Tag Archives: Music

Summer of Soul Revisited

“Memories are not the key to the past, but to the future.”  — Corrie ten Boom

Memories provide us perspective on understanding the present from the lens of the past. Memories are also a portal to the future as lived experiences and our history are revisited by new generations. Continue reading

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Music to My Ears (and Heart)

“Music can change the world because it can change people.” ― Bono

Today is the 100th day of the 45th President’s new administration. Many of us are weary of his Tweets, Executive Orders, his incompetence, narcissism and probable untreated mental illness, his misogyny and prejudice, and his lack of understanding how government works and who government represents. As I’ve written before, I probably spend too much time watching cable news and the parade of talking heads, the circus of Trump’s cabinet and Republican Congress, and reading fake news, social media posts, and online opinion pieces. Like many others, I periodically take a break on Facebook and look at videos of babies, jumping goats, mischievous cats and cucumbers, and dogs who talk or do other incredible feats. This week I also played a Facebook game by listing 10 concerts, nine of which I attended, one that was a lie. It helped me survive this week of political madness. Continue reading

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Waxing Sentimental

Nostalgia: (n.) a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.

Tomorrow, Monday, November 30th is Cyber Monday. It’s the online equivalent of Black Friday, the Monday following Thanksgiving when people return to work and shop online and take advantage of deep discounts and promotions. In late November 2005, The New York Times reported: “The name Cyber Monday grew out of the observation that millions of otherwise productive working Americans, fresh off a Thanksgiving weekend of window shopping, were returning to high-speed Internet connections at work Monday and buying what they liked.” Continue reading

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Beach Boys, Beatles, Bob Dylan & the Byrds

Growing Up in the Early 1960s

“Ah, but I was so much older then I’m younger than that now”   Lyrics from My Back Pages by Bob Dylan

A number of recent events and anniversaries coalesced this month, prompting me to reminisce. My birthday is in January and like the month’s namesake Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions, I’ve been looking back at mine. Fifty years ago, as a baby boomer growing up in the early 1960’s, my life was about to change in ways I couldn’t imagine. Continue reading

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