Quite A Spot Of Bother
It’s deja vu all over again.
I find myself thinking about the speech President Trump delivered this past Thursday. Everything he said was insane kakapoopoo - so much so that it is does not warrant a point-by-point analysis. It was similar in scope and grandeur to what Rudy Giuliani said to America from the parking lot of Four Seasons Total Landscaping on November 7th, 2020. That whackadoodle press conference set off a chain of events that led to the storming of the Capitol building on January 6th, 2021. The President’s speech Thursday night indicates that we are likely on a similar path.
It is evident that the administration knows that the midterm elections will not be kind to it, and it seems willing to do things no administration has ever done in order to disrupt this outcome. In their view, elections that elect Republicans are legitimate. When Democrats win, this is a clear sign of illegal manipulation of the process.
America did not vote for inflation, but we have it. America did not vote for war, but we have it. America did not vote for goon squads killing American citizens and legal residents in the streets, but we have this as well - all as a result of the current leadership in the Oval Office. Lots and lots of people who voted for Donald Trump in 2024 will not be supporting him at the polls this year.
The DOJ has lost sixteen cases in a row related to its attempts to get its hands on state voter rolls. Every specious case alleging voter fraud related to the 2020 election was tossed out of court due to lack of anything resembling credible evidence.
It seems likely that we will see federal troops at polling places in “blue states” (i.e. states where polling suggests the votes will not go Donald’s way) this Fall. These actions will be challenged in court. But as Jonathan Swift wrote in 1710: “Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it.” Today, the Executive Branch acts with rapid impunity, knowing that the legal system’s response will be far slower. Given how the ICE goons have been murdering people, we very well may see people lose their lives at polling places this November. I sure hope not, but this ocean liner seems to be on a collision course, and there is not much time or opportunity to divert it.
Viktor Orbán tried this in Hungary, and he lost. The same will be true for Donald Trump. Thursday night he tried to set the predicate for taking unprecedented actions, but very few are buying it. I don’t expect this to stop him from continuing down this obvious, illegal path.
Sunday Supper
Chili Crisp Tofu, Tomatoes and Cucumbers
Linguini with Zucchini, Corn and Shrimp
Whipped Feta Dip w/ Brown Butter, Dates and Pine Nuts
Thai-Inspired Peach and Lentil Salad w/ Lemongrass Dressing
Sunday Music
Stubbs Quartet at Kulaks Woodshed
God Is An Astronaut at Hellfest Open Air 2026
Sonah Jobarteh & Band, West Africa 2022
John Hiatt & The Guilty Dogs, Austin City Limits 1994
Night Swimming Live at Bam Bam Studios
Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger
Vegetable prep as meditation.
It was a fun and adventurous week. An engaging week - preceded by a very engaging week leading into the July 4th holiday. I arrived at this weekend feeling drained of energy. So I downshifted, and reflected.
My reflections yielded a valuable insight: The pace at which I’ve been running is a bit too much. Thankfully, the week ahead has some white space. This will allow me to regroup and recharge a bit. As I architect my calendar for the weeks ahead, it needs to reflect this new understanding.
Admittedly, I’m trying to hit a moving target. Life ebbs and flows. Sometimes I want to let it rip. Sometimes I need to dial it back. It’s nice to imagine a “template week” that is infinitely repeatable. Rinse and repeat in perpetuity and live the ideal life - a life where I optimize each day for everything that matters…I don’t think life works this way.
Sure, there are some stretches that feel idyllic - but life is too dynamic for them to last very long. I embrace this. I’m not complaining. I’m simply recognizing that my current routines need to change. And they will. So….good!
We have friends coming over for Sunday Supper tonight, and I’m really looking forward to it. Lori and I were able to do some preparation for this gathering on Saturday, so it should not be a heavy lift on Sunday to get everything done. I’m grilling cheeseburgers. Our guests will be able to choose between a classic preparation (Toasted bun, sliced tomato, shredded lettuce, diced onion, pickles, Gott’s hamburger sauce or other condiments) or something I dreamed up on Memorial Day. I call it the Bababouli Burger, and it leans into Lebanese cuisine: toasted bun, cheeseburger patties topped with baba ganoush and tabouleh. Thick and garlicky smoked eggplant puree, herbaceous parsley and mint salad, bathed in lemon juice and olive oil, with some diced tomato tossed in with it (FYI - I substitute some cooked quinoa for the bulgur wheat to make this salad friendly for my gluten-free gal). This weekend is the first chance I’ve had to make it since imagining it while at Sleepy Creek. Will report back on whether it meets my expectations. The classic is The Classic. But I’ve got to experiment with other ideas sometimes.
Making tabouleh is labor-intensive. Plucking the little parsley leaves from the stems is detail-oriented. I often don’t have the patience for it. But on Saturday, it was the perfect way to meditate on my busy life of late. It needs to be chopped finely, along with the mint (We purchased it at the Granville Farmer’s Market. It smelled so good when I chopped it up.). This all takes time, and taking some time is exactly what I needed.
So that’s it. I’ve been going a little too fast, looking forward to slowing down. I started the deceleration by plucking the leaves off of six or seven bunches of parsley last night. The End.
Sunday Supper
Mango-Avocado Salad with Lime Vinaigrette
Grilled Marinated Swordfish Steaks
Cucumber Salad with Salsa Macha
Sunday Music
RAYE and Guests Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival
Courtney Barnett - Live from the Royal Exhibition Building
Miles Davis Septet - Berlin, 1971
Gilberto Gil, Tiny Desk Brasil
Punch Brothers, Mayo Performing Arts Center
Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love!
Self-Evident Truths
America is not a promise, but a hope that requires our earnest effort.
As America celebrates the 250th anniversary of it’s formation, I find myself pondering the language of our Declaration of Independence. Particularly this sentence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The concept of universal equality and notion that everyone is entitled to live freely while pursuing happiness seems straightforward at first glance. But these “self-evident” truths have never been embraced fully by American society.
