For me, the library is an adventure.  Anytime I take an interest in a particular subject, I inevitable end up on an expedition at the library. There are whole worlds contained between the covers of each and every book.  In those pages, I can learn how to do new things, discover different times, people, and places, and learn how to make things, or grow a garden.  When I was in college, I would sometimes spend hours digging through books in the library searching out all I could on a subject, or wandering through a particular section to see what would pique my interest and end up sitting for hours lost in the stacks marveling at the treasures I found like I was Alice who fell down the rabbit hole into wonderland.

I also worked at a bookstore for three years in college.  I am sure you can imagine how dangerous that was to my wallet, which brings me to another thing I love about the library.  It’s free for everyone, granting that everything is returned on time. Anyone young or old and regardless of economic circumstances has access to that great bastion of knowledge.

The library is a place for learning, exploration, self-improvement and entertainment for everyone.  Can’t afford Netflix?  No problem.  The library has tons of great and free movies for you to check out.  Want to learn how to cook new recipes but aren’t sure you want to invest in a big fancy cookbook? Go to the library.  Want to read all the books in the latest bestselling series but aren’t sure you’ve got enough room on your bookshelf or cash in your wallet? Once again, the library is your answer.  Whatever it is, the library has something for everyone to use and enjoy.

My love for books and the library started young.  It’s something my parents instilled in me by reading to me regularly and by taking frequent trips to the library.  I could also plainly see my own parent’s love for learning and things literary all around me in the many shelves of books in our home. A week hardly goes by for me without a visit to my local library.  I know that when I walk through the doors that I will always be able to find something to cheer, inspire, educate, or amaze me, and I never stop being thrilled by the anticipation of what treasures I might discover hidden there among the stacks.

-posted by Miss Meresa, who encourages you to go on an adventure at the library.

2.  Our brass quintet hails from Central Washington University. And instead of a trombone, they have a euphonium. Isn’t that breaking some unwritten, unspoken, unplayable brass quintet rule? Nope! Did you know that if you unwound a euphonium and a trombone, they’d be exactly the same length? Want to see that done? Come to our concert on Saturday!

3.   For every minute a live production company spends on stage, an hour of rehearsal is required. But our rehearsals are never boring. Often they’re exactly like those funny outtakes you see at the end of movies. Or Psych.

4.   Miss Allison (the star of the show!) and Michael (our delightful tenor) are married. In fact, they met while playing the parts of Laurey and Curly in the musical Oklahoma! It was love at first sight. Still is. 22 years later.

5.  The 10:30 show is sold out, but there are a few tickets left for the 9:30 – so get them here!

 What show you say? Swing Me High and Swing Me Low, our next Symphony Serenade concert for families. It’s at Benaroya Hall (Seattle Symphony) on Saturday, May 12 at 9:30 and 10:30. You’re invited!

-posted by Miss Analiisa, aka The Story Fairy, who gets to wear bathtub fish on her head this weekend. And a new pair of wings! (But on her back, not on her head.)

There is one restaurant in the Seattle area that resonates with almost every “type” of customer, from the casual lunch, to the eclectic date night, to the business outing – and that’s the Purple Café. Purple Café, owned by Heavy Restaurant Group, has expanded to four Purple Café satellite locations (all located in corresponding Studio3Music studios) of Kirkland, Woodinville, Seattle and Bellevue. In addition to the Purple Café, they added a little spice to the mix and introduced a Mexican cuisine restaurant, Barrio, to the Capitol Hill neighborhood and an Americana fare restaurant, Lot No.3, to downtown Bellevue.

One of my favorite questions to ask our Studio3Music families is where they enjoy a date night in the Greater Seattle area. The Purple Café is continuously referenced and the daydreaming begins as everyone rattles off their favorite menu dish and recommended wine pairing.

• “Basil Pesto Pasta is divine!”
• “The large wood table you can reserve at the Woodinville location. It really sets the mood for a gathering.”
• “The Apple, Walnut, and Stilton Salad!”
• “The way they help you choose just the wine you’re in the mood for.”
• “The salted caramels. Melt in your mouth goodness.”

