The Squish method

One of the best things about my basement study, where I write: It shares a wall with the room where my daughter practices piano. Listening to her play a piece again and again, or trying to work out the notes in something she's heard in a movie, is just one of those happy things about being a dad.

On several occasions she's come to me and said, Hey, Daddy, listen, do you recognize this? and then played the opening bars to the Hobbit theme of The Lord of the Rings, or my favorite Death Cab for Cutie song. It just warms my heart right up.