EQUALITY
“All men are created equal.” OK, let’s pause right there. It surfaces a couple of issues. First, many of our Founders were slaveholders at the time of America’s founding. Obviously slaves weren’t considered equal. This notion that black- and brown-skinned people are somehow less than their white counterparts is absolute horseshit. We ended up fighting and winning a war amongst ourselves over this very issue. Despite this victory over the racist rebellion, I can drive around Central Ohio today and still see Confederate flags on vehicles and flying proudly on peoples’ properties in mere minutes. The white nationalist group Patriot Front marched in Washington DC just yesterday. The second issue relates to gender - the notion that “all men” are of equal standing, with no reference to women is a glaring omission. Since our nation’s founding, there have been numerous court battles and legislation securing women’s rights - the right to bodily integrity, the right to work for equal wages, the right to enter into contracts, reproductive rights, property rights. Over the last 250 years women have had to win each of these in the face of stiff opposition.
LIFE
Our Federal, State and Local governments are empowered to use lethal force to enforce our laws and preserve the rights of its citizens to live their lives. Earlier this year, ICE agents used kinetic force in Minneapolis, depriving Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti of their lives in two separate incidents. Throughout its history, America has wrestled with both the idea that fetuses should have the right to be born, and that violent criminals should be executed. This unalienable right to Life and who is entitled to it is still being hotly debated.
LIBERTY
The idea that we should be free to go about our business, move about society as we see fit has recently been impinged. People who look a certain way (see above, EQUALITY) have been regularly asked to provide evidence of their citizenship in the United States. Freedom of speech seems to fit into the Liberty bucket, but those who say things that our current President dislikes run the risk of being fired, harassed, stochastically terrorized, and the companies for whom they work receive extra regulatory scrutiny. So, this self-evident right to liberty seems under attack.
PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
Americans are all free to pursue happiness - so long as they don’t want to have same-sex life partners, live under different gender norms, or opt out of parenthood by terminating an unwanted or medically risky pregnancy. You can pursue happiness, but don’t be too weird about it, OK?
Seth Godin said in his Saturday email “Freedom is responsibility with a sexier name” and I think this is right. America’s Founders were highly thoughtful and intelligent. They set a higher ideal for society than had ever existed up until that point - a higher ideal than we have yet to realize.
We are still so far from the ideals set forth in our Declaration of Independence. Acknowledging this is patriotic. We have work to do. Bad ideas always have a chance of prevailing, and we cannot let that happen.
Ken White’s essay says much of this better than I can. Happy Independence Day!
Sunday Supper
Chicken Kebabs w/ Turmeric and Chile
Smoky Shrimp w/ Chorizo-Tomato Sauce
Sunday Music
Caroline Polachek at the NPR Tiny Desk
Ana Vidovic playing classical guitar in Aachen
Kurt Vile interviewed and performs on World Cafe
Jazzy Jane playing Antonio Carlos Jobim on a Rhodes organ
Courtney Barnett at Levon Helm Studios
Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love!
More Or Less
Scorecards are helpful, even if you’re bad at keeping score.
At the midway mark of the year, I have to say that things are going pretty well in my world. I met with my EO Forum in Cleveland, where each of us presented a mid-year update to the group, learned a fair bit about how AI can make our lives a bit easier, and declared our intentions for the second half of the year.
I was pleased to report that I am on-track with my business goals. Not ahead, not behind - simply on-track. I will have to maintain the focus and energy I have devoted to them so far this year in order to actually deliver on the goals that I set in Naples this past January.
I’ve been able to do this without killing myself. My sleep quantity and quality is up, my exercise has held steady, life on the home front is great and my golf game is pretty solid. It continues to feel as if the universe is unfolding on my behalf. Maybe not specifically for me, but in ways that I recognize as favorable to my mission. For the first time in a long time, it feels like I swim with the current, rather than against it.
This has all been happening because of the clarity I have achieved thanks to reflection. AND, to tracking the leading behaviors that will contribute to achievement of my goals. In Cleveland, I lamented that I have not done a great job of capturing all of this activity in a spreadsheet, or the CRM software that I use - yet the outcomes have been happening with steady consistency. So I’m doing the right things, in the right quantities to get the job done. I’m just not measuring this activity as well as I would like. I do intend to get better at capturing this information, but the last few months are evidence that one needn’t be perfect at this, and the sheer act of setting goals helps focus our efforts.
I have to point out some culinary highlights from Cleveland this week. The first is the Velvet Tango Room, a world-class cocktail bar in Ohio City. A refined, proper space with its own culture that is consistently enforced by the staff (don’t show up wearing tattered jeans, or t-shirt if you want enjoy these libations). This place fits perfectly into the “lower quantity/higher quality” framework I have been honoring with regard to alcohol consumption. There are two pages in their menu dedicated just to cocktails of their own design. That is where I focused, and will continue to focus in future visits. Our lunch on Tuesday was purchased from Mabel’s BBQ, Michael Symon’s. I purposely over-ordered, so as to provide late-night snacks and future lunch options to my crew. When all was said and done, we crushed it all. (I love Ray Ray’s, but this barbecue really impressed me as being the best in Ohio.) Tuesday night we ordered pizza from Good Pizza. A relatively new operation, but this crew is taking the pizza game very seriously. Well worth a visit. Lastly, the crown jewel dining experience of the week was at Cordelia. Chef Vinnie Cimino recently had a near-miss at winning a James Beard award, and I have to think it’s just a matter of when, not if, the industry accolades start piling up. It’s a Midwestern farm-to-table fine dining establishment that (at least currently) is influenced by Middle Eastern and Asian spices. Our party size of seven meant that we could order basically the entire menu, and each of us could enjoy a small taste of everything. The whole party was wowed by the execution of each dish. I will be returning to Cordelia at least once more this year, and am really looking forward to it.
Sunday Supper
Roasted Chicken & Fennel w/ Peaches
Sunday Music
Jesse Welles, Live At The Basement
I’m With Her Live at the House of Blues
Fred Hammond, Live at the NPR Tiny Desk
Relaxing Hypnotic Garden Techno Jam
Pat Metheny - America The Beautiful / The People United Will Never Be Defeated
Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love!
