So a strange sense of calm has descended over my household. No one is crying, bleeding or devastated in any way. Yes, I've had a fairly consistent headache for the past month (yep, month). And, yes, Mia is having, er, independence issues. But as a whole, life is a-okay. And to celebrate that fact, we are focusing on the little simple things: baseball, comics and rock n' roll. Which, in fact, have more in common than you might think. At least to me.
First off -- baseball. Cubs home opener is today. I've already bought a couple of tix for some games and we are ... psyched! I think it's going to be a great summer here in Chicago and I am really looking forward to it. We are also going to head down to Lisle to see the Chicago Bandits play women's pro fast pitch.
Which leads me to comics. I just turned the Miabird on to the wonderful world of Peanuts. Of course, she had already been exposed to the Charlie Brown X-mas Special. But this is different. I've indoctrinated the girl into the world of the four-panel frame ... a simple, yet humorous world that has served me well. For me, the four-panel frame has served as a template for much of my life, serving as a model for things as vast as my sense of humor and my taste in music. I actually believe that my intense love of the four-piece rock band (the Beatles, the Replacements, those Old 97s), has its roots in the simplicity of the four-piece panel.
Even my career has been affected by that panel. Heck, if you would have told me 20 years ago that in 2006, I'd be spending most of my time writing copy for advertising that is delivered in, er, panels (banners), I would have laughed. But that is exactly what I do ... But that might not be what Mia does, as evidenced in this film clip. Check it out.
