071221 — Blog — Rulerless

I still remember something my friend Weston shared over a meal years ago.

I had asked Weston, a gifted musician and the singer/songwriter behind Ayo River, how he avoided getting creatively frustrated. His songs always seemed to flow from a deep place within him, free of self-consciousness and artifice. Prolific and generous with his work, he made it look easy. How did he do it?

Casey von NeumannJanuary 29, 2021071221, 081721, 110121, 071422 Comments

How to make hard things look easy

When I was a kid, I was just in awe of professional musicians. How do you get up on stage and play song after song and not mess up?

Well, I’m still in awe of professional musicians, but now I understand something fundamental: Most of the time, whatever they’re doing up there is as easy as driving around town or carrying on a conversation.

It takes a degree of effort and concentration, but it’s within the range of routine activities. They’re not pushing themselves so hard that they’re risking a train wreck in front of hundreds or thousands of people. They’re doing something that they can already reliably do.

Casey von NeumannSeptember 25, 2020101220, 101920, 121020, 021121, 041921, 071221, 072321, 081121, 051223 Comments

I can't not talk about it

On Friday night, Rayshard Brooks, a twenty-seven-year-old African-American man, was shot and killed by Atlanta police at a Wendy’s that happens to be about a ten-minute drive from my school.

As an educator and business owner, even if I wanted to look the other way, I couldn’t. Which has always been the daily reality of Black people in America.

Casey von NeumannJune 15, 2020010721, 071221Comment

Letting yourself be who you want to be

At her first piano lesson, Sophie asked me how many instruments I play.

I thought a moment. “Hmmm…piano, guitar…ukulele…a little bit of drums…so…four?”

“I play seven instruments,” she proclaimed. She breezily counted them off on her chubby six-year-old fingers. “Drums, harmonica, shaker, tambourine, recorder, guitar, and, well, now I play the piano.”

Casey von NeumannJuly 23, 2019073119, 072320, 120320, 071221, 071421, 051023Comment

Let's stop asking kids what their favorites are

Conversation with children has a different flavor than conversation with adults.

The usual give-and-take is not often present. The sequence of topics may be illogical by adult standards.

To be fair, however, the pacing and sequence of topics may be illogical by kid standards, too. And that’s because…

Casey von NeumannMay 14, 2019071221, 062119Comment