Beginnings & Endings
It really helps to know the end of the story you are writing.
I listened to this conversation between author David Eggers and Music producer Rick Rubin this past week. In it Eggers said something that I had heard previously, but something about the way he expanded on the idea really made it land. He said that he almost always knows how a story he is working on will end. Knowing the starting point and ending point of the story allows Eggers to avoid writer’s block. Whenever he feels stuck in one section of the story, he’ll simply pivot to a different section. This reminded me of how I solve crossword puzzles. Writers who work in linear fashion (Opening, Scene 1, Scene 2…Fini) are much more susceptible to writer’s block. They can paint themselves into a corner, leaving themselves nowhere to go.
This makes the notion of writing a novel somehow more feasible. Not that I have the bandwidth to write much, but if writing a weekly essay has taught me anything it’s that consistent output (even if small) adds up over time. The document where drafts of my essays reside just ticked over 145,200 words as I type this…). So, if I can come up with an interesting starting point, and a definitive ending, perhaps I can quilt together a novel someday. If nothing else, the Eggers/Rubin conversation lit me up a little bit this week.
I actually think this concept of figuring out the details between a beginning and an ending apply generally to life. It is really helpful to know how you want your personal story to end in order to create a meaningful journey between here and there. You know the starting point - it’s right here, where you are at this moment. Consider some end point - not necessarily your funeral, but a time 25-30 years into the future. What would you love if it were true? Start imagining the steps that the main character (you) might take on the journey from here to there. We’re all writing this type of story, whether we recognize it or not. I hope that you write a story that lights you up.
Today is Father’s Day, and it is also Lori’s birthday. We’ve committed ourselves this weekend to putting up some fencing in the back yard for Rosie to play off-leash. I’m calling it The Thunderdome. We made great progress on this project yesterday, so should be able to get it finished today. This, plus watching the conclusion of the U.S. Open golf tournament will make for a great day.
Sunday Supper
Spicy & Creamy Cashew Chicken Salad
Sunday Music
Michael League Trio live at The Blue Note
Marlon Funaki / Beachbreak Sessions
Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love!
Inconvenience Is The Point
It rarely is convenient to help other people.
I could see her name on my phone as it rang. I assumed that she was calling to re-confirm the timing of my visit later Saturday morning. Even though we speak almost every Friday night to plan my weekly visit, she often forgets and needs to re-confirm the details.
But yesterday she “let me off the hook.” She she wasn’t feeling well, and decided she could wait another week to run errands. So, the time I would normally spend with her was being refunded to me.
I won’t lie, I was grateful. After a busy week, lots and lots of things had been piling up in my world. But I couldn’t help but feel that she had decided that my time was too valuable to spend on her. And that is complete bullshit.
I started visiting her in 2022. After my mom passed in 2021, I guess I still needed an old lady to boss me around a little bit. Her vision is failing, so I drive her to the grocery store, the bank, etc, narrating as we go. “This is the Spring Greens mix, those are turnips…”
I used to have three “clients,” but she’s the only one left. My silent commitment to each of them has been to visit once per week until they no longer need my assistance. The other two clients have passed on, leaving just her now.
Volunteer work is a little tricky. Every client’s situation is different, but for one reason or another there is often a scarcity of companionship. So, yes, we run errands - but it’s a social visit as much as anything. I try not to overshare information about my life. Instead, I chat her up and talk about the news of the day. We often listen to the Saturday talk shows on public radio.
Maybe she was feeling under the weather. Maybe she decided that my time was better spent doing other things in my always-busy life. I hope it wasn’t the later, because I will always have other things I could/should be doing. But Saturday is when I set aside aside time for visiting her.
Having a standing appointment to help one fellow human on Saturdays is something I would recommend to anyone. This simple gesture means an awful lot to those on the receiving end of it. It doesn’t scale. It is often inconvenient. But smalls acts, consistently delivered, add up.
I used to look for ways to create high-leverage impact when it came to community service. “How can I be a catalyst for systemic change?” That was the gist of it. And of course I did nothing, because I never conjured the silver-bullet solution.
When this client “graduates” to whatever is next, I may take a break from volunteering. But for now, I look forward to maintaining the ritual for as long as she needs me. It’ll never be convenient, but that’s pretty much the point.
Sunday Supper
Coconut-Gochujang Glazed Chicken w/ Broccoli
Sunday Music
Bill Frisell at the World Cafe
Stanley Clarke & Stewart Copeland
Norah Jones Interviews and Performs w/ Arooj Aftab
Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Productive Discomfort
The more you experience discomfort, the more comfortable you will feel in an ever wider set of circumstances.
Moving when you would prefer to rest.
Having the tough conversation when you’d rather avoid it.
Addressing the home maintenance issue that has been lingering.
Prepping the vegetables when microwaving a frozen meal is faster.
Honoring your calendar when you’d rather have a day off.
Going to bed when you’d rather stay up and watch a movie.
Walking the golf course when everyone else is taking a cart.
Walking the dog while wearing a weighted vest.
Drinking sparkling water when everyone else is drinking alcohol.
Growth is stimulated by discomfort. The people who grow the most find ways to spend more time in this zone of productive discomfort. We don’t have to always choose “extra,” but the more we do, the more we build our capacity, and the more we realize of our potential.
Sunday Supper
Baked Coconut Red Lentils & Greens
Sunday Music
Death Cab For Cutie Live on World Cafè
Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest Live
Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Sleepy Creek
A restorative long weekend in Berkeley Springs.
Apologies for not publishing an essay last week. Lori and I hit the road Saturday morning of the holiday weekend to visit friends in Berkeley Springs, West (By God) Virginia. The week leading up to our trip was too full for me to crank out an essay in advance. The relaxation and fun that we had last weekend was a fair trade for breaking my posting streak. (Though it was nice to hear from a few friends who noticed its absence.)
