Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
One of the skills that I learned from my parents is how to put myself last. I have a strong memory of being in a fancy European restaurant with my family. I was maybe 12. The main course was over, and the server urged me to order the “bread pudding.” I had no idea what…
I’ve been meditation daily for much of my life, and wearing an Apple Watch for many years. Only recently have I started using the Breathe app. It’s pretty great in its simplicity. Just set a time (4 minutes in my case), let it prompt you to slow down your breathing, and then sink into meditation….
“I need to get back to my crew.” Amos, S5E6, “The Expanse.” I have been thinking about this line a lot. Amos, for those that don’t know, is the “tank” of the crew of the Rocinante — the guy you send in to knock heads together (or worse) without hesitation or remorse. So to see…
So this “Life Pro Tip” thread on Reddit has been rattling around my head for the past couple of days. Reading through the thread has moved me to tears a few times. I have definitely been guilty of being that person who asked someone who is grieving or suffering “How can I help?” without offering…
Last week at Brooklyn Quaker Meeting for Worship, Todd Drake shared this beautiful message, which I am sharing with his permission: As an artist, I have often thought of making art as like fishing. It’s like you are throwing out bait and hoping that it catches something. That might mean a sale or some kind…
I have not been able to find the original source for this quote from author Kurt Vonnegut, I’m afraid. But it speaks volumes to me as a eternal beginner at so many things. When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one…
Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas,…
Good Bones by Maggie Smith Life is short, though I keep this from my children.Life is short, and I’ve shortened minein a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,a thousand deliciously ill-advised waysI’ll keep from my children. The world is at leastfifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservativeestimate, though I keep this from my children.For every bird there…
I wrote this 25 years ago. It feels as relevant as ever. ROOSEVELT ISLAND May 1995 Come to the window, the work can wait.See the craggy line where the water meetsThe shores of Roosevelt Island,Isn’t the tide higher than it was a day ago?Global warming, you say, glibly. I think of my homeland: 7,000 islandsThat…
This evening in the Skating Place there was a boy who was maybe six or seven years old going around the circle with us. At that hour, there were about ten of us skating, all adults. I round a corner and see the boy lying on the ground just bawling his eyes out, while two…