The Movement

January 21, 2017
Today was incredible and deeply inspiring. The people appealed beautifully and powerfully for Women and against our newly inaugurated president, who has disrespected, disparaged and expressed disdain for the entire gender. After months of dark anxiety and absolute dejection, this was the only possible antidote; a rallying cry from millions of American patriots rejecting the fraud and deception now in the White House and demanding decency, respect and compassion for all people. Alaina got on a bus this morning to be in D.C. for the main event, so I packed Ivy and Miles into the double stroller and, bearing through…

Holidays

December 27, 2016
I could not have been luckier in the birth lottery, raised well by two amazing parents and accompanied by two siblings through my formative years, sheltered by a beautiful home in Newton Highlands, Massachusetts. This family has grown and now includes wonderfully-chosen spouses and incredible created progeny. When we assemble biennially on Lake Ave and fill the house that once fit five comfortably with fourteen, including six under five, it is wildly chaotic in the most fun and exciting way possible. Great people I see too rarely and whose company I enjoy more than anyone, make 72 hours in their…

In the Moment of Truth

December 13, 2016
I spend a few minutes preparing an Ableton Live set with a variety of sounds then I hit record and start tapping pads on Push. The result is five to twenty minutes of improvised composition. I enjoy listening to the recordings, but not quite as much as I enjoy making them. The process is stream-of-consciousness and meditative; I am listening and responding in the moment, which means I cease to think about anything else and become entranced by my creation. It is a journey and it is, temporarily, the sole focus of my existence. In many ways, these recordings are…

Making Meaningful Music

December 8, 2016
Despite the many forces I am powerless to, I am still in charge of my music! It is my greatest non-human interaction and every day I continue my quest to produce the best aural art I possibly can. I have certainly enjoyed creating these cathartic and therapeutic spontaneous compositions over the past month and will dedicate myself to making more out of pure love for the process.

Insane

December 7, 2016
What The Fuck? Our Country has lost its mind and I have been similarly afflicted with a haunting psychosis. Trump is scarier than anything I have ever encountered in my lifetime and my brain refuses to let me forget it. It's been one month since 11/8 and every day seems harder than the last as he picks his cabinet of ghouls and picks fights with Hamilton, The Media and China. He makes a private deal with Carrier by giving them corporate tax breaks to send jobs to Mexico (and save a few for us). He chooses Climate Change Deniers to…

President-Elect.

November 11, 2016
It happened. He won. She lost. We despair. I was hopeful. The polls and the math and the logic pointed to an historic election of the first female president. Our best political scientists overwhelmingly believed that the country was with her. And we were, with more individual votes than him. But the Electoral College! As Florida became increasingly red throughout the night and North Carolina began to lean, I became nervous. When Michigan and Wisconsin turned into battlegrounds, I went to bed. It was obvious where this was headed and salvaging what I could of sleep took priority over sinking…

Halloween

October 31, 2016
Tonight was one of my all-time parenting highlights; watching Ivy spend 2 hours handing out candy on our porch and 1 hour trick-or-treating around our block was absolutely amazing. I have never witnessed such a dense swarm of people, mostly kids, in our neighborhood like that; there were times when the line stretched from our porch 30 kids deep down our steps and walkway to the sidewalk, each waiting for Ivy to drop a piece of candy in their sack. It was a constant flow of candy from bowl to bags and we ran out way before we anticipated, even…

Big Papi

October 12, 2016
Adios, Papi. As the Red Sox' season ended in a sweep by the Orioles, it was a meek exit to one of the best careers, but when the pain subsides and we step back and get some perspective, we will see the incredible impact on the team and the city of Boston. Three World Series victories in nine years is a pretty good run and I don't think they would claim any of those without him. One of my favorite moments in all of sports watching came in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, with the Sox facing elimination against…

Back On Schedule

August 30, 2016
School commences! After three months of reduced work commitments and one month of none whatsoever, I was obligated to report to Poly Prep Lower School at 9:00 am on Monday for orientation. Today was the introduction for the new Head of School at the upper campus, and after a few rocky years within the board and administration, it felt like a greatly needed fresh start for the faculty. Audrius Barzdukas delivered a passionate and inspiring speech on the nobility of teaching and moved an audience that has been bracing for this transition with deserved skepticism. Hopefully, as he put it,…

Sweetness

July 26, 2016
Summer is accelerating quickly! We have been Capeside for our annual 4th of July family weekend, bigger and greater than ever with the two newest Taylors, Miles and Julian. We spent a weekend camping in Vermont, had some friends to The Land, and enjoyed some pool and beach time in Bellport. We are headed up to Lake George on Thursday for a reprise of last year's raucous weekend with 20 of our closest friends, then a wedding and a week in Maine. And so soon, in a short paragraph, my Summer is complete. But these few sentences don't really do…