This year, we proudly partner with the Purple Café and encourage you to visit this savvy, distinctive, rustic-inspired restaurant the next time you are entertaining a date night, a luncheon after a Symphony Serenade concert, or a business meeting. The cuisine, the atmosphere and service are bar-none. The Purple Café, Barrio and Lot No. 3 all exemplify the very best of dining in the Pacific Northwest.

-posted by Miss Kim, a frequent Heavy Restaurant Group patron (always seeking a date night with a hubby and a little chicken marsala).

With its rhythm, expression, emotion and meter, music is poetry without words. Just like poems, music expresses the thoughts and feelings of the composer. In fact, lyrical poems are the form of poetry set to music. (Some of the best at that were Lennon and McCartney.)

A couple of days ago, I asked our Studio3 staff and some good friends of mine from all over North America (who are also musicians) to tell me what their favorite authors were. Were they ever passionate! And prolific in their answers! Which is a great thing.

By far, their number one pick for kids’ poetry was Shel Silverstein. Which was not surprising. This beloved writer has “the official site for kids”, so check it out.

Jack Prelutsky was a new one for me, but I wish I’d found him sooner! He was born in Brooklyn, NY, but lives right here in Washington State. In his bio on the Scholastic website, he says, “I have always enjoyed playing with words, but I had no idea that I would be a writer. There was a time when I couldn’t stand poetry! In grade school, I had a teacher who left me with the impression that poetry was the literary equivalent of liver. I was told that it was good for me, but I wasn’t convinced.”

He also is a musician, and on the audio versions of his anthologies, he sets his poems to music, often singing and playing his guitar.  In 2006, the Poetry Foundation named Prelutsky the inaugural winner of the Children’s Poet Laureate award.

He’s written more than 50 collections. Here’s the name of just a couple to get you started at your library: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep, The Mean Old Hyena, Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Other Poems.

One of my favorite poets (when my sense of humor grew slightly more sophisticated) was Ogden Nash. He’s a lover of puns, and witticisms. Take his “Song to Be Sung by the Father of Infant Female Children”, for instance.

Poetry is good for grownups, too! Poetry can help us to slow down, think, appreciate, and express our own emotions more clearly.

Here is a list of favorites I collected (they were often mentioned my multiple people):

ee cummings, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Emily Dickinson, Maya Angelou, Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, William Blake, William Wordsworth, Lewis Carroll, John Keats, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Naruda, Bob Dylan, John Lennon

Some of Robert Frost’s poetry was set to music by Randall Thompson in a collection called Frostiana. Worth a quick search on YouTube.

Love Poems From God is a translation by Daniel Ladinsky of great saints and mystics from both western and eastern religious traditions.

Ten Poems to Open Your Heart, compiled by Roger Housden.

Heartsongs, by Mattie Stepanek. Mattie was an American poet who had six books of poetry published before he passed away just before he turned 14. All six books reached The New York Times bestsellers list. He suffered from a rare form of muscular dystrophy, and all three of his siblings also died from the disease. He started writing poetry at the age of three when his older brother died. My friend said his poems always warm her heart with his innocence and belief in humanity.

Not sure where to start? Pick something new. Poems are generally shorter than novels, so it won’t take you long to decide if you like a particular poet. (And you’re not in high school AP English anymore – you get to read strictly for enjoyment!) Someone suggested the website www.poemhunter.com. When you choose a specific poem, the site suggests others you may enjoy as well.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who suggests to go kiss your mate, and then have some fun with poetry today. She leaves you with this short ditty from Odgen Nash – “God in His wisdom made the fly, and then forgot to tell us why.”

Here I am flying my kite in Oregon.

Whenever I visit the beach in Oregon, I always bring a kite. I can usually count on having a windy day when the beach is filled with fellow kite flyers. There is something about holding on to the string of a kite when it’s gotten a good altitude- it makes me feel like I’m a part of the wind. Colorful, relaxing yet exhilarating, challenging….are all apt descriptions of the art of kiting. For it is an art, requiring some craftsmanship, a bit of skill and experience to be successful.

A Parafoil Kite

This past weekend, my kite of choice was a nylon parafoil design. It leapt high into the air immediately, and pulled hard as it flapped loudly high above me on Nye Beach.