Our friends' farm is in the northeastern panhandle of the state, Sleepy Creek running through it. It is less than two hours from Washington D.C. and nestled in closely with Pennsylvania and Maryland. It has served for many years as a gathering place for our friends’ friends and extended family. Last weekend was the first time in many visits where there were just four people there. This, along with steady rains for much of the weekend, made for a uniquely peaceful three days. The rain did not prevent us from hiking quite a bit. Of course we cooked, drank wine and talked a lot, which made the time fly by.
They have a large Blackstone grill/griddle, which I put to good use on Memorial Day, making smash burgers as tasty as you’ll ever eat - thanks in large measure to the wonderful ground beef from Tony’s Butcher Block and “Big Marty” potato rolls from Martin’s Famous. I’d never cooked on a Blackstone before. The experience was great…I could be tempted into buying one someday (but not until we reimagine our outdoor living area).
Being at the farm last weekend reinforced for me the importance of slowing down - not just on the weekends, to recharge my battery for the week ahead. But also to devote more time to cooking proper, simple food and moving my body. That’s it - work with focus, shut it down soon enough to cook a proper meal and unplug my brain for a little while. Every time I get into this sort of rhythm, it pays dividends in terms of health, energy and creativity. Thankfully, the weeks ahead should allow for this. I’m looking forward to a balanced summer, full of fun.
Sunday Supper
Garlicky Shrimp w/ Zucchini & White Beans
Sunday Music
Vince Gill was recently at the NPR Tiny Desk
John Mayer Live At The Chapel, 2006
Blake Mills & Dino Palladino on World Cafe
Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Smart Luck
Thoughts on picking the right spouse.
Marriage is the highest-stakes commitment most of us will ever make in our lives. Twenty-nine years (as of today) of marriage to Lori has prompted me to frequently wipe my brow and thank my lucky stars that we found and committed our lives to each other. It is only with the benefit of hard-won experience over these years that I realize not just how great I have it - but how challenging it could have been had I committed myself to the wrong person.
So what are the stakes? I’ve talked in the past about the power of compounding - both money and knowledge compound as you accumulate them. So too do relationships. Trust compounds. The more two people can trust each other, the easier it gets to trust more deeply. Intimacy compounds. Acceptance compounds - when you know you are truly accepted by someone in all your weird, quirky glory it is incredibly freeing. Imagine how much energy you would have to expend if you felt compelled to hold back certain aspects of yourself.
If you have children together, co-parenting with the right person is paramount. Your offspring are going to adopt some of your spouse’s traits, so make sure they are likely to be positive. Sharing the sheer work of parenting. The energy to engage and play with the child, while getting all of the ordinary household chores completed - chores which have expanded thanks to your new little family member.
So what are the traits of relationships that stand the test of time?
Integrity under pressure. Can your potential partner act with integrity when the pressure is on?
The ability to change your minds. Are you able to express, and then retract views if you or your partner have a change of heart or understanding?
Emotional regulation. Can you and they manage your emotions, or do they often get the best of you? This is not being robotic - it’s feeling things, and processing them without them overwhelming you.
Core values alignment. Money, faith, ambition, lifestyle - if you are not on the same page with these things, there is a real potential to drift apart.
Shared vision for the future. Kids, or not? Where to live. How to manage money. Career priorities. Are you both on the same page?
Healthy conflict. Do you fight fair? Are you able to apologize?
Generosity. Are you both default generous to each other?
How well do they know themselves? Are you both committed to continuous personal growth? Do they own their experience and take responsibility for their own happiness?
Some ways to assess these things in a potential partner:
Observe them under stress. Meet their family and observe that dynamic. Watch how they treat their commitments (to work, to friends, promises made to others).
A silver-bullet test that can help assess all of this: Purchase and build a piece of IKEA furniture together! All will be revealed.
Sunday Supper
We made this Andouille Kale Bean Stew with Cannelini beans instead of Black-eyed peas yesterday. This Honey Mustard Chicken Pasta looks good. How about Bulgogi Sliders w/ Scallion Salsa? (Yes, please.). Salmon Poached in Broth.
Sunday Music
Don Was & The Pan-Detroit Ensemble at the NPR Tiny Desk
Moby Live at KCRW recently.
Gilberto Gil playing samba.
Deep Melodic House Music on Vinyl
Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Momma
4 1/2 years since Ma Bell passed on.
This weekend I began the work of reclaiming one of the boys’ bedrooms. Up until this point, it was a time capsule of sorts, mostly holding clothes that he outgrew (physically or stylistically). But also a few gems that either he or his parents will want to hang onto for a while longer.
The fleece blanket with the Periodic Table of the Elements on it. His strength in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) was encouraged early in life. His sketchpads. (He was really a STEAM kid (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math)).
A painting my mom made, just for him. Still hanging on the wall. A pig atop a sheep, which was itself atop a cow. The sheep saying “dis is driving me crazy” - something the lad once said when Mimu was caring for him. Creativity, layered with practiced skill, layered with family history all in one piece of art.
We have so many great totems - physical objects created by my parents, that carry so much meaning. Furniture that my father built, and my mother applied the finish. Paintings done by mom. It’s impossible not to think of them often when opening a door or a drawer on one of their many creations.
Beyond the physical reminders of Mom, her spirit lives on in my children, without a doubt. The care that she and Dad gave them in their early years, and the time we were able to spend with her in her final years really mattered to their development.
The room will look and feel different when my office occupies this space. But that picture will still be hanging there. I’m wishing a happy Mother's Day to all the moms today. May they all leave such a positive, enduring mark as my mom was able to leave.
Sunday Supper
Sheet-pan Miso Chicken w/ Radishes & Lime
Mean Green Salad w/ Tahini Miso Dressing
Sunday Music
Vinyl Live House Set by Lulú Matheou
Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
No Redeeming Value
Anti-harshness as a guiding principle.
A clip of an interview between Andrew Huberman and his guest Terry Real found its way to me this week.
