I can't say I was ever a truly giant They Might Be Giants fan, but I loved the album Flood with a pretty good-sized passion as a young teen. And the more I look around at available children's music options (yes, I am talking to you, Wiggles), I am just out of my mind THRILLED that TMBG does kids' music and gives me something to hear repeatedly that doesn't make my ears bleed with insipidity (is that a word? is now).
So even though we were having a hard morning thanks to allergies and asthma (me) and a late nap (the baby), and even though we got such a late start that we weren't able to get to the other Upper West Side activity that Wes has been trying to attend for years, we made it to a free concert by They Might Be Giants at Columbia as part of an NYC book celebration.
We were only a bit late and heard two of Beck's favorite songs ("Seven" and "Seven Days of the Week") as we walked up. Then, as we claimed a spot off to the side where Beck could dance and we could sort of see the band, they played "Birdhouse in Your Soul" and I had to call my Melissa, since that was "our song" when we were 14 years old.
They closed with a truly fabulous version of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and I had one of those amazing moments of pure joy dancing with my child.
It was followed by more arguing and pain as Wes took us on a misguided slog down to a playground in Central Park that was too far for my fibromyalgic self to hike. But after that came Beck's joy at corner store sunflowers and some awesome falafel and we were back to semi-normal by bedtime.
