Patterico's Pontifications

9/6/2006

My Biggest Fan

Filed under: General,Real Life — Patterico @ 6:00 am



I wrote and recorded some songs in the 90s. The arrangements are simple acoustic guitar and voice — no drums, bass, or other instruments. I had no reverb or decent recording equipment. I’m a terrible guitar player and a worse singer.

But a friend of mine just converted them into .mp3s for me, so I can play them on the computer.

And I found someone who is a fan of the songs: my six-year-old daughter.

Unlike any sensible adult, she thinks my guitar playing is good, and my singing better. Last night I played the songs on my laptop while the kids ate dinner, and they both bobbed their heads and smiled.

When dinner was over, my daughter got up and danced with me.

Sometimes I wish she could stay six forever.

22 Responses to “My Biggest Fan”

  1. The upside of jury nullification? Great story, counsel.

    Federal Dog (9afd6c)

  2. My five year-old daughter thinks I’m the greatest, so your sentiment really hits home.

    aunursa (648a17)

  3. Well, my 17 and 15 year old daughters just don’t seem to appreciate a father who sings to them quite the way that they did when they were in elementary school. My older daughter, who just statred Penn State, seems to think I’d embarass her or something.

    I’ve tried to tell them that there are millions of little girls out there without a daddy who’d love to have a father who sings to them; they respond that those girls would like to have a father, just not one who sings. 🙁

    Dana (3e4784)

  4. It’s simply nice to know that we are loved by our daughters (regardless of age and our questionable talents )

    GREAT Story, ROCK ON!

    Desmond Lloyd (2811f1)

  5. Great story.

    When my son was in kindergarten (he’s in 3d now), he saw another kid’s mom having lunch with her son. He asked if she was his mom (she’s an older mom) & she said, “Yes.” My son stood there for a minute thinking & then blurted out, “My mom’s prettier!” The mother told me this story when I had lunch with him, and while I apologized profusely for his outburst, I gave him a great big kiss after she left. 😉 Oh, the love of a son!

    sharon (03e82c)

  6. Our esteemed host wrote:

    Sometimes I wish she could stay six forever.

    Tuition at Penn State is $10,000 a year. Yeah, mine were cheaper at six, too!

    Dana (3e4784)

  7. Cool!

    My son is 11 and began playing guitar last year. I finally pulled out some of my old original music and played it for him. He took it upon himself to learn the guitar part to one of them! I was humbled, touched, etc.

    Er… Looking forward to hearing your music, Patterico. 🙂

    [Laudio is the one who converted my songs into .mp3s. Thanks! He also knows that I am toying with the idea of posting the songs. — P]

    Laudio (06d15b)

  8. Yeah, wait until she’s a teenager and recoils at the idea of liking any of the music you like.

    And, where’s our link to these songs?

    steve sturm (b5aa23)

  9. are the song lyrics anything like the blog posts? i’m trying to imagine these pontifications set to music and sung.
    anybody can release a cd now, go for it, there’s no telling what will become popular. i heard that myspace will soon be configured to sell music, and you already have a bigger promotional vehicle than the dad across the street.

    assistant devil's advocate (ce699c)

  10. My eldest finishes high school this year. When did that happen? Enjoy 6, Patrick, it’s as glorious as it is fleeting.

    ras (a646fc)

  11. You’re lucky (or a better singer than you think you are). Until about a year ago, my daughter (four years old now) liked all my singing. Now that she has developed her own musical ear (she can sing the melody from Beethoven’s Ninth) she will more often than not say “Daddy, stop” when I try to sing to her. She still likes the joke lyrics I made up for “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” and “Take A Walk On The Wild Side”.

    nk (5e5670)

  12. I sang to each of my four sons every night until the stopped asking me to. (About 7 or 8) and now as young men they proudly sing to their children. Great legacy. But in about 12 years you won’t be able to sing it without crying!

    paul (001f65)

  13. Heck, I still remember when I could pick them up, turn them upside down, so that they could walk on the ceiling!

    Can’t do that any more, but I’ll blame it on now having ten foot ceilings!

    Dana (1d5902)

  14. My daughters are 18 and 14. Dropping the 18 year old off at college this year was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

    But I can still look at either one of them and see the six year girl inside. I hope I can always see the little girl in them.

    Mike S (2639a4)

  15. Wow, that’s a great story.

    Remember the story of Whittaker Chambes watching his young daughter?

    “It was shortly before we moved to Alger Hiss’s apartment in Washington. My daughter was in her high chair. I was watching her eat. She was the most miraculous thing that had ever happened in my life. I liked to watch her even when she smeared porridge on her face or dropped it meditatively on the floor. My eye came to rest on the delicate convolutions of her ear — those intricate, perfect ears.

    “The thought passed through my mind: ‘No, those ears were not created by any chance coming together of atoms in nature (the Communist view). They could have been created only by immense design.’

    “The thought was involuntary and unwanted. I crowded it out of my mind. But I never wholly forgot it or the occasion. I had to crowd it out of my mind. If I had completed it, I should have had to say: Design presupposes God. I did not then know that, at that moment, the finger of God was first laid upon my forehead.”

    SMG

    SteveMG (b96bba)

  16. Mine is pushing 40 but she still loves her dad. Which says a lot given she is a school teacher and I am a Neanderthal exJarhead.

    Rod Stanton (4e18a3)

  17. can anyone remember that sweedhish group BBA ?

    krazy kagu (24cfa2)

  18. don’t worry, there IS a place in your heart where they stay six forever. lovely post, thanks.

    rph098 (4ca51e)

  19. 90’s Amateur Night…

    Couple of bloggers dabbled in music way back when: Dawn Eden will give you a taste for free. Nice stuff, bubblegum pop, sticks to the sole of your brain. I’ve actually heard one of Patterico’s youthful indiscretions, and it’s good……

    JunkYardBlog (621918)

  20. SteveMG-

    Yes, our host has heard about Whittaker Chambers’ daughter–quite recently. I mentioned that precise passage to him.

    See Dubya (b1f0c0)

  21. “Yes, our host has heard about Whittaker Chambers’ daughter–quite recently. I mentioned that precise passage to him. ”

    Great, it’s a powerful passage. I’m sure most folks on the center-right are familiar with it.

    Still, it’s a story that, for me, can never be repeated too often.

    As Chambers said in his last letter to Buckley: History hit his generation like a freight train. Sometimes we need to take a swing back at History; as Patterico did with his family.

    SMG

    SteveMG (913b25)

  22. My two-year old boy requests that I play the piano for him every night, even though I was a marginal player at best when I actually took playing seriously. But he loves it, so I play and enjoy doing so more than ever.

    ken (f83b7d)


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