Because very little if anything in life is completely binary, I felt myself needing to qualify many of these thoughts as I wrote. Instead, I’m just going to say here at the beginning that yes, there are exceptions to these generalizations, and since they’re exceptions, their incidence is low. If you’re feeling like you’re the … Read more
At Kennedy Space Center, there’s a memorial area to the astronauts lost on Columbia and Challenger. There’s a case—like a large shadowbox—for each astronaut with their name, a photo, and some items summarizing their lives and their humanity. A piece of sheet music for one who was a musician. A uniform and katana for one … Read more
I’m in several photographer groups on social media, and most of them have had some conversations around gear. “I’m a newbie and don’t know what to get” or “I’m thinking about upgrading my camera body” or “I want XYZ lens—show me pics you’ve taken with it.” There’s always a subthread in these conversations about how … Read more
Rocket Kid was in a musical earlier this week as part of an extra-curricular semester-long theatre class he took through Childsplay. The performance included his class as well as all of the others in their “conservatory,” a total of seven performances. One of the things I love about Childsplay is that the students and teachers … Read more
I was reminded of an anecdote from college. I was walking across campus late one afternoon, getting dark, and it was snowing. Snow was sticking but hadn’t accumulated much yet, maybe half an inch, if that. My walk to the music building took me past a very small parking lot where there was a woman … Read more
In the Before Times, we went to Burst of Butterflies more often than you might expect people to go to a pottery-painting place. It was a family-run business in the city I worked in, and they opened a satellite location closer to home (and easier to park) than the original place. We painted canvases. We … Read more
My standard advocacy for change is small, sustainable pieces. My eating habits changed that way. My exercise habits changed that way. My financial habits changed that way. (I do think there are situations where this isn’t the best, but it applies more broadly than cold turkey, in my opinion and experience.) Bits that are so … Read more
As a beginning band teacher, I often heard people say that my students didn’t need instruments of good quality because the kids didn’t know how to play anyway. That’s exactly why they need good quality. Because they don’t know what they’re doing, they have no skills to compensate for deficiencies in the instrument. They don’t … Read more
Last weekend, Climbing Daddy and I went for a run in the neighborhood. No Rocket Kid plus nicer late-fall weather meant it was almost 9:00 by the time we got out the door. Our planned route was blocked off by police tape and cars, and we could see a car had crashed into something where … Read more
I recently read a short piece about moving through life and healing, changing, growing as you go, and just because you’ve changed doesn’t mean others owe it to you to be part of your life again. This stirred up a variety of thoughts and emotions, primarily: I’m deeply sad about this from one perspective and … Read more