As one of my requirements for earning my first-degree black belt in taekwondo, my school asks that we write a short personal statement reflecting on what we have learned since beginning our training. I submitted a 450-word statement to them as my official black belt essay (radio edit) but felt the need to more fully […]
Off topic
Pitchfork Midwinter and “the sky of timelessness”
Upon arriving in Chicago earlier this month, I got a text from my good friend Debbie, breezily instructing me to “have an amazing time!!!!!!!” Just 36 hours later, my head was swimming with everything I had seen and heard, and I will always think of the words “amazing time” differently going forward. It was my […]
On beauty and perspective
“Wow, you look beautiful!” Would that statement mean more to you coming from a complete stranger, or from a friend? I think a lot of people would take this compliment more seriously coming from a stranger. After all, strangers are more objective since they don’t know you, right? I used to be dismissive when friends […]
Reflections: Tenebrae Choir, St. John’s Smith Square (London, England), July 6, 2018
Of all the fundamentals I practice on flute, my favorite to play are long tones with diminuendos. For those unfamiliar with the term, diminuendos are when you gradually get softer and softer in volume until the sound disappears entirely. It is a difficult skill to master on the flute because the tuning becomes very unstable […]
Thoughts on Ride’s “Pulsar”
I’ve been thinking quite a lot about Ride’s new single “Pulsar” since its surprise release last week. (Via Google) pul·sar <ˈpəlˌsär/> noun: ASTRONOMY a celestial object, thought to be a rapidly rotating neutron star, that emits regular pulses of radio waves and other electromagnetic radiation at rates of up to one thousand pulses per second. […]
Earnestness, honesty, and Appalachian Spring
I spent the last couple of weeks following my favorite band (Ride) on tour through 8 shows in the UK and US. Anyone that has done this can tell you that far from being the same show every night, each show had a distinctly different vibe to it (at least in my opinion). Yes, many […]
A message for my fellow gig-travelers
Do people think it’s weird that you travel, sometimes great distances, to see live concerts? Do you derisively get called a fanboy or fangirl? I sometimes get a reaction akin to, “I can’t believe you’d fly/drive all that way just for a concert!” Once, I got that statement while sitting on a plane with a […]
Taste test: British teas
Coffee will always be my favorite pick-me-up, but I was inspired by my recent trip to the UK to learn more about tea. I’ve had a long history with coffee, but my experience with tea has been pretty minimal. I drank stuff like Chinese restaurant tea, oolong tea, and jasmine tea growing up, but it […]
The best spam comments, Part 3 (March-August 2016)
It’s that time again! I always worry a bit that I’m going to stop getting interesting spam messages, but thankfully over these last 6 months, the spammers didn’t disappoint. As always, these posts are lifted straight from my spam inbox – I have not edited out any of the spelling and grammar mistakes! For Part […]
Reflections: Ride, Terminal 5 (New York City), June 4, 2015
January 2016 This is not a review, as I am not a rock critic. Even if I was one, there is no way that I could be objective about this particular concert, or about this particular band. Since discovering Ride’s music in 1992, my mental image of them had developed almost exclusively through their recordings; I […]