Ramble On

Perhaps the best way to sum up my 2020 is to say that my world got smaller but more focused. When time is given back to you in a way you never expected it would be, figuring out the right ways to spend it and with whom are vitally important.  We're still holding our breath collectively as we wait for the vaccine to be more widely available. We're wondering about the untold long-range effects of this pandemic on our interior lives, our relationships, our governments, our economies, and many other aspects of our lives. But I will say that the pandemic sharpened my idea of what home is, helped me hone my concept of adventure, and brought immediacy and urgency to understanding the idea and necessary components of meaningful connection (like with my sweet new nephew and the rest of my immediate family, who now reside all in one geographic area.)  2020 also allowed for a concentrated study on desire, both as a concept and an effort to inventory my own. Music proved once again a rev

I'm on a roll, folks. I may just get this post completed before another year passes! Panajachel sunrise I've detached from old rhythms and really lots of things over the last couple years, but I think I'm finally able to start thinking about some (the good ones?) again.  I had to put down this kind of writing for a while and I've missed it.  It feels so good to be writing about music again. 2019 was a banner year.  I traveled to 6 countries and 9 states, redesigned a website, finished a graduate program, led another Camino pilgrimage, three reading groups, read lots of books, went to not as many concerts, and fell in love ... with my brother's rescue dog .  I feel like in some ways I am coming back to myself, or a renewed version of myself that is more me than I've ever been. And the best way I know to tell you about it is to let others sing you the story. As usual, they are arranged thematically. Also standard operating procedure: not all the son

The year started out a blur, trying to dismantle a household built over 4 decades.  Trying to get my head around the fact that I even had to do it and why. I tried so many times to write this post, but every time I would pick it up I just wanted to throw it away.  So now, at the end of 2019, with a little time on my hands, I picked up the question of writing it again. I managed to complete 2017's entry a few months ago.  And then it only seemed right to complete this one.  The playlist was there, and I kept thinking about what I would write if I ever got around to it.  And now, I think it's time to face the music (ha!). So, here it is.  My songs of 2018 with all the beloved color commentary and neuroses you've come to expect from me below the playlist in case you'd like some context for the choices.  Enjoy, friends! What I Needed to Hear... " I Know A Place" - MUNA I so needed a place like is being described in this song in 2018.  I liked thinking