Everyone and His Cousin

Today was a day for cousins!

Happy Birthday, Magda!

We headed over to Morrisville to attend a surprise party that Athennia's cousin Danny threw for his wife Magdalena's birthday... He had called back in early March to invite us and ask if we could bring some fruit; so, Athennia and I spent a couple hours last night preparing that. I think it turned out pretty well!

Riley came to the party with us, since she and I are buddies now (or at least frenemies). Taylor and her girlfriend declined. I got to meet a decent portion of Athennia's family, including Danny's kids Cody and Maya; his sister Irene and her (grown) kids Jake and Mary; and Athennia's uncle Kevin—whose name I'm unlikely to forget :)

As is typical at a large party, it felt like we only got to visit with any one person for a couple minutes at most. But, I enjoyed talking with Kevin, and also with Blanche and Bruce—whom I did not realize are farmers until the end of the conversation when Athennia and I were walking away. (I just thought we were talking about gardening and you two were hardcore growers! I would've asked you so many more questions.)

At any rate, everyone had a great time. Riley recognized a classmate from school and went off to play with her. Athennia and I sat under a tent with Lou and listened to the live band most of the afternoon.

And, I actually had three beers. (Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm lucky if I hit three beers over the course of an entire year.)

"His Dentist Hates Him!"

Danny hired his buddy's band Everyman Jack to play the party. They performed a couple dozen well-known alt-rock songs and were super entertaining. (I'd love to link to them, but I couldn't find a website or profile anywhere.)

At one point, Athennia and I were talking when we heard Danny declare, "His dentist hates him!" When we looked up to ask what the hell he was talking about, he motioned to the stage—where we saw the lead singer/guitarist playing his guitar with his teeth!

I did get a private chuckle when they performed Radiohead's "Creep"... The song's written in the key of G-major but borrows some notes from the parallel minor key (including, rather iconically, the C-minor chord).

So, every time the chorus returns to the verse, the bass guitar "walks" up the scale from C back to G—but Radiohead flats the E and F♯ to yield C-D-E♭-F-G. But, for whatever reason, the bassist didn't do this: He just kept walking up the G-major scale—C-D-E-F♯-G—giving the bassline this wierd Lydian sound that clashed with the vocals and the guitar.

Now, the oddest part by far is that this guy was a stellar player! He didn't make a single mistake on any other song; so, I just kind of sat there through "Creep" trying to think how he could possibly not be hearing the "off-ness" of those two unflatted notes in the context of the rest of the song. I finally had to consider the possibility that maybe he'd never actually heard "Creep" and he was just "playing by the rules"...

The song's in G-major? I'll play it in G-major. <shrug>

I don't know; I thought it was funny. Just figured I'd share it since a large swath of my family are formally-trained musical professionals and might get a chuckle out of it as well.

No hard feelings, Mr. Axeslinger: You're a still far better player than I am, and I had an absolute blast listening to you :)

Put a Little English on It

As the party was coming to a close, Danny challenged me to a game of pool down in the basement...

He had asked Athennia on the phone back in March whether I played, and commented, "You guys have to come over sometime so I can meet him and we can play some pool... as long as he's not better than me."

No worries there, Danny: I'm not better than anyone at pool!

Danny smoked me. Then Athennia and I played, and she beat me by a ball. So, I am un-undefeated against Athennia's family at billiards. I don't know that I'll get a trophy for that, but I'm hoping for at least a fancy certificate with a gold star and some little stalks of wheat on it.

A Nels and Top Reunion

After the party, Athennia and I dropped Riley off and went to my parents' to see my out-of-town cousins who had just arrived.

My cousin Nancy is of course "famous" in our family for having been the one who introduced my parents (way back in the early 1980s). She and my mom met at Bloomsburg University, and she later mentioned having a cousin Jack who was living and teaching in Bucks County... and single at the time. So, Mom and Nancy have been dear friends for longer than I've been alive. And, they call each other "Nels" and "Top"—abbreviations of their maiden names.

Nancy and her granddaughters Amber and Carly are visiting for a few days. And, American genealogical terminology being what it is, they are all my cousins: Nancy's my cousin. Her sons Troy and Todd are my cousins. And, her grandkids are my cousins...

That's three generations. And one word. Confused? Yeah; so am I.

But, I haven't seen them since 2017, and I'm looking forward to catching up and having the opportunity for Athennia to get to know another part of my family :)