“If you get one thing from our conversation today and you only get this, this one thing will be enough to change your life and I mean it. Here’s what it is: There is no redeeming value in harshness. Let me say it again: There is nothing that harshness does that loving firmness doesn’t do better. Be firm, but with love. Not harshness. And that’s you treating others, that’s the way you allow others to treat you and very much, that’s the way you treat you. I am on a anti harshness campaign, and what I say to friends, family, students - and it’s true; at 75, I have a deal with the universe: If it isn’t kind, I’m not interested. And that adaptive child that lives inside me can be very harsh to my own imperfection. And I will say to that, or to Belinda, or to a colleague, ‘You may have something to say to me, and it may be in my interest to learn and listen to you, but you have to say it like you’re on my side. If you can’t say it like you’re on my side, I’m not going to listen.’”
The podcast that the clip comes from is titled “Defining Healthy Masculinity & How To Build It.” I had never encountered Terry Real previously, but now I feel compelled to seek him out in media.
He put it so well: “There is nothing that harshness does that loving firmness doesn’t do better.”
This observation couldn’t be more timely (perhaps it’s even a tad late: “If you can’t say it like you’re on my side, I’m not going to listen.” really speaks to our current moment). So many of us are speaking past each other, ineffective because of how clear it is that we are not on each other’s side.
A couple of year’s ago I looked at America’s stated core values in an attempt at getting more of us on the same page. Whether it is citing Bible verse, or the Declaration of Independence, if the reader decides that that the author is just trying to score points for “the other side,” there is no getting through to them.
But the simple lens of harshness may be a more effective reframe. Please consider embracing Terry’s anti-harshness approach to life.
Sunday Supper Ideas
Pepper Steak Celery Stir-Fry w/ Lemon
Pork Chops with/ Feta, Snap Peas and Mint
Chicken Thighs w/ Asparagus, Radishes and Lemon Vinaigrette
Sunday Music
Infinity Song, also at the NPR Tiny Desk
Irene Ketikidi Live At Piraeus Club Academy
Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Energetic Beings
We know so little, but are quickly learning.
I came across this article this week, which continues to resonate. It profiles the thinking of Martin Picard, a researcher at Columbia University. Through his research, Picard has been exploring the hypothesis that everything from stress to aging can be explained by how energy moves through our bodies.
The notion that “We Are Energy” sounds like something from Eastern philosophy rather than a Columbia research lab. Before you think this tiptoes too far into the land of “woo-woo,” consider some of the learnings Picard has observed in our mitochondria. In middle school we are taught that mitochondria are the “powerhouses” that exist inside of our cells, converting food into energy. Picard’s research is proving that these important cells do more than just keep the lights on - they adapt, communicating with each other as the needs of our bodies change. They change their number and structure, adjusting how they produce and distribute energy. They are the only organelles with their own distinct genetic material (mtDNA, which is inherited exclusively from mothers).
We are a long way from the future predicted by Star Trek or Star Wars, where tricorders or other fictitious gadgets scan our bodies and heal us. But Martin Picard’s insights may be leading us in that direction. As a layperson, I’ve lived long enough to observe things in my own body and mind state that seem to correlate with some of what this article shares - simple things, like how sleep improves mood and function, the way that other peoples’ “vibes” can be contagious in a group setting, elevating or depressing the mood in the room. The positive effects of hugging someone you love. Deep tissue massage that speeds up the healing of physical injury. Maybe these are all affecting us deep down in our mitochondria.
Time will tell whether Doctor Picard is truly uncovering important new knowledge about how our bodies work. Efforts like his pull humanity one micron further out of the primordial ooze as we continue to wake up from our primitive beginnings.
Sunday Supper
I love Brassica. When I am pressed for time, I appreciate having them as an option for fast, quality nourishment. I also love the Lebanese culinary diaspora. I went to Aldi yesterday to see about prepping the components to make Brassica bowls at home. For $55 I was able to purchase the ingredients to make a lot of bowls, including 3 lbs of chuck roast and 2 lbs of chicken. I prepped the following four recipes, along with some chopped kale and green cabbage and a jar of mild pickled giardiniera, and the resulting bowls are very comparable to what I enjoy at the restaurant:
Tahini Sauce w/ Garlic & Lemon (to drizzle over everything)
Sunday Music
Norah Jones and Madison Cunningham talk and play songs with each other. Amaia playing at NPR’s Tiny Desk. Rehman Memmedli performing live on KEXP. The Corrs at the Isle of Wight Festival last year. Michael Stipe performing on The Late Show earlier this week. Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Keep Mixing It Up
Variety truly is the spice of life.
Friday morning we fired up the U-Haul and started driving. Per usual, Lori and I tried to cram five days of work into four. We were pretty well cooked at the start of this adventure. The mission: deliver furniture to our younger offspring and get him properly settled in to his new apartment. (Side benefit: Hotel Bell has been meaningfully de-cluttered.)
We caravanned - me in the U-Haul, Lori in her station wagon. We considered traveling together in the truck, then flying home. But there was no time savings, and committing to a flight might mean leaving before we felt the job was done. I have driven U-Haul trucks a few times - but never so far, never through Chicago during rush hour, and never through a storm as severe as the one we encountered Friday night. An 8 1/2 hour trip ended up taking 12 hours. Oofta!
In Chicago, I began to fear that I might run out of gas. Within five minutes, Lori found a gas station just one block off of the exit, with an easy path to re-enter the slow-crawling critical path to our destination. The fuel stop cost us fifteen minutes, at most. During a relative lull in the storm, Google Maps directed me to quickly take an exit, allowing us to avoid a major slow-down.
The whole time, we were solving problems - both as they arose, and avoiding them entirely by anticipating them in advance. Where to park the U-Haul, since we won’t be unloading it tonight? The best place to park the U-Haul for the offloading? How to dispose of this couch if it won’t fit in the apartment? Navigating an unfamiliar territory, on a timeline, with clear outcomes we were driving toward.
It was all super-stimulating. Our son is in the same boat - just two weeks into his new job, living in a new town, dealing with a new landlord…this type of stuff is extra-taxing, and extra-good for us, at least within a certain range. Everything can be overdone.
