Gleek wanted to meet the guy who did the Fantasia music. She figured he must be pretty cool, since he got to be in a movie.

I had to break the news to her that he was dead. She was very worried, until I explained to her that he wrote that music hundreds of years ago, and lived to be really old. She was still disappointed, but is also pretty secure in our shared religious beliefs.

“I will just see him when we all come back.” And off she went to play.

Yeah. His is one of the hands I’d like to shake, too. But I expect there will be a line.

Gleek, who is 5, walked into my office today and said “this music sounds like it is from a movie.”

Me: “Which movie?”

Gleek: “The Fantasia movie.”

Me: “It’s by the same guy.”

I was listening to Beethoven’s 1st, and she was obviously thinking of Beethoven’s 6th, portions of which were used in the original Fantasia. Of all my kids, I’m sure she’s the most musically inclined (so far, anyway) and this kind of cinches it. I’ve been listening to a LOT of music today, most of which is classical/orchestral, and only when Beethoven showed up did she announce the similarity.

Last week I taught her to play chopsticks on the piano. She can play it by ear, and improvises on the intervals pleasingly. She knows what intervals work, and which ones don’t. I guess we’ll have to cave in and get this girl some music lessons at some point, but for now I’m happy to answer her questions and point her at musical explorations she’ll enjoy.

I’ll let her borrow my Beethoven CDs anytime. I mean, it’s not as if I don’t already have all that stuff on my iPod.

I did a little pencilling at the Keep today. Janice was helping Jason stuff the holds, Bradley was keeping the couch rooted to the floor, Ari was chowing down on Cheap Chinese, and I was taking a break.

This nice gal, new to the place, began talking to us, mostly because Bradley and I were discussing the differences between monkeys and apes, and, you know… MONKEYS. It’s a conversation you have to get in on.

Naturally it led from there to ninjas, swords, and baboons. And the new girl identified herself as “the one whose fiance kidnapped her.”

Ah, yes. Those were YOUR friends who came in here, changed into black coats and ski-masks, and then went next door. “We thought they were LARPers. At least, that’s the story we would have given the police.”

She explained that she was a little concerned at how she might be weird. After all, she and her fiance have swords adorning their walls.

We all had a nice chat, and then she headed back out into the world.

I told Janice (and the rest of the store, but I directed my comments at Janice):

“The good news is, she’ll fit right in around here. The bad news is, THIS is where she fits right in.”

Maybe that’s why I love the Keep so much. Weirdos, to the last.

Tuesday went okay. I got six rows colored, and managed to get The Voices In My Head talking with each other about which story element should advance next.

They surprised me, and came up with something pretty fresh. So this morning I whipped out nine rows of scripts (seven days), and got five of them (four days) pencilled. And there’s still time this evening for family stuff, like the cub-scout rubber-band rocket race.

Thursday and Friday may be completely devoted to convention prep, though…