Saturday, January 29, 2011

TAMS and Bits

Sitting in the restaurant of the beautiful Austin Hilton Airport Hotel eating breakfast, I am reflecting on TAMS, my career, good food, friends, and even Willy Wonka. This odd but stunning hotel, once a substantial military armory/barracks, has a large open round atrium area surrounded by five stories of rooms. Looking up I see a glass dome-like structure that allows for natural light to stream into the room, providing a glimpse of the sky yet allowing for careful climate control of the hotel. But it reminds me of the final scene in Willy Wonka.

Willy and Charlie and Grandpa climb into this pod looking spaceship and sit down awaiting the next adventure. They suddenly lift up, accelerating toward the magnificent glass ceiling above them. Grandpa exclaims in great fear that they will be "cut to ribbons." Willy, with a gleam in his mischievous eye (played to the tee by character actor Gene Wilder), says, "Probably." As the odd little pod approaches the glass and the three cringe in terror, it suddenly bursts through, breaking the glass but staying intact, and begins flying above the world.

I think that scene, while appealing in and of itself, is ironically incongruent with the rest of the movie. Much of the movie seems Wonka contrived, smooth, prepared, and mystically eventful. As though when things seem hopeless and frightening, it all works out correctly and humorously. Yet in this last scene, the glass actually breaks. I guess I think it would have been more consistent to open up, allowing the pod to fly without the shards of glass everywhere. Oh well, I didn't write it and nobody has ever cared about my thoughts on this anyway!

But I am not at this motel to stare at the dome-like ceiling, but rather to enjoy and learn from the membership of TAMS (Texas Association of Music Schools). This is short conference comprised of music executives from colleges and universities around the state of Texas. We come together to share ideas, hear about concerns, manage a substantial scholarship fund, and learn how to improve our schools and improve our own administrative abilities. It is a solid organization and the conference provides a welcome opportunity for growth with other people sharing the bond of music administration.

Of course I did a little running as well, getting up early each morning and putting in a couple of miles before breakfast. Without the hills that normally interfere with my stride and rhythm, I found the running to be easier and consistently comforting. In a metaphorical interpretation, my life as a music administrator is often full of tough hills to manage, hills that often seem greater when I am on them than after they are crested. This is true of supervision at my work. But it is nice to have a couple of days of no hills, with straight roads that allow for ease of work. Still, no laziness for me--time to return to my post.

I did get some more music writing in, finished a book and started another, and had lots of great conversation with friends. Oh, and did I mention the food? Chicken, fish, salad, pie, cheesecake, bacon-wrapped shrimp, and various cheeses. All good. Plus some folk and classical music of guitars, ukeles, pianos, clarinet, marimba, and trombone.

Nice hotel, good food, great music, friends, running, books, ideas, conversation--just a great couple of days.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A Good Cup of Coffee

The years of heading out for a cup of coffee at Starbucks or Sonic or McDonalds or the latest quality coffee house are gone. I found the ideal cup and it resides at my home in the form of a Keurig coffee maker. Fresh coffee, the elixir of joy in the mornings, is now at my fingertips with no clean-up, little preparation, and fantastic flavor.

Certainly one of the great modern inventions, my new Keurig Coffeemaker is pure, unadulterated coffee happiness. Always hot, always fresh, and always tasty, it is better than any Starbucks or named brand coffees I have had. Plus the savings of money makes my wife happy as well. Approximately .50 cup sure beats $1.57 from Sonic.

So you may ask why not just make your own using the old drip system or even the percolator? Admittedly, I miss that sound of coffee percolating in the kitchen. But really, those days are gone. Nobody wants greasy, burned coffee with grounds hidden among the liquid. The drip system provides a better cup but within 30 minutes tastes old and heavy. And oh the clean-up. Filters, washing out the carafe, and wondering why the burner looks funny. Not to mention the time it took setting it up in the first place. All for an average cup of coffee.

Now I fill up the reservoir with water, press a button, pick out my coffee, press another button, and out it comes--the pleasure among pleasures--a great, fresh cup of coffee. Wow!

But all is not well in coffee land for me. On a Saturday, when I used to go to the office, run errands, take care of various situations, now I stay at home luxuriating in cup after cup of pure nirvana. I am home more. Wife is happy. But wait...am I spending more now due to wanting more? I think so. But it is without question worth it. In fact, as I sit here tonight thinking about it, I can't wait to wake up and drink some more.