This week was a reminder to seek out more productive discomfort. It’s certainly not always fun, but it really did make me feel extra alive these last couple of days. I want as much “extra” as I can get.
Anyway, Lori and I are starting a new business: Ninja Rooster Movers - we get up at the crack of dawn and move in your furniture so quietly your neighbors will never wake up.
Sunday Supper
Fight Big Beef by making these tasty Salmon Burgers this week. Pair them with this Carrot Ribbon Salad. These Mexican Pork & Beans look yum, yum, yum. Ok, let’s revisit beef burgers - but make it CHEESEBURGER SOUP instead.
Sunday Music
If you love Bruce Hornsby, you’ll love this interview. Don’t let their name distract you from wonderful art - here’s Mannequin Pussy at the NPR Tiny Desk. How about Salin, live KEXP? Let’s head to Argentina and listen to this beautiful duet between Mel Muñiz and Juan Pablo de Mendonça. Lastly, let Reggie Watts blow your mind with this set for The Lot Radio. Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Spring Regroup
Life’s been moving fast. Here are a mix of notes, updates and ideas.
A full calendar has had me hopping. I have a lot to do. The week ahead thankfully has some buffer time in which to catch up on things. This weekend is about re-setting myself. Today, I offer you a mix of items.
The first is a suggestion: Check out to this conversation between Sam Harris & Tristan Harris (same last name, but no relation) about the arms-race dynamics driving the competition between different Artificial Intelligence labs. We live in increasingly strange times. This conversation highlights this without conceding that the future of humanity has to be dystopian.
Speaking of artificial intelligence, I’m just starting to dip my toes into a project with Claude that will hopefully help Lori and me think through different ideas we have about home renovation in a more holistic way. Step one is to measure the basic floor plan of each level of the house, which takes time. If this experiment yields anything interesting, I’ll be sharing it in this space.
Our gas range’s computer finally crapped out on us, matching the state of its door (which won’t fully shut), and the electric ignition of the stovetop burners (only one burner actually lights this way). We’ve had Mr. Bee’s out previously for these various issues. The range will no longer be receiving life-saving care by appliance technicians. I was hoping to hold out to select a new range as part of a more holistic kitchen renovation, but oh, well. The gradual decline of the appliance leaves me somehow surprised at what I’ve been willing to abide. Like the proverbial frog slowly boiled in water, this thing is an embarrassment. The new unit will feel refreshing, I’m sure.
Lauren Culley, co-founder of Fox In The Snow cafe, has resumed making YouTube videos sharing how to make some of their menu items, and we are all the better for it. I will be trying out their Coffee Cake and Banana Bread recipes soon after the new range arrives.
With that Spring cold well and truly behind me, visits to the gym have picked up in the past two weeks. The quality of my sleep is noticeably improved by this.
I spent extra energy to get ahead of my various chores on Saturday, so that I can make it to the golf course for my first round of the year. Of course I need to do it early enough to return home in time to see the last hour or two of The Masters. Golf season is in full swing.
Sunday Supper
These Crunchy Queso Wraps look fun and satisfying. This Doner Kebab recipe has been picking up steam in social media lately, and looks great. I love Tuna Casserole every now and again. One Pan Ranch Cheddar Chicken & Rice.
Sunday Music
Thom Yorke, live at the Sydney Opera House. Mumford & Sons visited the NPR Tiny Desk. Eydìs Evensen performing live for KEXP. The Boss, performing Purple Rain in Minneapolis. Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
The New New Year
The annual shift from Winter to Spring jolts us out of hibernation.
Happy Easter Sunday to you, and Passover too. Everyone is celebrating in their own way as the Earth wakes up from it’s Winter slumber. It will soon be time to mow the grass, and play some golf. The trees are dropping their seeds, so gutter cleaning has commenced. The hostas are popping out of the ground; their leaves will soon shade much of the beds, giving weeds little chance to thrive. We put away the winter coats this weekend.
I often think of Wendell Berry in the Spring, who once wrote:
At start of spring I open a trench
In the ground. I put into it
The winter’s accumulation of paper,
Pages I do not want to read
Again, useless words, fragments,
errors. And I put into it
the contents of the outhouse:
light of the suns, growth of the ground,
Finished with one of their journeys.
To the sky, to the wind, then,
and to the faithful trees, I confess
my sins: that I have not been happy
enough, considering my good luck;
have listened to too much noise,
have been inattentive to wonders,
have lusted after praise.
And then upon the gathered refuse,
of mind and body, I close the trench
folding shut again the dark,
the deathless earth. Beneath that seal
the old escapes into the new.
Sometimes I miss our home in Marengo. 15 acres, a big chicken coop, a big garden. I remember all of the hard work, too. But Spring makes the old place seem a bit more romantic. This time of year I always feel the absence of mom. Since she passed, the seed catalogs have dwindled. Those catalogs would always spark the imagination for what could be possible in the garden this year. The Farmer’s Market will provide the bounty instead.
I love how in January we declare a “New Year,” and then a few months later Mother Nature shows us what renewal is all about.
Sunday Supper
I get romantic about deviled eggs this time of year, dazzled by their potential, and forgetful of how much work they are. So I’ll do this Broken Egg Salad instead. We picked up some lamb shoulder roast at Block & Cleaver this weekend. I think we’ll make this Lamb Shawarma with it. This recipe for Quiche Lorraine w/ Tater Tot Crust is too interesting to pass up. If you didn’t overdo it on the Easter candy, this Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake would make for a nice treat.
Sunday Music
Julian Lage, live in Los Angeles. Chloé Antoniotti, for ARTE Concert’s Piano Day. Emile & The Education, live at Safe Space Sounds. Big Thief on World Cafe. The John Scofield Trio from last Fall’s DC Jazzfest. Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Childlike, Not Childish
Retaining (or returning to) the curiosity, openness, and positivity that we had as children.
Our younger son pulled out of the driveway on Friday, moving to another city to start his career. His original plan was to leave Thursday, but a poor night of sleep gave Lori and I a bonus day with the lad.
