Pandora

As you know, Tad and I got a new television.  Since we got the thing, I have watched less actual television than before its arrival.  We use it for movies on Netflix.  But mostly we use it to listen to Pandora.  Oh, how I love Pandora.  If you don't know, it is an online streaming radio website. You can create custom stations based on a band, type of music, or even a song.

So, last night Tad let Coen create a station.  He wanted an "All you need is love" station.  It played the Beatles (of course) and Van Morrison and the Rolling Stones.  We listened while we ate dinner and talked together.  Tad explained to the children the Pandora rating system.  You can click on the thumbs up or the thumbs down icons to let Pandora know how you feel about songs and it tailors the station exactly to your taste.  So with each song, our whole family voted with our thumbs and decided from there whether to keep the song or to thumbs down it.  Coen and Lucy love holding their thumbs out sideways to show that they "kinda like it, kinda don't." We decided that the thumbs sideways indicates a shrug.

After we finished eating, the station had somehow taken an eighties turn.  We had a family dance party to 99 Red Balloons and Come on Eileen The night ended with Goodbye Ruby Tuesday.  We switched dance partners, twirled around, danced holding hands in a circle, and jumped around the living room.  It was a lovely end to the evening, until the children got into the bath.

After their bedtime, Tad sat in front of me while I rubbed his shoulders and we listened to The Lemonheads radio on Pandora.  It was nineties musical heaven and Tad and I laughed and reminisced about college while we heard the La's, Belly, Matthew Sweet, The Gin Blossoms, The Cure, and of course, The Lemonheads.

I made fun of Tad because he was so blissed, getting a shoulder rub that he uncharacteristically clicked thumbs up on Blues Traveller.  I love our new TV. Even if it is just an oversized screen on which to view Pandora options and watch the occasional movie.