As you may know, dance has played an important part in my life. There’s something transcendent about the union of body, mind and spirit that happens through dance. Whether its the sweet progression of a Viennese Waltz by Strauss or pounding beats of a Samba or New York Hustle, the movement, in synchronization with yourself […]
They’re My Cousin
By — Posted January 29, 2015 — 16 Comments
In early July 2014, I was sitting in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, excitedly awaiting the first keynote of one of my favorite conferences during the year, WDS. This year, A.J. Jacobs, known for pouring his everything into his life experiments and writings was the opening keynote. During his career he has done many things, […]
Schrödinger’s Dreams
By — Posted January 27, 2015 — 26 Comments
In 1935, Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger proposed an interesting thought experiment, which has come to be known colloquially as Schrödinger’s Cat. This thought experiment is an illustration of one of the peculiarities of quantum mechanics. In this thought experiment a cat is placed inside a space with an agent (poison or explosives) that at a […]
Remembering Fred Rogers
By — Posted January 22, 2015 — 2 Comments
From the blinking yellow street light, to the picture frame that simply held the word “Hi”, so many of my early days were blessed by the kind wisdom of the sweater-changing man who always said he’d always wanted to have a neighbor just like me. Fred Rogers (1928-2003) was something very special. Whereas TV tends […]
Remixing the Archives
By — Posted January 20, 2015 — Leave a Comment
Humans create stuff… a lot of stuff. The widespread availability of the Internet has ushured in a world of unprecidented creative output (and consumption). Let’s look at some statistics from the very popular site YouTube. At the time of this article’s writing: 100 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute More than 1 […]
Little Actions
By — Posted January 15, 2015 — Leave a Comment
The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts. ~ John Locke ~ When we discuss Chaos Theory (whether we understand or don’t), we inevitably start with they idea of the Butterfly Effect, where small changes at the outset of a system can have profound effects on the outcome. Now, I’m not so […]
Accept Me, Please
By — Posted January 13, 2015 — 2 Comments
Recently, our neighborhood experienced a great tragedy. A beautiful, young teenage girl committed suicide. I don’t know the reasons why, but the inevitable question that was first expressed by many was, “Was she bullied?” Bullying is an epidemic here in our nation. In one study, roughly 49% of children grades 4–12 reported being bullied at […]
The Welsh Musical Heritage
By — Posted January 8, 2015 — Leave a Comment
A few months ago I took a short holiday in the beautiful Welsh countryside. While I have ancestors who came from this particularly beautiful and pastoral part of the British Isles, I’d never spent any time there. My trips to the UK generally consisted of visits mainly to London and its surrounds. Wales was a […]
Life By Choice
By — Posted January 6, 2015 — 2 Comments
A favorite poem of mine is Robert Frost‘s The Road Not Taken. While some use it as a rallying call to walk one’s own path (the road less traveled by). Yet, I believe its meaning is far deeper and more sublte. It’s really about choice. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I […]
Christmas Music
By — Posted December 24, 2014 — Leave a Comment
One of many things I really love about the Christmas season is the music. My listening habits and tuned radio stations change for this short season every year. I just really love Christmas songs. There are many that are fun, and some that are silly. However, I’d be happy if I never had to listen […]
