GIANTS IN THE SKY
I remembered that once upon a time, I had done a talk inspired by this Stephen Sondheim song title — “Giants in the Sky,” from Into the Woods. Since I’m gearing up right now for opening weekend of Musical Theatre…
SLOW UP
American composer John Cage wrote a provocative piece in the mid-1980s. It’s called “Organ 2/As Slow As Possible.” Keyboardists are challenged to take the title literally; the 8 pages of music are played very, very slowly — usually taking from…
LET THE SUNSHINE IN
The number one song on Billboard’s Hot 100 pop music chart the day that I was born — almost 55 years ago — was the 5th Dimension’s cover of “Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In,” from the Broadway musical, Hair. I…
HONK!
I’m about ready to declare Goose a member of my spirit animal pantheon. Over the years, I’ve adopted Otter and Raven and Porcupine, symbolizing play and magic and trust. Now, I think Goose should join the party to represent community…
UP UP AND AWAY
A program caught my eye, from one of the TV screens hanging in a row in front of the cardio equipment at my gym. When I use the elliptical or treadmill, usually I’m engrossed in my own podcast or audiobook…
THE POWERS THAT BE
I’ve been going through photographs on my computer this week. My father-in-law died last Friday, and we’ve been grieving and feeling our way through the loss. Part of my process has been finding all my photos, remembering two decades of…
SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE
Novelist Ann Brashares wrote, “There are two kinds of people in this world. The kind who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don’t.” “There are two kinds of people…” The phrase is a setup for…
FOR THE LOVE OF IT
I was talking to a friend about making art. At different times in our lives, both of us have thought about careers in the arts. And we’ve both settled comfortably into something else — still doing a lot of creative…