September 2012
1 post
I Dreamed I Moved Along The Elysian Fields: I... →
petitecontrebassiste:
I think that basses, like people, have different personalities. They come in different shapes and sizes, with different background stories and their own unique sound.
Some may be soft, cuddly, reliable, some sound harsh and loud and metallic, some sound sad and others quite happy; there are tall…
July 2012
3 posts
It's the Pizz.
It is very important to have control of the bow for a variety of timbres, even for the most traditional classical gig. The more contemporary the music, the more important it becomes.
One of the great pleasures of my life was in discovering that playing sul ponticello, if done with care, can duplicate that wonderful distorted sound Jimi Hendrix used for his version of the Star Spangled Banner. I...
June 2012
15 posts
“Moon landing was real. Evolution exists. Tax cuts lose revenue. The research has...”
– Austan Goolsbee, on the idea that tax cuts will pay for themselves by improving the economy. (via theatlantic)
“To love someone is to reveal to them their capacities for life, the light that...”
– Jean Vanier, as quoted by Hannah Kinsley in “Living Life Abundantly at L’Arche Ireland” (via beingblog)
“Good health is a prerequisite to the enjoyment of ‘pursuit of happiness.’...”
– President Kennedy, Special Message to the Congress on Urgent Health Needs, 2/27/62 (via jfklibrary)
“If women are ever to achieve real equality as leaders, then we have to stop...”
– Anne-Marie Slaughter, Why Women Still Can’t Have It All, The Atlantic Magazine (via mas-alla)
all by myself
Mom always said that you can’t get along with others unless you can get along by yourself. I think that’s one of the basic Truths of life.
But I sometimes have difficulty balancing that with being lonely. I am comfortable with myself, I have a strong internal compass and can engage myself in many activities—both mental and physical—to move through my day. But I have...
May 2012
15 posts
“It’s hard to not respond with texting because you’re not exactly sure what...”
– On today’s Fresh Air, James Steyer explains how texting and the Internet are changing the way we interact. (via nprfreshair)
BAZINGA! →
Emmy-winning Big Bang Theory actor Jim Parsons has revealed he’s gay in a profile in the New York Times. Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/big-bang-theorys-jim-parsons-comes-out-in-ny-times-profile-20120523/#ixzz1viwPW3lv
Finding enough hours in the day
Sometimes I think I need to move to mars. It has a longer day in terms of hours from sunrise to sunrise.
I look at the long list of things to do. When I divide it by “things I have to do,” “things I need to do,” and “things I want to do,” it becomes a bit less intimidating. But I rarely get all the have-tos done, let alone the need-tos. I sometimes just skip...
“You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come...”
– Richard Bach, Illusions
Life in the quarter system
I teach at a university that is on the quarter system. In practical terms, it means that my colleagues at other universities are having final exams for their spring terms while I am just in week 7 of the spring quarter. I have 4 more weeks.
It gets really annoying when I see fabulous workshops I would love to attend—that are scheduled during finals week. We start right after new...
Ten Thousand Hours
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, he presents the idea that it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to build true expertise. He cites several examples of people at the top of their respective fields who had unique opportunities in their late teens to do a lot of what they do, which coupled with natural talent and intelligence to produce game-changing ideas. Bill Gates was one of those....
Getting Along
We get angry at people when they don’t do what we think they should. But should they do certain things just because we think they should? Or only “the right thing”? How do I know the difference between what I want and what is right?
The most difficult thing in a relationship is to let the other person BE.
I got really upset at someone today. Then I got madder at myself for...
One small step at a time
Losing weight. Getting in shape. Mastering a new piece of repertoire. Writing a blog. It’s all done one small step at a time, over time.
Bert Turetzky once called it, “making haste slowly.”
So here we go.
