oh come now, so much modesty.

this morning while i was eating breakfast, i watched a very interesting episode of babar.

yes, babar, the show about the elephants.

anyway, babar was telling his son a story about when he was a young king and how the great leopold, "the greatest pianist of our generation" was coming to celesteville. well babar was going to give a speech but was so transfixed by a piece that the old lady was playing and decided that, not only did he want to learn how to play the piano and that song, but that he was going to welcome the great leopold with a concert. (and yes, they get around the fact that he's an elephant and doesn't have fingers) now he has four weeks to do this and he gives up all of his spare time to practice. of course, that plan goes awry (and one who was a kid and had to practice will attest to that) and at the end of the four weeks and after countless nightmares, is not able to perform the piece. but with the old lady's help, he plays the only piece he knows how, "baa baa black sheep", which just happens to be a similar theme in haydn's surprise symphony, one of the great leopold's favorite pieces.

now the theme of this story is to take on tasks you are prepared to handle, but of course i saw it as an ode to practicing, or lack thereof. i mean, how do you teach a child (or anyone for that matter) to practice? it's hard. it took me a very long time to understand really how to practice and now i love to do it because i've seen the results. but i remember being 12 and not really having the best experience. there was a moment in the show where all of the notes blurred together and babar sort of had sheet music tunnel vision. i laughed cause that still happens to me. you practice for more than two hours and its 2:05 in the morning and you sort of lose your grip on reality and your own sanity.

but it made me laugh and i need laughs nowadays. babar was always a great show.