WordPress has tasked me with writing today about what I would like to accomplish this year. In past years, I’d have been hard pressed to come up with an answer. In fact, I spent much of life opposed to the very concept of New Year’s resolutions, having observed that for many people resolutions ended up…
2022: Favorite Albums
These are the albums I nearly wore out (if it's possible to degrade Spotify and Bandcamp streams). As with my favorite books of 2022, these are not limited to albums that were released in 2022, just those I returned to time and time again throughout the year. Joe Magnarelli: New York Osaka Junction (modern jazz)Cory…
2022: Favorite Books
This was one helluva year, in ways both good and not so much. But I ended up doing more reading at the beginning and the end of the year (don't ask me about the middle part 😉 than I had in a long time. Some favorites in no particular order: Anthony Doerr: Cloud Cuckoo LandAmong…
Kismet
Preparing to travel to Indianapolis over the holidays to visit family, I wanted to see if there might be any live jazz shows while I was in town. There were; in fact, it just so happens that Indy has a larger, more active jazz scene than I would have guessed given its proximity to Chicago.…
Crazy Cool Christmas
I erred grievously in a post yesterday. And it’s because of a dreadful sin of omission I’ve committed over and over this Advent season. How I could have waited until December 24 to play Kermit Ruffins’ amazing “Have a Crazy Cool Christmas”?? Kermit’s just a seriously cool cat and I seriously miss seeing him live…
Lo Siento
While trying to piece together my itineraries from travels long ago, I found the following note I'd made for myself while in Antigua, Guatemala on June 24, 2018: Just passed a bar here in which some guy was playing bluegrass banjo. JFC, as if I don’t already have enough to apologize for as a gringo…
Awake Me in the New World (Feliz Navidad)
I’ve been feeling the holiday spirit the last week or so. I’ve even been listening to a lot of Christmas music this year, including my favorite Christmas album that has precisely nothing to do with Christmas. I’ll explain momentarily, but first must give the context. My being “in the mood” and seeking out Christmas music…
2022 – 1984
The following post takes a sudden turn. A weird and unpredictable one. I wonder if anyone will notice. On my infrequent visits back to the Washington, DC area in recent years, I've repeatedly tried and failed to find tickets to the newest Smithsonian museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It's been…
A Heartwarming Christmas Tale
Following up on yesterday's post concerning abusive relationships, I present to you a Heartwarming Christmas Tale. What follows is a slightly altered version of an email I sent to friends on December 20, 2005 regarding how things stood at my job for a certain religious organization that I won’t name (though its identity would be…
Bad Relationships
It's occurred to me this year that I'm one of those people who finds themselves in one abusive relationship after another. In my case, the relationships have been employer/employee, organization/individual. A counseling service in Melbourne, AUS (I still travel widely on the Web, thank you very much) lists a number of reasons why people may…
That Dude Over There 