Happy and sad feelings swirled together in the oddest emotional Blizzard™. The celebration of this new chapter unfolding for him, combined with the knowledge that this is likely the last extended period of time we will share together makes for a wild combination.
He’s so ready. He is such a smart, capable, caring person. Yes, Lori and I helped promote his development - but at least half of the job was just staying out of the way and letting it happen.
I worked hard to not be a blubbering parent. It would be selfish to make the moment about what I was feeling. Instead, I framed it in my mind as a celebration of all he had accomplished, and the good things that await him in Wisconsin.
I also hit the kitchen, intent on producing some of his favorite foods - Mexican Egg Rolls Thursday night, and something we call “Tortilla Egg” for breakfast on Friday prior to him hitting the road. A corn tortilla, browned on both sides in a pan with a small dab of butter, topped with a single egg, beaten and cooked flat, folded, then topped with cheddar cheese and a little salsa. Toasty, corny, buttery with plenty of flavor. A perfect little eggy taco. This was a breakfast staple during the grade school years in our house.
I hope that both of our sons are able to retain the mental suppleness of youth: curiosity, wonder and openness. Looking back, I definitely hit a point where my perspective became less flexible in early adulthood. I wouldn’t say that I felt like I had it all figured out, but I eventually found myself re-cultivating this suppleness once I realized it had started to fade.
Listening to a podcast this past week, I heard the phrase “Childlike, not childish,” which sums it up perfectly. The wide eyes and open mind of youth is something to hang on to. As we age, our mental maps for how things work grow in complexity and get more rigid. But the world has proved to be ever-changing, and I think it will only change faster in the future. I suppose there is a balance to be struck between childlike wonder, and naivety. Here are some ways to cultivate childlike strengths throughout life:
Stay genuinely curious, even as you become more informed.
Embrace beginner’s mind as a starting point for learning something new. Presume nothing.
Separate observation from interpretation. Often as adults we jump to interpretation. Experience something fully, then reflect on it.
Seek out people with different worldviews. When we are children, everything is new. We have to go out of way to find novelty as we age.
Play without a goal. Play for play’s sake. Protect some space for exploration without outcomes.
Welcome being wrong. When you’re wrong about something, welcome it. Don’t defensively reject it. Learn.
Notice and revel in delight. We experience much more delight in our youth. Cultivate this as a skill, and celebrate delight when it arises.
Sunday Supper
This Red Curry Chicken & Rice is so easy and delicious. I prepped this Overnight Sausage & Mushroom Strata Saturday night, baking it this morning. I’ll be making these Korean BBQ-Style Meatballs tonight, along with some roasted broccoli. I’m a sucker for rice pudding, and this Salted Caramel version looks wonderful.
Sunday Music
Here’s RAYE performing Cry Me A River. Madison Cunningham on World Cafe. Glass Beams performs a trippy set on KEXP. Weather Report live at the Montreal Jazz Festival, 1976. Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
The Work Never ends
In a world where the work never ends, we have to create our own breaks in order to perform at our best,
This week a friend recommended this podcast featuring Mike Rowe (of Dirty Jobs TV show fame) being interviewed by Ben Sasse and Chris Stirewalt, both Senior Fellows at the public policy think tank, the American Enterprise Institute. Sasse is a former Republican congressman from Nebraska who distinguished himself as one of seven Republicans who saw fit to convict Donald Trump of incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial. Late last year, Sasse announced that he has been diagnosed with terminal stage-four pancreatic cancer. He and Stirewalt host the podcast Not Dead Yet, which is Sasse’s defiant nod to his own mortality. In his own words, Sasse has said he needs to "laugh at death because death is terrible, but death doesn't get the final word.” He has also joked that his illness has made it harder for guests to decline invitations to appear on the podcast.
Mike Rowe has long celebrated working class Americans, and this is the core topic discussed in this podcast. One distinction that is discussed early in the conversation is the inherent natures of physical work versus thought work. If one is working on a construction site and it’s time for the work day to end, they put their tools away and go home, leaving a clear separation and opportunity for mental down-time. Whereas with thought work, the emails keep flowing, the laptop computer is always there and essentially, the opportunity and call to work is non-stop.
Of course it is neither healthy nor good to work all the time. And breaks are required to do our best thinking. When I’m not in an all-day EOS session, I often break up my day with mid-day exercise. Stepping away and stimulating my nervous system with physical activity is a great way to re-set and have a focused afternoon work session. One noticeable benefit from my work as an EOS Implementer - everyone in the session room turns off their phones, to minimize distraction and encourage presence. Without fail, these days have a special feel to them, and when I get to the end of a session day, I find that I really didn’t miss anything too terribly important.
So stepping away is possible. I used to listen to a lot more podcasts than I do today. Lately I prefer no audio inputs (music or podcast) when I walk Rosie. It’s good to let the mind wander, and keeps me more in-sync with the dog. Lots of things percolate out of my brain when I give it the chance to do it’s thing.
Done right, taking breaks is the opposite of laziness - they are the key to managing both the quantity and the quality of work for those of us who are not physically laboring for our income.
Sunday Supper
We enjoyed a double sheet pan dinner last night, made up of Tofu and Green Beans w/ Chile Crisp and Roasted Cabbage Wedges w/ Lemon Vinaigrette (both were excellent). These Vegan Tex Mex Egg Rolls look great (and meat-eaters can easily substitute some spiced taco meat into the mix). This Seafood Casserole looks interesting to me, too.
Sunday Music
The Oscar Peterson Quartet, featuring Joe Pass. This Blue Note Vinyl Jazz set is curated to support your Sunday morning cup of coffee. The Norms performing a set at Offbeat Roadhouse. Mandrake Handshake, live on KEXP. Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Return To Simple
Entropy is always creeping in, so we just always keep pruning.
The thousands of times I coughed this week shredded my throat, disrupted my sleep, and sapped my energy. This left me feeling behind on my work, with no chance for a super-heroic push to catch up on everything.
