There are just a few hours left to get discounted tickets for the Delaware Home Education Convention.
Delaware Home Education Convention
The Carolina Chocolate Drops are Reuniting!
Holy crap, this would be awesome!
Mary and I discovered the Drops in 2011, or thereabouts, and got tickets to see them at The Queen in early 2012. Hoots & Hellmouth was added to the lineup and it was an unforgettable night. Between sets, mama Mary almost got me into a fight when we observed a young child without ear protection who clearly didn’t want to be there. We had to sacrifice a sweet spot in the pit to diffuse the situation, but still shook our backsides off to CCD (the little bit ‘o ass that Hoots left us to shake).
We saw the Carolina Chocolate Drops as a family in June of that year at the Appel Farm Arts and Music Festival. Westen was taken with their energy and we saw Rhiannon being a sweet mom at one of the kids activity tents.
Mary and I saw them at the Grand on one of our rare dates in 2013. The audience was the worst of the public radio crowd and wouldn’t get off their butts. Mary and I had amazing seats, but scooted into the wings to dance and not block anyone’s view. Unbeknownst to us, WHYY was filming the show and we saw ourselves months later on TV.
After Mary passed away, it was a special honor to take the boys to see Rhiannon Giddens in 2018 at Delfest. It was the first time they got to stay up for a proper headliner and Giddens served up a captivating performance. It wouldn’t be the last time I cried that weekend.
In 2022, Kristen and I took our kids to the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Local heroes, The Honey Badgers, were our big draw that year, but we also got to see Dom Flemons…twice. Few artists have the depth of talent and knowledge and personability that he does. He is an American treasure.
CCD hits deep in this family.
Adventures in Music
We had an exciting night in Kennett Square seeing Cat Ridgeway at the Kennet Flash.
Ridgeway rocked the stage and was so sweet afterward. She remembered us from the Philly Folk Festival two years ago and chatted with us for a while.
She signed Isaac’s CD and just might be considering a tattoo.
We also got to see the promotional poster for Westen’s upcoming gig on the wall of the venue.
Adventures in Music
Rosie Boffo Photography
Wow. So so grateful to the talented and generous Rosie Boff for taking and sharing these pics of my son playing rock star.
WORLD OF CHAOS
My son’s new band World of Chaos will debut at Rainbow Records tonight!
Westen been a stage hound since David Stradley asked for volunteer readers at a Delaware Shakespeare event on Market Street in Wilmington. He couldn’t read yet and Stradley had to feed him his line.
Westen actually made it onto a DelShakes stage in their production of The Merry Wives of Windsor and has acted in too many plays to name here (most for Pages Alive Theater).
He’s been learning guitar for a little while now and has had a crash course in bass to prepare for his musical debut.
If you’re local to Newark, Delaware, and want to support some awesome kids, we’d love to see you tonight!
Lego Brick Shipbuilding Day
My Going Merry build is going slowly, unlike the rate at which the Kalmar Nyckel’s Lego Brick Shipbuilding Day is approaching.
They posted this pic of Isaac (in red) and I’m excited to see how all our builds do in competition.
Delaware Fun-A-Day Prep
I haven’t been taking time to play with Lego and it shows.
For the month of October, I’ll be working with my sons and other homeschoolers to build 31 distinct sculptures.
This will be our third time participating in Delaware Fun-A-Day and I’m excited to see what we come up with.
Having Fun, Being Free
Enjoying music, yoga, and friends with these crazies at Ohmfest.
Hope
Live music. A friend lamented at music’s healing power of sound, connection, rhythm, and pure magic. I shared the lament. This is the longest I’ve gone without a proper concert (even counting the miracle yoga and music fest we attended in August).
Then I remembered I had tickets for a Lone Bellow concert at Union Transfer in Philly in March. My date for that show dumped me months ago and I was pessimistic that it was still happening at all. I looked up the venue and the show is still listed as on!
With good news trickling out and an event date right at the beginning of spring, I’m cautiously optimistic that my friend and I will be letting loose like the maniacs we are in a couple months.
Now, to find that magical, four-day, hippie fest my sons and I have been craving…
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