10,001 Maniacs

Lately, GK has been enthralled with my wedding. She's asked questions about the day and asked to see the wedding album again and again. She's also mesmerized by the song we had played. My cousins played acoustic guitars and sang 10,000 Maniac's "These Are Days."

Kristy showed her the video of Natalie Merchant singing it and she's asked to see it over and over. And then she asked to see other videos by "the same girl." So we've obliged, dialing up YouTube so she can sit rapt at my desk and sway her head side to side, her lips trying to keep up with the words.

I can see 5-year-old GK as a Natalie Merchant-type some day, her rage directed at the injustices of the world; the very weight of that world on her weary shoulders. It's fine by me. Not that I expect her to chain herself to an old forest one day, or reserve her dining dollars for cafes that eschew all Styrofoam and plastic, or for her to force feed her baby doll in public to prove any points. I'm not the protesting type (though she most certainly is). I'm just ready for her to turn her unholy and focused rage against someone other than me and the other people living in this house for a change - and the world seems as good a target as any.

Look out people, GK is a maniac!