a few observations

It has been a long while since I have posted, so just a few thoughts to break the drought. It has been a long and strange journey for me the past 3 years, far too much to get into here, but suffice to say my life has gone through some cataclysmic upheavals. Really, the unsettled weather started about 6 years ago. Nothing that most humans don't experience, but it has been tumultuous and humbling. Still there is much good that has transpired the past few months. I got the green light on perhaps the best music I think i have ever written, involving a very prominent poet who's words move me and inspire. (more to come.) there are also three other very cool recording projects in the works, have done some very fun gigs, taught a couple of times at Stanford, my jazzschool group has received a couple of tremendous national honors, and, perhaps most important of all, my father has been much better recently, and I am committed to visiting him as much as possible. I have recently read a poem about relationships describing them as vines entwined, and how the stronger vine can suffocate the weaker, and how it takes an intrepid gardener to cut them so they can grow separately. Perhaps, though humans are not vines. It is a more complicated proposition. What I do know is that it is impossible for a vine or a human to separate from another vine (or human) while simultaneously being wrapped around a new vine (or human). The vine (or human) that is simultaneously being separated and rewrapped will once again suffocate. I know in my life I have always been defined and self-defined by my relationship to a woman, and now I am engaged in the tough and arduous process of redefining myself autonomously. It is quite a trip, it is very early, and I hve absolutely no idea how it will turn out, but I am grateful for the support of my friends and the beauty of watching my son thrive and prosper...lastly, I have been to many fairly stultifying meetings lately in my new job as vice-president of my college's union. I will say this: in my experience, as a general rule, folks who use the phrase "think outside the box" don't, and folks who are creative don't hold workshops or seminars or read self-help books on how to be creative...they simply create. I leave you with this positive affirmation...