The wind kept my kite way up in the sky for a long time, until it blew so hard that the string broke.  The beautiful kite flew away down the beach, where the end of the string caught onto a bush up on a steep bank.  I clambered up the hill where I retrieved it unharmed, (both me and the kite!), and packed my brave parafoil away to fly another day.

For hundreds of years, people have sung songs all around the world as they flew their kites. Here is one that you can sing.

My Kite Is Up So High
(Sing to the tune of “Farmer in the Dell”

 Verse 1
My kite is up so high,
My kite is up so high,
Oh me, Oh my, just watch it fly,
My kite is up so high.

Verse 2
My kite is falling down,
My kite is falling down,
I give a Shout, “Oh No, Watch OUT”,
My kite is falling down.

Verse 3
The wind has caught my kite,
The wind has caught my kite,
Oh what fun, I’m on the run,
The wind has caught my kite.

Verse 4
(repeat verse 1)

Here are some kite songs to download from play.kindermusik.com : Blow The Wind/My Kite and I Can’t See the Wind

Did you know that April is National Kite month? You don’t have to be a kid to experience the thrill of flying a kite, imagining what it would feel to fly far above the ground. Do something fun and different this month. Go fly a kite!

-posted by Miss Judy, who just got back from blustery Newport, Oregon.

For 10 hours a day, Suzanne Tidwell  of Sammamish knits. Sweater for trees. It’s otherwise known a “Guerilla Crochet”. Whatever you call it, the yarn stripes add much-welcomed color to our Pacific Northwest grey spring days.

Here’s the story that Evening Magazine did about Ms. Tidwell, her knitting machine, and penchant for this beautiful art form. And thanks to Werona A., Studio3 mommy, for sending us the pictures!

Clusters of Geeks began meeting in homes to celebrate an age-old practice that humans for thousands of years have enjoyed – games. The type any techie neophyte or old school Nerd would applaud.

If you feel your inner-Geek resonating with the power of the not-so-dark side, here are a few recommendations from the Austrian game industry, a must for any who pride themselves in Geekdom. To be acknowledged by any in the Gamer Brotherhood (where you get a +5 speech craft for bragging rights), your game closet should include a game with an Austrian Game of the Year Award noted from the official Wiener Spiele Akademie (Austrian Game Academy), which is similar to our Academy Awards (no joke).

Here are a few academy winners from Wiener Spiele Akademie (you might be surprised by a few that are familiar):

Spiele des Jahres (“Game of the Year”)

1995 – Settlers of Catan

2001 – Carcassonne

2004 – Ticket to Ride

2009 – Dominion

The Academy also has winners for family games, children’s games, multi-player games, two-player games…games for wizards, games for elves, games for space cowboys, games for those who like to wear capes simply because capes are cool (hey, don’t knock LARPers, where would Renaissance Fairs and Highland Games be without them!…Nerds, you’ll have to use your apps to find out what a LARPer is, teehee!). There are also games awarded by the Golden Geek Award and other various academy spin-offs which you can search and review at Board Game Geeks.

Most “Game of the Year” award winners are great for elementary age children as well. The family of Geeks who live in a neighborhood far far away, have 7 and 9 year old boys who are Padawan gamers one day hoping to belong to the Jedi Knights of the Gamer Brotherhood, like their mommy and daddy. Their favorite right now is Carcassonne followed closely by Dominion.

Other note worthy games celebrated in the Gamer Brotherhood include:

“Munchkin”, a fabulous game poking fun at Dungeon and Dragon based RPG’s (and the only way you’ll get to wear Boots of Kick-Ass and get away with it); “Forbidden Island”, where players work together to retrieve artifacts before an island sinks into the abyss (go Indiana Jones style Team Spirit!); “Citidels” a layered game where each round players are secretively a thief, assassin, the king, architect and other characters all using their skills to build the biggest city (get the expansion and play the king and your friends will have to say “Your Excellency” when addressing you or forfeit their turn); and “Pandemic”, another cooperative style game where players try to eradicate disease from claiming all of mankind (hmmm….was this inspired by Stephen King’s “The Stand”?).

-posted by Miss Jesikah, who would like to thank The Academy for bringing the Glory Days of Geek Gaming back to her home. Do you have Spiele des Jahres games in your closet?

