Milkshake

Well, now.

You spend a few days preparing a conference talk, and you become involved in candidate search processes, and then your wife goes on an 8-day business trip to South Africa - and suddenly it's been more than a month, and daffodils have sprouted and then grown tall since you've blogged about your own beautiful daughter, you rascal.

And you start to feel bad about it, you really do - and then you realize that not a single one of your hypothetical readers ever even implied that they missed the production of new content. I mean, isn't it still winter in, say, Tomsk? And isn't reading about Cleo a nice way to pass a cold winter's day? Geez.

But listen: out word count may be down, but we haven't yet lost our gumption. And so, like Cleo on a Wednesday evening, let's dive right back in, with a partial account of what she's been into of late. Which is, in fact, rather simple: it's Milkshake, with a capital M.

A local band, Milkshake's dedicated to providing quality music to the toddlers of the world. And, from Cleo's point of view, they've got several things going for them. For one, their lead singer is named Lisa - just like a certain mommy. For another, Lisa wears a tutu when she performs. And, for three, Lisa's own child is an alum of Cleo's nursery. Which is almost like - from Cleo's point of view - going to the same school as Julian Lennon.

Anyway, L. took Cleo to see a local performance by Milkshake a few weeks back. Big hit: I gather that at one point there was a cow - real? a puppet? my toddler's account isn't specific - onstage, and I gather that the music really pleased. At least, it has since; if you spend any time in the car with Cleo, in fact, you're sure to get a request for the Milkshake CD.

So put it in, and turn it up. You'll hear some straight-ahead rock, but you'll also hear a touching ballad with a cleverly simple refrain ("I love you. I don't know much, but this much is true"), and some faint echoes of bluegrass, and country. You'll hear Rodney Henry, of Dangerously Delicious Pies, offering a bluesy overview of how to make an apple pie, and you'll hear Great Day, which was recently nominated for an Emmy.

Soon enough (because Milkshake was actually founded by parents who know that kids aren't big fans enjoy 7-minute sound odysseys), you'll reach the end of the final track. And you just might find that occasionally, even if unprompted by the tiny voice in the back, you'll let the CD begin to play again. Smile, friend. There's nothing wrong with starting over.