Category Modern Family
Nana
In phone conversations with my nana, at some point she’d generally say, “I read all your blog posts, Ryan – I just think it’s great!” While I don’t have a lot of 90-year-olds in my list of acquaintances, I do think it’s safe to say that Nana managed to keep up with the times more […]
In Memoriam: You Are Not Alone
Yesterday, I led a memorial service commemorating the life of a good friend. I worked with two of her very closest friends in the lead-up to the service, and, as is common, we gathered photos together for a slideshow to commemorate the occasion. As we compiled the show, a question arose about what kind of […]
Birthday
It’s a birthday – 42. Like others lucky enough to have landed on this age, I can’t help but consider Douglas Adams’s supercomputer from his fabulous Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In the universe Adams created, the computer is a mammoth device constructed over eons with one purpose – to reveal the answer to the […]
New Year’s 2018 – Notes on Focus
One year ago today, I published my 500th post on Musical Me. Today’s post is my 545th. I started this blog both to chronicle my project to learn to play the violin, and to foster disciplined writing. The twin pursuits emerged as an epiphany one Monday afternoon back in October of 2013, each conceived as […]
Oklahoma!
Earlier this year, two of my nieces had lead roles in their high school production of Oklahoma! – while I couldn’t be there in person, one of the performances was filmed, and I was able to watch it last night. Prior to that, I’d never seen the show and really knew nothing about it except […]
Graduating Swing Lessons
Over the long weekend, I was out of town visiting family for my oldest niece’s high school graduation. Her graduating class was 11 people (my own was about 400!), and I think most of them and many more made an appearance at her after-graduation party, which doubled as her 18th birthday party. It was also […]
Christmas 2016
We’re just back from our annual trek to Kansas to visit my family for Christmas – we were fortunate to have had excellent weather for the duration – some years, including last, weather has sidelined us into roadside motels as we make our way to and fro’. The rental Explorer performed great and our hotel […]
Changes
Last night was our first night in a new condo – a fabulous space we just closed on in a historic downtown building. We spent the night on an airbed that we’ll soon retire for guests; we don’t have much else here except the makings for coffee, as the movers are scheduled to do their […]