A MUSICAL ABOUT COPY EDITING. When Annalisa and Nick were about 13 and 10, Annalisa had seen 1776 with her class, loved it, and became a big fan of John Adams. She and I suggested Nick might like to watch 1776. I made the mistake of describing it as a musical about the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. As I have said, from a young age, Annalisa and Nick were both gifted mimics, especially of their parents. After I mentioned 1776, Nick started doing occasional riffs on what he imagined as one song from the show, sung to a tune he invented: “There should be a period here. Da doot da da doot.” “It should be a semi-colon.” Annalisa would join in.
Of course, when he saw 1776, he loved it. Annalisa and Nick still sing the song from time to time when the occasion arises.