arrange • compose • conduct
“Some of our transformative leaders in history have been introverts. I’ll give you some examples. Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Gandhi — all these people described themselves as quiet and soft-spoken and even shy. And they all took the spotlight, even though every bone in their bodies was telling them not […]
Keep going. That’s my 2020 resolution. Keep learning, of course. Keep dreaming, definitely. Keep connecting, keep teaching, keep growing, keep questioning, keep improving. But most of all: keep going.
2019 was a wonderful year, both professionally and personally. Here’s an overview of my work year: Writing I published a new post on this site every day in 2019, totaling 368 posts. I wrote over 75,000 words written for my blog this year; That averages to over 5,000 a month or around 200 per day, or […]
Books remain at the heart of the media I consume – not perhaps the most significant by volume, but certainly by the effect they have on my life. I read 17 books in 2019; my lowest in years, and a number I’d like to push upwards in 2020. Here are a […]
“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 […]