This last week, my husband and I went to the musical Beauty and the Beast. WOW! What a production.  I have seen this show once before when it came through town about 12 years ago or so. I had one memorable scene that has stuck with me through out the years and has made me want to see this musical again. I was SO excited when the Paramount Theater announced its line up for the 2011/2012 season and Beauty and the Beast was on it! I went so far as to mark it on my calendar, each month, reminding me when tickets went on sale and to save money to be able to afford them.

When the day finally arrived, I was over the moon happy. Now, a couple things came into play that could’ve dampened my mood but I was not going to let that happen! The biggest thing that I was worried about was my son. He is 6 months old and we had yet to leave him in the evening to be babysat. I have NO problem leaving him with Nana or trusted friends but this was the first time that we would be breaking up his evening routine. Thankfully, he had taken a bottle from my husband that day so I was hopeful that he would do that at night as well.

After giving all the instructions to my mom, who was watching him, off we were to the Paramount Theater.  We went with a couple of friends and on the way down we were talking about our favorite parts of the movie. Singing the songs, recapping the story and talking about the anticipation of the costumes were all in our conversation. As soon as we parked the car, I saw it. There it was – a sea of gold amongst the theater goers.

Now, I have to say, we were lucky in that the night before was technically opening night. However, the trucks couldn’t make it over the pass and so the people who had opening night tickets had to be rescheduled for closing night. That meant that we had opening night tickets! This element just added an extra excitement in the air.

About the sea of gold. As you know, Belles’ dress when she dances with the Beast is gold and very elegant. There were so many little girls dressed in gold dresses holding roses. You could just see and hear them, non-stop talking to their parents about how excited they were to see the show. The sparkle in their eye was so bright you could see it from across the room.

Once we were seated, you could hear the buzz in the audience when the lights went down and the music started. It really was electric. Every one, adults and children alike, were sitting on the edge of their seats soaking up every note played, word spoken and song sung.  Through out the musical you could hear children laughing and little comments like ‘oooo, look at the Beast!’, ‘Belle is so pretty’ and ‘I just love this song’.

At one point in the show, I took a moment to look at my friends on my left and then my husband on my right, and all of them had smiles on their faces and an intent happiness in their eye. How can one musical, one show, one experience evoke so much emotion and reach an audience of young and old? It’s the magic of the theater!

Once the show was over it was a popcorn conversation between us about our favorite scene, song, dance and just about everything. As I was soaking everything in, an overwhelming feeling came over me. I can now share this love with my son! Obviously, I’m not going to take him to the paramount theater at 6 months old, but I can take him to Benaroya Hall for the symphony concert that Studio3 puts on. I can play music around the house and as he gets older introduce him to musicals, plays and art.  And, when he does come of age, I WILL be taking him to see a musical in the theater so that he can experience how a musical comes alive on the stage and not just the TV screen. : )

When we finally got home we learned that Miles had not taken his bottle and it had been a rough night for him. But, he didn’t starve, and my mom had a wonderful time with him. Even though things hadn’t gone ideally at home, the night couldn’t have gone any better. The memory of it all will stick with me for some time and I look forward to my next time at the theater. But, even more than seeing a musical myself, I cannot wait to introduce Miles to the art of the theater!

-posted by Miss Anna, who will jump at every chance she can get to attend a show!

At our Christmas concert in December we sang the “Hallelujah Chorus”.  I’ve always loved the Hallelujah Chorus.  The best part of my Birthday this year was getting up at 5:30 am to make it to Choir rehearsal with the high-school students who joined us at the concert.  I sang the “Hallelujah Chorus” three times before 7:30 am… oh, bliss….

And in January we focused a whole show on Mozart.  There are scads of Mozart pieces on my Happy List.  I love Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, I love the Piano Sonata in C Major, I love the Haffner Symphony and the Piano Concerto No. 22, and there are so many things on my LOVE IT Mozart list that I can’t even remember the names of some of them.

On March 17th, at our Symphony Serenade concert, we will be putting the spotlight on another one of my favorite pieces of music (and one that is definitely on my Happy List), Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony.

