In the late 1980’s, I had the opportunity to take a course in Baroque music under the guidance of Dr. A. Peter Brown (1944-2003) of Indiana University. Knowing Dr. Brown was a thorough and knowledgeable professor, I had anticipated the course would cover a lot of ground. I was not wrong. I kept my notes … Continue reading Good Advice
Author: mmwordsmith
Who Am I? Why am I here? Why are any of us here? These are first-class essential questions. The kind of questions many people laughed about when Admiral James Bond Stockdale posed them in a vice-presidential debate in 1992. Who wants a politician to wax philosophical when he could act like he knows all the answers? Apparently, people like me. The need to question and reflect seems to be part of my personality - an inextricable part. I believe I need to take these kinds of questions seriously, but while doing so, try not to take my answers or myself too seriously. My guess is as good as anyone else’s, after all. Maybe the lesson, if there is one, is to struggle with questions like these, to stretch my capacity for understanding, to challenge my ability to tolerate divergent views, to look at life creatively, to remain unafraid to cling to old ideas when they are good and move on to new ideas when they are constructive. The great moral philosopher, Red Skelton, once said he believed we are put on earth “to create and not to destroy.” I sincerely hope my stories and musings will somehow help others grapple with their own questions and follow their best impulses towards creating a better world.
Competition Revisited
Jack was the one to beat. This was not his real name, but it will do. I knew about Jack from the year before. He was a fine trumpet player and was by all accounts most likely to win first chair in District Band. We were all expected to learn our parts and audition for … Continue reading Competition Revisited
What does it take?
Years ago, I worked with a trumpet student who thought I “didn’t care” about his progress. His reason was simple: I didn’t “yell” at him like his old band director did. Apparently, he was under the impression that the more someone cares, the more they should act like a drill sergeant. I assigned good quality … Continue reading What does it take?
When You Care Enough
Whenever something bad has happened or may be about to happen, we have a few choices. These depend on how much we care, how invested we are in the outcome. My dad used to say things like, "If you really care that damn much about it, then why don't you do something? Don't just complain, … Continue reading When You Care Enough
A Good Question
When I was teaching orchestration, we would have a “play day” for each project. Students would provide a Sibelius (music notation software) file, the class would listen, and we would offer comments. I would sometimes make edits or revisions in a project to demonstrate how a change or two might improve it. One day, as … Continue reading A Good Question
Two Thoughts
Many years ago, my wife and I lost a dear colleague to breast cancer. She battled the disease for several years and underwent a mastectomy and eventually the amputation of one arm before the cancer took her life. She was a caring person, and to put it in the terms of one of my mentors, … Continue reading Two Thoughts
Birthday Thoughts 2020
One day, back in 1965, I projected my age into the future, decade by decade. Let’s see, I thought…I’ll be 15 in 1970, 25 in 1980, 35 in 1990, 45 in the year 2000…that’s a new century, if I make it that far…I thought 45 was “old” at the time…55 in 2010…and now I’m 65…as … Continue reading Birthday Thoughts 2020
Competition
Everything we do is likely to put us in competition with others. Playing the trumpet and being around the music business for many years has taught me that much. Even writing the little bits and pieces of fiction and non-fiction I’ve posted so far means I’m competing with serious writers, famous authors, and clever bloggers. … Continue reading Competition
Vehicles
Dizzy Gillespie used the word, vehicle, when referring to a song suitable for jazz improvisation. Fiction with a point or two refers to stories as vehicles to convey larger ideas. I classify most of my stories as light science fiction, more like what C.S. Lewis called, science fantasy. The SF elements are there for basically … Continue reading Vehicles
Advice to a Young Person
Advice to accompany the famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow... The Wreck of the Hesperus is a poem about hubris. Hubris is over-confidence. Hubris is arrogance. Hubris is foolish pride. It’s good to take pride in a job well done, like a successful performance, a good test score, or improving your ability in some way. … Continue reading Advice to a Young Person
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