garyharan/Emma and her drums

## Emma and her drums
Watching Emma discover the world brings back memories of my own childhood.

Emma pats materials and things to see how it rubs against her tiny hands.  She gets engrossed in the act of hitting two objects together.  She doesn't just enjoy the sound they create but in her case often hears that specific sound for the first time.  She looks at reflections on objects and is starting to notice that you can learn to follow those light patterns to their sources.  She especially loves the metal bowls and the mirror-like surface of my tea pot.  Perhaps the way everything is disproportionate in them amuses her.  I guess big noses are innately funny.

I remember having similar moments as a child but my memory can't go as far back as what Emma is experiencing right now.  I remember for instance the scratching sound made by those weird animated holograms.  I remember being fascinated by the depth found in the VISA logo of my mother's credit card.  I remember that weird feeling you get when your hair is in the proximity of a static filled party balloon.

My audience is probably wondering why I'm sharing this all of a sudden. I guess it comes a point in life where you realize that you're all "grown up" and that you stopped looking at everything in the same light as before.  Somewhere along the way we exchanged the ability of discovering with that of categorizing.  Now we endlessly compare with other similar events and file each in their folders and drawers of our memory.  In your prideful adult way we reassure ourselves that we've done all that was to be done as a child and go on your merry way being all adult and serious.

Well the pendulum goes back in full swing when you have a child!  Here you are on the kitchen floor again like you had been 30 years before.  It strikes you as funny that you feel so at home sitting on that floor instead of that chair your adult buttocks got so used to.  Then your child gives you the most wonderful banging objects in the world and in an instant your perspective changes dramatically.  It is at that crucial moment that you realize that you've been missing out on all these years!  Your child hands you a spatula and very clearly lets you know that it bangs nicely on that bowl and this one and that one too.
	Watching Emma discover the world brings back memories of my own childhood.

	Emma pats materials and things to see how it rubs against her tiny hands. She gets engrossed in the act of hitting two objects together. She doesn't just enjoy the sound they create but in her case often hears that specific sound for the first time. She looks at reflections on objects and is starting to notice that you can learn to follow those light patterns to their sources. She especially loves the metal bowls and the mirror-like surface of my tea pot. Perhaps the way everything is disproportionate in them amuses her. I guess big noses are innately funny.

	I remember having similar moments as a child but my memory can't go as far back as what Emma is experiencing right now. I remember for instance the scratching sound made by those weird animated holograms. I remember being fascinated by the depth found in the VISA logo of my mother's credit card. I remember that weird feeling you get when your hair is in the proximity of a static filled party balloon.

	My audience is probably wondering why I'm sharing this all of a sudden. I guess it comes a point in life where you realize that you're all "grown up" and that you stopped looking at everything in the same light as before. Somewhere along the way we exchanged the ability of discovering with that of categorizing. Now we endlessly compare with other similar events and file each in their folders and drawers of our memory. In your prideful adult way we reassure ourselves that we've done all that was to be done as a child and go on your merry way being all adult and serious.

	Well the pendulum goes back in full swing when you have a child! Here you are on the kitchen floor again like you had been 30 years before. It strikes you as funny that you feel so at home sitting on that floor instead of that chair your adult buttocks got so used to. Then your child gives you the most wonderful banging objects in the world and in an instant your perspective changes dramatically. It is at that crucial moment that you realize that you've been missing out on all these years! Your child hands you a spatula and very clearly lets you know that it bangs nicely on that bowl and this one and that one too.