Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on this day in 1807. Here’s a little taste of his work, “A Psalm of Life.” Read more

I see that on this day in 1917 the Original Dixieland Jass Band issued the Livery Stable Blues, the first known Jazz recording. I looked it up at Youtube, and bless ’em, they have it! They claimed to be the creators of Jazz, which of course isn’t true. But they were the first to bring Jazz to the world… So, good on them! Apparently they were most famous for their rendition of Tiger Rag… Read more

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The other day I found I had to briefly state my spiritual position. I’ve done this before. And there are certain broad strokes that inform my interior life, but the details fluctuate a fair bit. So, I felt I needed to start from scratch and write something anew. And this is a good practice, I think. In fact there is much made in Unitarian Universalist circles these days of “elevator speeches,” summations of one’s faith that can be shared in... Read more

The Nazi party was established in Germany on this day in 1920. Sets the mind racing. At least it sets this mind racing… I know that one of the cheaper tropes of our time is to liken one’s opponents to Nazis. Looking at clips from Tea Party events and their pictures of the president with Hitler’s mustache says much about both that cheapness and its visceral power… And, I can see the power of thinking of our times and those... Read more

“A Tiger Golfs With Buddha” is an essay by Dr John Tarrant, my principal Zen teacher. Read more

It was a real treat to be able to have a long weekend away. Jan, auntie & me in the Big Apple. Holidays are something that many people don’t get. It requires the confluence of a number of things, some important ones beyond anyone’s actual control. (If you have money and think you “earned” it, you may have worked hard, but nonetheless, you’re fooling yourself. No one deserves the good things, or more correctly everyone does, but only some get... Read more

After stressing for a bit about the cost of seeing three Broadway shows this long weekend, we convinced ourselves this wasn’t going to happen again for a good long time and went for it. Jan had really, really wanted to see Fela!. And we did. The thread of a plot is the musical revolutionary life of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Nigerian pioneer of the Afrobeat musical form, as well as relentless critic of his country’s corruption and tyranny, with plenty of energy... Read more

I was looking for visuals for my post on the Miracle Worker when I found this… Read more

We saw the new production of Miracle Worker last evening. A lovely show. A lovely story. Brilliantly done. Loved it. Loved it. Like with most all art, author William Gibson takes some liberties with history in service of a larger project. Still, I was sitting through the play next to the research librarian at Perkins School for the Blind (endless prayers of good will for that blessed institution…). Small things, like the ages of the characters are not quite right.... Read more