Smorgasbord #30
Piano, community, homeschooling & a toda madre
Hello friends! This is Smorgasbord, a self-service buffet of ideas—the two-taco plate of newsletters. If you’re a mom in Mexico, happy Mother’s Day! If you’re a mom but are in the US, please wait until Sunday. I’m not sure when Mother’s Day is celebrated in the rest of the world, but if you’re a mom, I’m sure you’re doing great.
This weekend, we’ll have our annual Mother’s Day picnic to celebrate
and I’m looking forward to it because we’ll pair the picnic with a concert in the park. The band is a Paul McCartney tribute band, and I really hope they play “Silly Love Songs.” What’s your Mother’s Day tradition? Let me know in the comments.Alright, let’s get on with it.
Public Piano
There’s a YouTube genre that I’ve been obsessed with lately: the public piano genre. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’ll explain it to you: a musician goes to a public place, such as an airport, a cafe, or a mall, where a piano is available for anyone to play. The musician then sets two cell phones on each end of the 88 keys and starts recording.
After watching hours of these videos, the cynic in me started thinking things like: “What are the odds that opera singers happen to be at the same place where this guy is playing Libiamo or Habanera?” or “What a coincidence that this girl requests a song and then the original artist comes into a mall and sings with him.”
I get it; if you are an opera singer and want to collaborate with other content creators to get more eyeballs on you, then it makes sense that you happen to appear in places where a pianist is playing, like when Florian Sempey sings Figaro at a restaurant or a piece from Carmen at an airport.
It made me think of the days when flash mobs were a thing. Were you ever part of a flash mob? In high school, I tried to be part of one with my musical theater friends. Anyway, I had to stop myself from poo-pooing on these singers and musicians and focus on the positive. They are bringing beauty into the world.
I have never been to the opera, but now I’m interested in learning more about it and listening to it. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older and have zero interest in any new music being produced today. I’m getting acquainted with Puccini, Verdi, Rossini, and Bizet, and I think that’s a good thing; some guy recording himself playing the piano has made me think about listening to more opera music.
We can never have too much beauty in the world.
Intentionality
My in-laws live in California, and my family lives in Mexico, so Diana and I try to be as intentional as possible when building community. Diana has been involved with our parish’s mom’s group, women’s retreats, and Bible studies. I have volunteered as a cantor and a catechist. Together, Diana and I help couples who are going through marriage prep.
This year, we decided to grow in hospitality. So far, we have hosted three open houses, happy hours, or ragers (as some people have jokingly called them). The last one, Cinco de Mayo, was the biggest. We had 80 people over, 30 of whom were kids. The trampoline had a dangerous number of kids on it, but nobody was hurt. We only had one bloody nose, but it was primarily due to dryness of the nose and exposure to the sun.
There was a good mixture of first-timers and regulars, and I regret not being able to spend more time with each one of our guests. I was making the rounds, ensuring everyone had something to drink and eat, making coffee, breaking fights, and all the extra things that happen when you have that many people at your home.
One of the first-timers was a friend of
and who recently moved to Phoenix, so we invited him over, and he showed up with some beer and snacks. I mean, come on. I have some friends from Monterrey who are also new to Phoenix, so I introduced them, and they got to talk. I remember being possessive about my friends, not wanting others to meet them, and being afraid that they would like each other more than me. But now I see how this is silly, and the more I share my friends, the richer everyone’s lives can be.We received positive feedback from our friends, which made Diana and I feel good about our effort to unite people. I got a phone call from a friend who was here on Sunday but didn’t get to chat with him much. He said how nice it was to talk to people he sees every Sunday at Church but without the pressure of needing to get home or having to deal with a kid having a meltdown.
The summer months will make it slightly challenging to host larger groups since it’ll be too hot to be outside, but maybe we’ll do something smaller. The key is not to lose momentum. It also gives me an excuse to make cocktails, a nice perk.
How We Homeschool
Diana, my wonderful bride, was featured in
‘s publication, where she writes about what a day in the life of a homeschooling family looks like (for the most part). I’m mainly sharing it because her piece makes me look good.
A toda madre
This week’s Spanish lesson is “a toda madre”
Literal translation: to all the mother
Meaning: This phrase is used to denote that you are having a good time.
Example: How’s the party? A toda madre!
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Sobremesa
Have you watched any public piano videos? What do you think of the genre?
Do you like opera music? Have you been to the opera?
Are you intentional about building community?
I’ll give you five points if you use “a toda madre” in a conversation this weekend.
Man do I do that exact loop with public performance / deliberate performance phenomena all the time! It’s tough! To defend us: it is good that societies have norms against self-promotion, attention-seeking, and deceit! This may be a special case where the beauty brought into the world is worth it, cannot come any other way, etc., and where those vices aren’t very strong or notable! But we’re not wholly nuts to look slightly skeptically at it, IMO!
Isn't it sooo patriarchal how they teach 'que padre' in Spanish class and not 'a toda madre'? 🤭🤭🤭