When our kids were in school, I often asked them if they knew why they didn’t get the grade they wanted. I’m sure they found my question annoying to say the least. Yet, I think it’s important to understand whether they were tired, weren’t feeling well, didn’t study enough, misread a question, or just made … Continue reading Excuse Me
Category: Uncategorized
Off With Their Heads!
In October of 2016, four members of the music faculty, including me, were told their positions were being eliminated, effective at the beginning of the next academic year. We were called in for a morning meeting, the president announced the decision, and we were sent on our way. I remember two of my colleagues went … Continue reading Off With Their Heads!
Odyssey-Us
“He prayeth best who loveth best / All things, both great and small: / For the dear God who loveth us, / He made and loveth all.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge Miss Broscious, my 9th grade English teacher, did her best to introduce us to Greek mythology and a few plays of William Shakespeare. Apparently, … Continue reading Odyssey-Us
Turn the Page
Two years ago, my father died. Mom passed away a few years before that. I’ve been living with a combination of grief and relief for 8 years. While I miss them both, I’m not overwhelmed by their passing, because in some ways they (and I) had already moved on by the time they officially left … Continue reading Turn the Page
Shortcuts
As far as one of my professors was concerned the worst invention of all time was the Xerox machine. His reasoning: while moveable type made the wide dissemination of knowledge possible, the Xerox machine made it easy to copy information without interacting with it. “When you read a book, or listen and take notes, you … Continue reading Shortcuts
Spectacular!
An Independence Day Meditation Part of playing in a high school band was marching in parades. Memorial Day. Independence Day. Veterans Day. And whatever “day” the band director said we would play. Parades are for families, children, veterans, dignitaries, and those who want to make a show of being there. Parades are pageantry. They commemorate … Continue reading Spectacular!
Memorials
“Who am I anyway? Am I my resumé?” – from “I Hope I Get It” (A Chorus Line) Hamlisch and Kleban, 1975. There are many ways to “make your mark” on the world. And based on what I was taught, there are only a few good ways to do this. Think of the names we … Continue reading Memorials
The Golden Age
“Perception is reality.” At least according to some. If someone perceives that they look too fat, too thin, or too anything, this is their reality, no matter how others might see them. If a person perceives some other group as dangerous, treasonous, or demonic, this is their reality. If they perceive their own as virtuous, … Continue reading The Golden Age
Rise of the Machines
“Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” — Ecclesiastes 7:29, KJV “Ay, roar well,” said Bagheera [the panther], under his whiskers, “for the time comes when this naked thing will make thee roar to another tune, or I know nothing of man.” – … Continue reading Rise of the Machines
Significance
“My friends were little men—like the Führer himself. These ten men were not men of distinction. They were not men of influence. They were not opinion-makers. Nobody ever gave them a free sample of anything on the ground that what they thought of it would increase the sales of the product. Their importance lay in … Continue reading Significance
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