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Pastiche, noun. 1. A literary, artistic, musical, or architectural work that imitates the style of previous work. From Merriam-Webster Pastiche gets a bad name – just look how often it’s preceded by the word bad. We look down our noses at pastiche artists, as not really forging original ground. But […]

In times of upheaval, I lean on touchstones–works of art that have shaped me and the continue to be sources of inspiration, influence, and solace. It might be rereading a favorite novel, a cherished poem, a movie, or (especially often) a favorite album with a good pair of headphones. Joe […]

A wise old friend of mine posted a few weeks ago, “You’re doing great, everybody! It’s ok that it’s hard, everybody’s first pandemic is gonna be tough! Keep it up and remember: we only have to do one day per day.” I’ve repeated “everybody’s first pandemic is gonna be tough” […]

In times of upheaval, I lean on touchstones–works of art that have shaped me and the continue to be sources of inspiration, influence, and solace. It might be rereading a favorite novel, a cherished poem, a movie, or (especially often) a favorite album with a good pair of headphones. What […]

I do not aspire to do the creative equivalent of Newton creating calculus in a pandemic. Setting your intention is important, and intending to upend the world with your output in this pandemic is ludicrous: the memes asking you to compare yourself to Newton or other creative superheroes are misguided. […]

In times of upheaval, I lean on touchstones–works of art that have shaped me and the continue to be sources of inspiration, influence, and solace. It might be rereading a favorite novel, a cherished poem, a movie, or (especially often) a favorite album with a good pair of headphones. James […]

It’s time for my fifth Flash Mob Friday! Gigging musicians and artists have been and will continue to be disproportionately hit by the COVID-19 closings, so each Friday I’m going to point you towards a musician, artist, or organization I think is worth your support. It’s my hope that together […]

I was helping my son solving some quadratic equations the other night. (They’re still fun, for the record.) He first had to solve some using the “reverse-FOIL” – basically a logic puzzle, and then later had to solve some using the Quadratic Formula, which you might remember as a complex […]

In times of upheaval, I lean on touchstones–works of art that have shaped me and the continue to be sources of inspiration, influence, and solace. It might be rereading a favorite novel, a cherished poem, a movie, or (especially often) a favorite album with a good pair of headphones. A […]

The biggest barrier to learning to juggle, in my experience, is control. You need to learn to control with great accuracy the trajectory of every toss, so that the juggling balls fall predictably. Without control, you end up chasing your juggling balls around the room and quickly dropping one or […]