For so long, I didn’t create things on a consistent basis.

All I did was look at other stuff and get frustrated with how bad it was.

Bad music, bad Instagram posts, bad YouTube videos. You name it, I judged it.

I even judged other people for liking it. “Why does this person have so many followers?”

Read More

I was complaining to Jen, one of my key advisors, about my reluctance to train music teachers.

"I just don't want to insult them by teaching them about something so basic," I said.

"I'm going to say something that might sound strange," she said. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe this stuff isn't actually basic?"

Read More

I have a really hard time visualizing a room as it could be.

I can imagine rearranging furnishings in a different way, but it's difficult for me to imagine furnishings that aren't already there. I agonize over paint and textile colors. What's more, it's almost impossible for me to picture options for remodeling.

When it comes to interior design, I see only what is there. I would have to rely on someone like my friend Antonia to be able to see what could be done to create a more pleasant, attractive, and livable space.

Read More

When I saw my house for the first time, I didn’t notice the condition of the floors.

I was so enamored with the many windows and the cute little bedrooms and the ancient but charming kitchen that I didn’t realize that the hardwoods in the living room were a treacherous expanse likely to give you a splinter when you dared to traverse them. Even with socks on. In fact, this didn’t occur to me until months later when I got my first splinter (with socks on).

Read More

One of my students, age fourteen, is an accomplished amateur ornithologist.

The other day, we were looking at a picture of a bird. I said it looked like a house finch, and he said something like, "No, this bird’s [technical term] is more [technical term], and its wings have [technical term] along the [technical term]. They look nothing alike.”

Read More