The Family Who Freestyles Together...

come on ride the train...

I come from a family of incredibly musically inclined people. My sister's a flute prodigy who's performed all over the world. My brother's a singer-songwriter who just recently formed a band (he writes the songs and plays guitar. And sings) with some fellow Harvard graduate students (all Physics majors, talk about math rock) and my mother writes music for children's theater as a profession. Growing up, you could hear the music from down the block and walking into my parent's house has always been like walking into a musical. Everyone practically sing-talks to each other. I'm not kidding. My grandmother founded a sort of customary rhyme-fest, in which she (and we) perform rhymey-type raps for one another on birthdays, anniversaries or just because. Growing up I thought this was normal.

I was the least musical one in the family. Still am. I love music passionately and dabbled in guitar, played piano for a seven years before throwing in the towel. Played the Clarinet for a minute and the Violin for two whole lessons. My talent was (is) more in the way of the rhyme. I rapped. I made up silly rhymes and freestyled at suburban parties (hip-hop name = Da Woolf in Sheep's Clothing) Seem whack? Maybe so. But I was able to parlay my rhymes into a paycheck and subsequently, a sort of pre-career career.

wrecka, wrecka...

In High School my family was an embarrassment: a sort of modern-day Partridge family gone amok. Music filled the halls at all times. Even my Dad sang songs (he did musicals as a child before getting throat cancer, effing up his vocals, causing him to drop out of musicals for good. He's been the beacon of health ever since, fyi) while making coffee in the morning.

Of course, now, I appreciate the quirky genius of my family like nobody else. I want to be my parents when I grow up. I worship them and am in awe of my siblings. Case in point, the following video, which pretty much sums up my childhood, and what looks like Archer's 'hood as well (two-minutes in the fun REALLY begins.):



That about sums up my family: holding hands in song, eye-rollingly wacked-out amazing out of their musical minds. Not a trace of irony. (Well, maybe just a teensy-bit.)

In my last post, one commenter (hi, Moosh!) quoted one of my fave bloggers, Oh the Joys who wrote that the way one spends his/her New Year dictates the kind of year he/she will have. "Sounds like you've gone domestic," she said. Not so much domestic (I can't even sew a friggin button, people!) but I would like to think I've gone "family."

As for the commenter (hi, Charlotte!) who mentioned an "Archer #2 in the making," let's just say we're "not trying not to" knock me up.... I mean, if Hal and I are going to carry on the singing, dancing, freestyle-la-la-laaaah-legacy of my people we're going to need a bigger brood to complete our band.

Raise the roof!

GGC