I love the playful nature of this piece, and I can’t ever quite get the vision of Fantasia’s capering cupids, centaurs and Pegasus out of my mind when I hear it.  I did manage to quash them down low enough to write a story without any fantastical mythical creatures. However, it does have animals, and they do talk, so perhaps I haven’t escaped the fantastical after all.

You’ll also be hearing part of the Overture for William Tell (yes, the famous part), the theme from the Lone Ranger.  There is nothing quite like hearing that brass fanfare and watching the faces of the children light up as they realize something wonderful is coming.  That fanfare creates a sense of excitement; it stirs something deep within us.  It literally screams, “Heroic deeds are heading your way!”

Introducing classical music to your child is fun, and not as hard we seem to think…. It can be daunting to search for a piece of music: the names are odd, technical descriptions that read like food labels for items produced entirely from polysyllabic ingredients that never existed in nature, and most of the composers have names that are hard to spell, too.

But coming to a Symphony Serenade concert is a way to find music that your child can connect with, and sing along with.  And if you’d like to know the name of a piece of music we’ve focused on or the name of the composer you can always send us an email, we’d love to pass that information on to you (it’s not like we announce them during the show).  And we’d love to give you few pointers for looking farther afield in the classical world, too. If you like X you just might like Y.

And yes, my kids did listen to classical music when they were little. And they liked it.   They were moved to play a game of monster search through and behind the furniture in my family room when the radio station we listened to in Denver played the Sinfonia Antartica, and everyday at noon all the kids came running from where ever they were in the house to hear Mozart’s Impresario ring in Mid Day Mozart on that same radio station.

I think it’s what has saved Nathaniel from the horrors of the really depressing music his peers listen to, because I know I gave him a musical heritage that is deep and wide, long and curvy with twists and turns and pockets of a little bit of everything. (Except smooth jazz.  I have saved him from that. And jazz fusion, too!)

So come see us on March 17^th.  They’ve just released few tickets for the 9:30 show. The 10:30 is sold out on the website, but you can call the box office at 206.215.4747 and plead.  And when you come, you’ll find out what you might miss if you sleep too late when the Rooster loses his ear shattering COCK-A-DOODLE DOO!

-posted by Miss Allison, who stayed up late last night with the prop making crew sewing costumes for sheep, cows, horses, ducks and a rooster, and creating a giant tree!

There are two parts to self-control. The first is inhibitory control, which is the ability to stop what you are doing and wait. (The other part is impulse control, which is the ability to stop an idea or thought from becoming an action.) But as inhibitory control develops first, we’ll begin there.

In class, we’ve been playing with a chant called Giddy Up Horsey. You can do this at home, too. Put your child on your lap on the floor, and say this chant and as you bounce:

Giddy up horsey, giddy up horsey, giddy up horsey, go, go, go! Bounce your child up and down.

Giddy, up horsey, giddy up horsey, giddy up horsey WHOA!! When you get to the whoa, stop bouncing, and lean back with your child and stop. Wait quietly for a moment. Keep repeating the whole thing until the giggles subside.

Then in class, we’ve been getting up and riding stick horses around to the same chant, stopping our ponies and waiting to be told to “go” again, (the inhibitory control part) after the whoa.

Miss Allison had an interesting observation this week. She said that because the grownups were in charge of the child’s body during the bounce, they were showing the children how to control their bodies (how to stop at the appropriate time). The grownups were teaching the children the pattern and the how of the going, stopping, and waiting.

When the children got up on the stick horses, they were more ready and able to control their own bodies. They were familiar with the pattern, and could anticipate the whoa. Miss Allison said that in classes that did the bounce first, before the pony riding, the children had a much higher success rate of demonstrating inhibitory control when in charge of their bodies during the pony ride, than the ones who just did the ride.

That fits with what we always say – You are your child’s first and best teacher.

So, do a little bouncing this week. And keep your eye on the blog. I’ve got an idea about how to make a really adorable stick pony to practice the riding and stopping and waiting (cleverly disguised inhibitory control practice). I just need to get the idea out of my head and take some pictures of the process. I promise – under $5 and NO sewing!

Oh, I almost forgot. For a fun stop and go game at home or in the car, check out this cute idea.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who will practice some pony riding every time she’s having difficulty practicing either inhibitory or impulse control around that Godiva sea salt dark chocolate.