Homer was slightly off

The great philosopher, Homer Simpson, once said:

"Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."

Though I may someday dedicate a post to the validity of this quote on its merits, today it makes me think of another aspect of my life: my Fraternity.

Most of my faithful readers either know about or are in this wonderful organization which has been providing service to music communities across the country for more than 80 years. I'm very proud to be a Brother and much of the past 8 years of my life has been defined in some way by my involvement with it.

This morning I was driven up the wall by the actions of a number of my Brothers. I would almost believe it if someone told me there is a conspiracy to make my last three weeks as a National Vice President difficult just so I'll feel better about retiring.

But, like with Homer and alcohol, the best solution to my frustration with Brothers is...Brothers. A few IM chats and phone calls with people I am lucky to have in my life have reminded me that I wouldn't know them at all without this Fraternity. I'm amazed that it's after 6pm, I'm still at work, and I consider this to be a good day.

So thank you, my Brothers: the cause of, and solution to, half of my problems.

Happy Re-Discoveries

Sometimes I think my Ipod's random-play option is just a means of reminding me how much crap I have stored away "in case I ever want to listen to it." Some days, though, it manages to remind me of some of my favorite, long-lost or recently-neglected songs.


Here are some of the ones that made me smile today:

Is She Really Going Out With Him - Goldfinger
Love me Tender - Norah Jones and Adam Levy
The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson
Head Over High Heels - Carolyn Dawn Johnson
I Would Die For You - Jann Arden
Singing in the Rain - Gene Kelly
Stray Cat Strut - The Stray Cats

What's in a Name?

Andrew and I have rented a new apartment. Starting April 1st, we will officially be Brooklynites. We're thrilled to have found a place away from the constant construction surrounding our current apartment, and we're eager to test out a new neighborhood. The only problem we have sharing this news to the world is that we can't pronounce our new address:

We will live on Schermerhorn St.

Drawing on our knowledge of German, Andrew and I both started pronouncing it ['sher mer horn], but since it's actually a Dutch name, and is one of the older Streets in Brooklyn, it is also pronounced ['skEr mer horn] and ['skIm mer horn]. (Anyone who took diction classes with me will know that it's killing me not to use IPA). We have no idea which way is "right," and even our broker pronounced it two different ways when we were signing the lease.

I knew I would need to find some difficult word to spell in my basic information ever since I dropped my maiden name, but I've never been in a position where I can't pronounce the word to begin with. Still, there's time to settle this before we're packing up and heading across the Brooklyn Bridge. Maybe I should put it to a vote.

The Downsides of an Open Door Policy

I'm having lunch at my desk. I normally don't, but I'd rather write and eat my Lean Cuisine (flavor, not dieting) than go out and be tempted to spend money.

My coworker thinks I'm not here. She must. That's the only way I can justify why she and another person in my office are having a discussion about their sexual pasts without so much as lowering their voices. I now know way more about either of them than I care to (especially now that I've heard them reminisce about the 80s). I know I should plug in my Ipod, but it's like watching a bad accident in slow motion--I can't turn away.

The Black Swan Tips for Living

Another blog I follow highlighted this list from The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Although I don't agree with all of them, it's a fun-enough list to share.

The Black Swan Tips for Living:

1. Skepticism is effortful and costly. It is better to be skeptical about matters of large consequences, and be imperfect, foolish and human in the small and the aesthetic.
2. Go to parties. You can't even start to know what you may find on the envelope of serendipity. If you suffer from agoraphobia, send colleagues.
3. It's not a good idea to take a forecast from someone wearing a tie. If possible, tease people who take themselves and their knowledge too seriously.
4. Wear your best for your execution and stand dignified. Your last recourse against randomness is how you act -- if you can't control outcomes, you can control the elegance of your behavior. You will always have the last word.
5. Don't disturb complicated systems that have been around for a very long time. We don't understand their logic. Don't pollute the planet. Leave it the way we found it, regardless of scientific 'evidence'.
6. Learn to fail with pride -- and do so fast and cleanly. Maximize trial and error -- by mastering the error part.
7. Avoid losers. If you hear someone use the words 'impossible', 'never', 'too difficult' too often, drop him or her from your social network. Never take 'no' for an answer (conversely, take most 'yeses' as 'most probably').
8. Don't read newspapers for the news (just for the gossip and, of course, profiles of authors). The best filter to know if the news matters is if you hear it in cafes, restaurants... or (again) parties.
9. Hard work will get you a professorship or a BMW. You need both work and luck for a Booker, a Nobel or a private jet.
10. Answer e-mails from junior people before more senior ones. Junior people have further to go and tend to remember who slighted them.

Take that, World

Yesterday wasn't a bad day; I was being praised at work, I was productive (always a good word in my vocabulary) and nothing was really wrong besides the tedious meeting near the end of my day and my body's ache from skiing this weekend. Still, as I made my way through the crowded subways home I was irritable and tired. I imagined walking in the door, hugging Andrew, and then promptly going to bed.

I did not expect Andrew to have a bouquet of flowers waiting for me, or a dish of red hots set out for me with a card he'd written, or a load of laundry whirring away in the background. (I know I'm a bit over-domestic when laundry is just as sure a way to my heart as red hots). In the second it took me to walk over the threshold from the outside world to our home, my night had completely changed.

We celebrated a belated Valentine's, complete with takeout and a movie (Paris, Je t'aime--which we both love).

Usually the cartoon above reminds me that doing things for other people is a way of getting back at the world's casual indifference to you. By making someone else smile, you've shown that you're not at the mercy of whatever life throws your way. I think Andrew was having a bit of a "Take that, world" evening himself. Lucky me.

A Clean Slate

Dear Void,

This is not the first journal I've kept, or even the first blog. This is a fresh start because I desperately need to dust the cobwebs off my writing, have a little fun, and have room to be silly. I make no promises for the quality of the entries that will follow or that they will contain or avoid any of those key life details--I just need to write.

I think it's funny that I'm opting to do this publicly rather than in the comfort of my own paper and pen. Perhaps it's because I prefer to write into a familiar void, an empty space that in my mind contains the friendly faces of loved ones and amiable strangers--or perhaps I just hate the feeling when my hand cramps from too much writing.

Either way, Dear Void, thank you for reading whatever may follow.