’s been hoodwinked and laughs. I’m sure many parents have discovered this fun trick.

You may note in the photos that Nem-nem has a lot of dense, short, dark brown or black hair at birth.

She is strong. She lifts her head right up if you hold her on your shoulder. She’d flop right out of your arms if you didn’t hold her close and tight. Her legs are very difficult to raise up from the pinned bend she keeps them in when you change her diaper.

She has Billy Reuben (is this how you spell the affliction? - ah ha ha! I just looked it up. It’s bilirubin - but I’ll keep that), that fairly common yellowing of infant skin from.. too many red blood cells? - which count went up for several days, but which today went into a decline. Thank heaven. Mago did not enjoy being in a light box to combat it for weeks, and we didn’t enjoy inflicting that on him.

A gripe you can skip if you wish - show

I think she’s a beautiful, mild baby. I’m surprised how distinct and new but inexplicably, unsurprisingly familiar she is. The unknown novelties of having a baby aren’t as impressive, but she still is. My first impressions are that her cry and voice sound a whole lot like Mago as an infant, but gentler. .. I only recall her howling so far when given a needle shot (not unexpected) and when bathed. She does not like baths. It seems to be horrific for her. I think sometimes her sounds of alarm reflect Tia when she’s surprised or uneasy.

Today (or Saturday as I started writing this :p - hey, it’s her one week anniversary three hours after I click “publish”) I enjoyed my first moments with her where she didn’t seem hungry or otherwise distracted, just holding her as she was awake, and she seemed to be really taking in my face and just watching me talk to her.

As for us, we’re lacking sleep but happy.

On the day, hour and minute of this back-posted entry, Nem-nem Naemh arrived in this world.

I had forgot to mention that Mago had said during our recent vacation (for which I still mean to post some video - of Mago doing a food dance at SeaWorld and a walrus floating against my back through glass - possibly meaning to ask me if I has a bucket, or perhaps in concerted appreciation for my person knowing that he loves to fly), outside our hotel room at a swimming pool which he eagerly wished to swim in each morning: “Let’s get swimmed.”

Two nights ago he put a plastic grasshopper on Tia and asked “Is a grasshopper on you?” Tia replied “Yes - if it was a real grasshopper I’d probably scream and throw him off me. Grasshoppers are scary.” Mago replied: “Don’t throw him. He’s your friend.”

Yester-morning I awoke thinking that I’d like to make a painting of Darth Maul, Luke Skywalker, and C3P0 sitting on a church bench taking the sacrament, captioned: “The Sun Shineth and the Rain Falleth on the Good, the Evil, and the Robot.” (I’ll do this just as soon as my skills are up to it - only I’d change it to “Droid” and possibly mix in Darth Vader, with “Deathbed Penitent Good/Evil Robot/Person). This was probably unconsciously inspired by “Nobody wants to play Sega with Harrison Ford“. This led to me thinking about Jedi in general and the poor writers who are lassoed into writing any of the unending literary expansions to the Star Wars universe but who cannot have anything significant happen such as a Jedi falling in love, and little Jedi children running around (although, rather horridly, Han and Leia have become married in this expanded literary universe, to give birth to Jedi twins, whom they have most unfortunately named something like.. Jayden and Jaycen). And that kewl character Mara Jade, a Jedi unrqueited “love interest” for Luke, whom Timothy Zahn created (and the only writer to add anything of real substance and resonance to that literary universe, so far as I know) - Luke simply cannot ever marry her [nope! - corrected! - looksie here at the second picture. But what a horrible costume and portrayal in that first picture on the right. Okay, so this is significant. But I’m wary. “A close Force bond?” - oh, brother.  How about a trauma Force bond?  That would be compelling..] This further led to a strange muse overtaking me wherein I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror, making an oddly monstrous, loathing and disgusted face, and muttering loudly in a low lisping voice worse than Emperor Palpatine’s (and with the improper plural):

“Jedis are sworn to be celibate. Salivate.”

Caught. Tia opened the door and with a mingled bemused, amused, and disgusted expression said “What!?”

I repeated myself. She laughed but replied “If you’re going to talk that way, you’re welcome to remain celibate.”

Later that day I thought I would repeat this utterance to Mago. He replied: “Don’t be a monster.”