It’s been almost a year since my household stopped doing normal life. The last time we went to the climbing gym was March 14. I’m sure we ate out that night. Some things have been hard. There are people who I would see casually, not necessarily people I’d set up a Zoom with, who I … Read more
During college, I ended up changing my primary instrument from flute to trombone, taking two extra years to complete my degree because I needed to be proficient enough on the trombone to pass a jury or a recital. With all of the metaphorical sweat equity that went into becoming competent, there was no way I … Read more
As an introverted child, I did a lot of people-watching. I noticed people who were boorish and didn’t notice others’ fake smiles and “oh look at the time!” exits. I saw people who droned on about disinteresting things and didn’t notice others’ eyes glazing over. I was so scared about being one of those people, … Read more
Sitting in the living room I rearranged over the weekend, enjoying the the new energy the room still has, facing the window with the blinds open, at my table in the corner with my moleskin and a felt-tipped pen. Felt-tipped pens are perfect for certain writing. They’re not fast, but my handwriting is lovely when … Read more
In a conversation on Zoom this morning, we chatted about staying on track with work and life. A system I guess-and-checked my way into is working really well for me right now and seemed to resonate with others, so I thought I’d share it with you. Take what resonates, leave the rest. First, I made … Read more
It’s easy to see the bad parts of 2020. They’re on the news, they’re in articles, they’re in memes, they’re showing up in expected and unexpected places in our lives. For the overwhelming majority of us, there were good parts to 2020 as well, even if some of them are double-edged. For example, both of … Read more
In a normal year, my social media feed would be full of posts from music teacher friends and parents of music students. It’s concert season. Band, orchestra, choir, drama, and others. Schools, churches, and others. Cute little ones, well-refined older ones, the ones in between who have neither the charm of the littles nor the … Read more
Climbing Daddy and I have a tradition of going to a National Park or Monument or something similar for Thanksgiving; Tall Daddy and The Kid go to his family’s Thanksgiving. We decided we wouldn’t go this year. The parks have never been crowded on Thanksgiving Day, but we’d have to stay somewhere. Camping is always … Read more
We had a great Halloween here this weekend. The Kid had two friends over, in their costumes and with masks. I had made an 18-piece puzzle for each of them, different color for each, and hid the pieces around the yard. The assembled puzzles revealed a joke and a clue for where they might find … Read more
Two things that popped up this week. First, I realized that the majority of my students are new to me this year, and I have never seen their faces. I don’t know what their noses look like. I see their eyes and their hair and that’s all. Many of them, if they showed up to … Read more