My piano lesson this week was pretty frustrating. I felt overwhelmed as I tried to manage doing one thing with my left hand and another with my right, all while staying on the beat. My patient piano teacher reminded me that being overwhelmed is all in your head, and that it’s natural to have some confusion when you’re learning something…
It’s not like being a TV star is new for Betty White — by the time she won a role on the Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970s, she’d already been on television for decades. But I don’t recall hearing much from Betty after the Golden Girls ended. Until a few months ago. Then it seemed pop culture couldn’t…
If you wander past an Apple store these days, you’re likely to see huge crowds eager to play with the latest tech novelty, the iPad. But in the media business, it seems there’s a different question than just “how does it work?” It’s wondering — or maybe hoping — if the new Apple device can transform the media business. An…
Tiger Woods returned to golf this week, reigniting the discussion about whether his sexual exploits are his own personal business or whether his behavior off the green should play a role in his (previously) lucrative career as a corporate spokesman. Having lost several sponsorship deals in recent months, Tiger appears to be looking for a way to position himself as…
Kathy Griffin’s humor is not for everyone. She’s bawdy — both in her choice of topics and in the way she talks about them. But if you’re not easily offended, Griffin’s self-effacing, celebrity-slaying humor might work for you. Like, oh, her Emmy acceptance speech that not only doesn’t thank God but specifically says Jesus was in no way responsible for…
I love Mark Bittman’s food writing. He makes cooking unintimidating. Even recipes with fancy or unfamiliar ingredients feel accessible because he explains it all so clearly. His book How to Cook Everything is my go-to when I’m trying to figure out how long to cook salmon or the best way to store raspberries. This video is a great example of…
Because our society doesn’t generally pay well for creativity, many people who aspire to act, sing, paint or write have a day job to pay the bills. They might aspire to that glorious day when they’re discovered and can quit the practical job, supporting themselves solely on their art. Richard Russo, a Pulitzer prize winning novelist, got to do just…
Last night, John and I went to see Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Blind Boys of Alabama — a phenomenal show full of joyous, uplifting music that makes my soul feel good. One of my favorite numbers of the night was Blind Boys singing the traditional spiritual Free At Last. Though it’s a powerful anthem of the Civil Rights movement,…
I didn’t get to take a massage with actor Jason Bateman, but the neighbor of our friends did, so that’s how I came to read an interview with the child actor turned adult funny man in Men’s Health. Besides feeling a degree of connection to the writer, I was intrigued by a headline that says “A man learns a thing…
John and I both committed to daily creativity in November: I launched the Month of Thanksgiving with the declaration I would blog every day, and John rolled out 30 Paintings in 30 Days, in which he created a daily series of art works themed on things we love to eat and drink. So I felt a kinship as I watched…
Just in time for Halloween, Preservation Hall debuts this beautiful animated video which includes a graveyard romp with Marie Laveau: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDYGIeZDMyg&feature=player_embedded] The video is part of a package from Preservation Hall Recordings featuring four small-group arrangements from the Preservation Hall Hot 4, the King Britt remix of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s “St. James Infirmary,” and three music videos. It’s…
Have you ever read this blog and thought to yourself, “I could do that” or maybe even “I could do better?” Here’s your chance to prove it. I’m looking for guest bloggers. Every time someone makes an insightful point in the comments, it reminds me that everyone comes at this topic of living life intentionally with their own perspective and…
If you have been on the Web at all in the last few weeks, chances are you’ve had at least one friend share the dancing baby YouTube video with you. Maybe dozens? It’s become such a hit that MSNBC reports the baby’s dad started getting 10 e-mails a minute. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikTxfIDYx6Q] Why has baby Cory Elliott gotten about 2.5 million views…
Editor’s note: This is a fairly lengthy post. I suggest you fire up Preservation Hall’s live performance on World Cafe, maybe mix yourself a hurricane, and settle in. Ben Jaffe grew up with dreams of becoming a modern jazz musician, “really hell bent on moving to New York.” Family responsibility and appreciation of where he’d come from put him on…
Today, election season kicked off in Grand Rapids, Mich. Not to choose a mayor, but to decide who will win about $450,000 in prize money up for grabs in ArtPrize. ArtPrize bills itself as a radically open art contest — some 1,200 artists have their work on display, competing for first prize of $250,000, which is chosen by votes from…
John and I have just started watching This American Life via Netflix. Since John worked at an NPR affiliate for eight years, we’re well acquainted with the wonderful radio version but we’ve just gotten the first disc of the Showtime TV series. Ira Glass is a spectacular story teller. I don’t know if his approach is the same for television,…
Editor’s note: This post is by far the most popular on my blog, thanks to people landing here searching for Chuck Close. If you are interested in art and painters, please check out some of my other posts with those related tags. In the green bar on the right, scroll down until you see “tags” and click on any word…
