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Man in the High Castle and the I Ching

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  (May 2026) The Man in the High Castle   is a particularly intricate Netflix series about parallel universes and alternate historical outcomes, focusing on the winners and losers of World War II. In this version of history, the Allies lost the war: the Nazis control the eastern United States, the Japanese control the western states, and a neutral zone lies between them. One of the more relatable—or at least less objectionable—characters is the Japanese Trade Minister based in San Francisco. When faced with difficult decisions, he periodically consults the I-Ching, which the series describes as an “Oracle.” Because I have used the I-Ching myself and have long appreciated its qualities, I thought it might be worthwhile to describe what I understand about its origins and usefulness. The I-Ching, also known as the   Book of Changes , is most widely known in the West through the translation of   Richard Wilhelm , originally published in German in 1924 and later translate...
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What makes a good music teacher?

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  (May 2024; revised July 2024) This entry was prompted by three things - first a NYT article on teaching music (criticizing how teachers are doing things traditionally rather than encouraging their students to learn four chords and then encourage the student to figure out how to play by ear some known piece); next, my own spotty history of relationships with teachers (piano and 'cello); and finally a comment I overheard at a guitar lesson when an instructor told a parent that she should try to get her son to practice 15 minutes a day before the next lesson. This seems so minimal to me - A good teacher would want and expect the student to practice more than 15 minutes. Period. To me, good teaching always inspires the student (obviously, that goes for many subjects, not just music). I wouldn't say that uninspiring teaching can't be useful (consider learning traffic rules for someone learning to drive). But consider the effect of inspiration on a music student's approach...
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The Anatomy and Physiology of Misteaks

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 The Anatomy and Physiology of Misteaks (June 2023 - November 2024 - January 2025 - January 2026 - May 2026) The "anatomy and physiology" in the title is a obviously tongue-in-cheek - what I set to do in this posting is to categorize mistakes to see if there are common factors that tie different kinds of mistakes together and whether something can be learned by splitting or by splitting and then lumping. I have recently become particularly interested in mistakes that cause a fall because friends have slipped or fallen and have needed serious rehabilitation or surgery. . HOWEVER Something very interesting happened after I completed this entry: I stopped making mistakes. No butterfingers. No slips or falls. No knocking things over. Why? My best guess is that spending time thinking about and categorizing these kinds of mistakes made me super aware of my surroundings and the potential for making mistakes. I think that's key - if we pay attention, we will be less inclined to d...
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