I've been playing catchup with The Hamilcast (a podcast about the musical Hamilton), and am on the series of episodes featuring the show's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda. He's talking about the song "Aaron Burr, Sir," and how several of the lines rhyme the next to last syllable rather than the last one (these lines all have "sir" at the end), making it more of a feminine rhyme and not just him rhyming "sir" with "sir."

Which got me thinking. Have I been wrong all this time for mocking Kid Rock for rhyming "things" with "things" in the chorus of "All Summer Long?"

Thankfully, no:

And we were trying different things 
We were smoking funny things 

"Different" and "funny" don't rhyme, obviously. The mocking shall continue.

Lentorama 2017: Lenten Observers of Instagram

Day 11: We interrupt Lentorama to talk about me

#wanderingcross17 #lent #handbells #choir #music

A post shared by marydearest (@marydearest) on Mar 15, 2017 at 6:06pm PDT

Yes, I posted this less to reflect on the role of music in Lent than to mention that I was in a bell choir in elementary school. Theoretically those of us in the choir scored the highest on a musical aptitude test our music teacher gave us, though it doesn't explain how I got in (I don't think I'm completely tone deaf, but I don't think I'm particularly musical, either). For whatever aptitude we were supposed to have, you really only had to be able to count to four as the teacher circled the notes we needed to play on our sheet music.

I don't remember much about the choir, other than being jealous of the kid who got to ring the large bell for... Pachibel's Canon in D Major? Finlandia? Not sure which one, but it was a showy piece for that bell, and I really liked the sound of the bell.

We have a consultant working in the office due to a staffing shortage, and she sits in the cubicle right in front of mine. For the most part this isn't an issue; we don't interact more than to say hi, and in fact I'm not even sure of her name (which seems bad, but from past experience the consultants don't get particularly chummy with anyone).

But this morning took an interesting turn, as all of us in the back were serenaded with this album. I'd admit surprise that Hall and Oates had made a Christmas album, but that would indicate I've considered their career since, say, 1990.

And while I'm not as positive about the album as the reviewer, I do think it could have been worse. Still, it wasn't something I was looking to hear, and it leads me to consider what I could play in return. Outside of looping "Christmas in Hollis" or the dogs barking "Jingle Bells" for an hour, I'm open to suggestion.