arrange • compose • conduct
“The wind’s coming from the wrong direction!” That was my thought on walking outside this morning into 40mph winds…from the east. Where I am, on a bluff looking westward at Lake Michigan, the wind is almost always blowing off the lake. From the West. This, I learned, is a big […]
I published a post here every day in 2019. Here’s a favorite post from each month. January: Respect For…February: Unextreme SportsMarch: Effortless. Precise.April: The Hardest Part is Being PresentMay: I Don’t Know the Right AnswerJune: Consequences and RedemptionJuly: If You Wants Something Done RightAugust: Teachers’ SuperpowerSeptember: Three Ways of Learning New […]
My listening habits are fairly diverse, and fairly heavily rooted in revisiting music I love. That said, there are plenty of things I discovered this year – either new or new to me. Here are some that I loved. Thirsty Ghost (Sara Gazarek) Sara Gazarek is a wonderful jazz singer based in L.A., […]
There are always dishes to be done, if you cook and have a family. Even when you’re sick, even when you’ve had the busiest of days. Even on Christmas. (especially on Christmas, if you like to make extra special goodies for your family!) And so you do them. It’s good […]
Happy Holiday – it’s the holiday season! How about both at once? I love this swinging medley of two lesser known Christmas tunes, and the great close harmony singing from this classic Manhattan Transfer album. Wishing you a truly happy holiday, whatever you celebrate.
In our societal obsession with work productivity, I think we forget to value unproductivity. We might innately understand the value of playing a board game with family, or reading a novel on the couch, or singing together around the piano, but we ought to consciously acknowledge the value. Unproductivity leads […]
One of my intentions in the weeks and months ahead is to spend a little more of my day in poetry. But it’s not easy to prioritize it. For ease, here are a couple of resources I’ll be using to spur my time spent with poetry. The Slowdown Poet Laureate […]
Welcome to the 23rd edition of The Definitive Version, a regular feature of my website. You can read more about the project here and read all past entries here. Song: “The Christmas Song” (1945)Composer: Mel TorméLyricist: Bob Wells & Mel TorméForm: AABAStandard Key: C Major or E-flat Major Mel Tormé was a legendary […]
I credit Anna and Elsa (and the wonderful songwriters, Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez) for giving children and adults a number of wonderful mental care tools in Frozen 2. Maybe my favorite is this, when Anna is facing heartache, regret, grief, and struggle and proceeds to self-talk her way to […]
I was taken by this recently-posted TED Talk from a Lincoln, NE high school English teacher. A few important quotes from her talk: They come to school with trauma, and when I go home every day, that goes home with me. And see, that’s the hard part about teaching. It’s […]