This cold is passing through me like a slow-moving weather pattern. It’s going to be cloudy for a while longer. I can control it no more than I could control the high winds that whipped through our community on Friday. Yet I am responsible for cleaning up the aftermath of both.
That’s how it works. We do our best, then the universe throws us random extra challenges and we handle them as best we can.
It forces us to drop the less essential things. This week I dropped the notion of having a full-blown essay. One less thing to worry about today. When I look at my list of responsibilities, it strikes me that in 100 years, no one will know or care whether I do any of these. Probably not a fair standard for stack-ranking one’s priorities, but it is sobering. And it highlights that everything will be just fine regardless of when I can get these things done.
I’m feeling better than I felt last week, but it will be many days before I feel like this illness has completely left my system. Like a bad roommate, I can’t wait for it to move out. It’s nice to hear the birds sing. Spring is here.
Sunday Supper
Sweet Lori cooked a lot of my get-well-soon meal ideas in last week’s post. It was all delicious, and as healing as I expected. My cold imposes a tax on her, too, in terms of having less help walking the dog, cooking our food and generally getting things done around here. I’m going to stick with simple and comforting recipes this week. Like this Paprika Chicken & Potatoes. Dill Pickle Salt & Vinegar Salad sounds bright and interesting. Roasted Sweet Potatoes Topped w/ Spiced Ground Beef & Pine Nuts. Sausage & Leek Casserole.
Sunday Music
I once fell asleep at an Alan Holdsworth concert. Sensory overload? Perhaps, but I was also tired…it was a weeknight show and I had a full day at the office. This uniquely talented British musician passed away nine years ago, but here is a set he delivered 20 years ago at Yoshi’s Jazz Club. Here Steve Earle performs a brief set at Lucinda’s in NYC. Madi Diaz recently appeared at the NPR Tiny Desk. Jennifer Hudson recently performed A Change Is Gonna Come at the celebration of life for the recently departed Reverend Jesse Jackson. Who can forget this truly amusing cameo of Reverend Jackson’s on Saturday Night Live so many years ago? Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Spring Cold
I hate being under the weather, but it came at a pretty good time.
The natural world is waking up after the cold winter. Lots of birds were singing this week when I took Rosie for her morning walk. The hawk shrieks often from its perch high up in a nearby sycamore tree. I heard the first spring peepers of the year as I pulled out of Ray Ray’s Friday night.
Having run a winter gauntlet that included lots of time in airports and on airplanes, it was impossible to not notice the fact that I had not yet caught a cold this winter season. So when I started to feel that tickle in my throat Thursday evening, I said to myself “OK, I guess that I’m due for this.”
It really couldn’t have been timed any better. My Friday calendar was light. Lori and Frederick were away, laying the groundwork for his relocation to a new town. So, I counted my good fortune to have a cold hit me when it was relatively easy to slow down, and let my body’s immune system do what it needed to do.
I rarely watch much television. But I was able to finish the second season of Andor (very good, a bit on-the-nose with current events), and catch some of the latest episodes of The Pitt. Chris Fleming’s first stand-up comedy special on HBO caught me completely off-guard, it had me howling with laughter.
I tried the Mississippi Pot Roast from Harvest Pizza Saturday night, and it delivered the exact type of comfort food culinary hug that that this under-the-weather boy needed. Never in a hundred years would I have expected to see this type of item on the menu of a pizza restaurant, yet there it is and it is delicious.
Sunday Supper
Consider this an aspirational list of get-well-soon recipes. I won’t be cooking this weekend, but this Ginger Chicken w/ Rice Soup looks delicious and healing. This Loaded Breakfast Casserole w/ Hash Brown Crust is hearty. Rigatoni w/ White Bolognese. These Reuben Pinwheels would be nice for St. Patty’s Day on the 17th.
Sunday Music
De La Soul has finally landed at the NPR Tiny Desk, and it is good. Hozier & Lake Street Dive performed “With A Little Help From My Friends” on The Late Show this past week. Sting recently performed a concert at the Rijksmueum in Amsterdam. And here is Sarah Vaughan performing in Copenhagen the year I was born. Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Hands, Head & Heart
Everyone can be an artist.
I came across this Instagram post this week, which says “This is my favorite quote from Marco Pierre White: A person who works with their hands is a laborer. A person that works with their hands and their brain is a craftsman. A person that works with their hands, their brain and their heart is an artist. Be an artist.”
Marco Pierre White is a British chef who has been dubbed both as “the first celebrity chef” and the enfant terrible of the British restaurant scene. White was the first British chef (and, at the age of 33, the youngest chef) to earn three Michelin stars. He maintained this standard for many years, but in 1999 chose to retire and return the Michelin stars.
At the time he said this: “I was being judged by people who had less knowledge than me, so what was it truly worth? I gave Michelin inspectors too much respect, and I belittled myself. I had three options: I could be a prisoner of my world and continue to work six days a week, I could live a lie and charge high prices and not be behind the stove or I could give my stars back, spend time with my children and re-invent myself.”
I celebrate White’s reinvention, and enjoy following him on Instagram. His views on cooking and life overlap with mine quite well.
America is back in the regime change business. (Or at least Donald Trump is, and we gave him control of the military.)
This past week the Department of War put Scouting America under the microscope. Rumor has it that they will soon be adding a Kegstand merit badge to appease Secretary Hegseth.
Sunday Supper
We enjoyed a Greek-themed meal with friends last night that included these Lamb Chops, this Greek Salad, and these Butterbeans. It was wonderful. In the week ahead, this Chicken & White Bean Stew offers a strong start, and this Roasted Cabbage Salad W/ Spicy Lime Dressing is intriguing.
Sunday Music
This set by Immanuel Wilkins at the NPR Tiny Desk is great. I had never seen this old clip of Miles Davis performing with Prince. Yebba joins Robert Glasper on Austin City Limits. The late, great Stevie Ray Vaughn performing Voodoo Child in 1985. Enjoy!
If you know anyone who might like this essay, please share it with them.
Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,