I may have a problem, but my wisdom reminds me that any coffee after about 3:00 is guaranteed to keep me awake most of the night. But wait until the morning...fresh coffee from my Keurig Coffeemaker--perhaps the greatest invention known to modern man.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Vaccinations: A Cause of Autism, NOT

I will begin by saying that I do not subscribe to the idea that vaccinations are one of the leading causes of autism. Yet selfishly, I wish it were so. Several years ago we received a pointed letter from a reputable law firm asking us to document the ways that vaccinations caused Joel to be autistic. The attorneys wanted evidence of high fever, listless behavior, confusion, behavioral changes and any other alterations that occurred following the vaccinations of Joel when he was a child. If we could provide some documentation, there was promise of a substantial compensation. In other words, we could sue the evil government for forcing us to administer vaccinations that caused autism.

It was tempting, I must admit. Thousands, maybe millions, in our pockets. Wow! How cool is that? After all, don't we deserve the pay-off? And the government has more than it needs and owes me anyway for being a good hard-working citizen. Furthermore, we suffer greatly from having to raise an autistic son and help him cope in a world that doesn't really understand him. They forced us and look what happened.

But the evidence does not support this position. While it makes for an exciting opportunity to gouge the government (not sure why that seems provocative to some), and sort of a "team-building" sport as the gang of parents of autistic children armed with lawyers and doctors go to battle against the evil tyranny, I think we need to look closely at this accusation.

True that vaccinations do occasionally cause serious side effects for certain children and the tragedy of those rare cases cannot be ignored for their level of human responsibility. While there are known reactions to vaccinations that wrench at the heart and should never be dismissed as some kind anomaly, at the same time, in this instance, we need to look at the greater good. Understand that I am not a government, centralization kind of person. As a battling independent, I more often than not find myself in the position of supporting the individual over any kind of blanket policy. Too frequently we look to the government as a solution for society's ills and too frequently we abdicate personal obligation to "big brother" who sees and solves all.

But there is no question that vaccinations serve a greater good. Polio, diptheria, and measles, all serious diseases with life altering and threatening consequences have virtually disappeared from our culture. It may seem coercive to require vaccinations, but they do prevent the unwanted spread of diseases. The answer is no doubt about it.

As to the cause of autism, a neurological disability, there is no evidence whatsoever linking autism to vaccinations. Autism is a broad-spectrum disorder displaying not just one characteristic but several. Yes, it is possible that vaccinations can cause certain side-effects masking themselves as similar problems generally associated by autism, but nothing proves a direct correlation to autism as stemming from any kind of vaccination. To reiterate, there is NO link. The theory is further defenestrated when one considers the millions of children without autism who received the same vaccinations.

Yet the idea remains in the wind as parents seek a cause, a blame, and yes, perhaps restitution (is it always about the money?). How many times, even each day, are we distracted by the peripherals only to discover that our energy on the ancillary took us away from the central problem? I believe this is true in the case of autism. If all our effort as parents and loving guardians is to blame the government for forcing us to vaccinate our children thereby causing the disability, only to discover that there is no correlation, then not only have we wasted our time, we have not spent any effort in helping our children.

Our time, our energy, our commitment should be spent helping our autistic children, not wasting precious time identifying what caused the problem. Let the mathematicians and the DNA scientists discover the root and subsequently the cure to the disability. Meanwhile, I urge all parents to focus on the problem at hand--helping your child adjust to a world he likely cannot understand and helping others adjust to your child.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Ah, Junior High...again...but this time much better

It's all about the friends. Remember those days? 7th and 8th grade. I actually had a girlfriend named Ginger who was known for her strength. At lunch the boys would line up and get beaten over and over in arm wrestling. Since I was likely the weakest kid in school, it worked out very well to have Ginger as my girlfriend.

We were kind of in that time when girls were becoming interesting to us but for the most part the boys were much happier with other boys and the girls were happier with other girls. We went to dances but most of the time we just stared across the room and thought about dancing, fearful of having to touch a girl. The space between was much preferred! It was all about the friends and it seemed as though being alone was unheard of and strange. Often we formed clubs (but didn't call them clubs) and secret groups, working hard to exclude certain types of people unless they did something to earn the right to be in our group. And it didn't take much to be included nor excluded for that matter.

We were growing up and trying to decide our values, our worldview, our niche, and even our own gifts. We were shy, outgoing, scared, confident, insecure, dumb, smart, rude, polite, afraid of adults, and arrogant about our superior knowledge, but wondered if we were largely stupid. We wanted to be independent as long as we were popular and accepted. We were happy to have a large group of friends but we talked about how we didn't care what others thought of us. We often used phrases like "That's just the way I am" or "I am just weird." Of course deep down we knew that tomorrow we might be different, especially since our personalities changed rapidly. Our clothes never fit, our hair was always wrong (or in my case was actually present), we knew everyone talked badly about us, and we worked hard to impress everyone while denying our own concern about ourselves. Every sentence anyone said began with I!

It was junior high and we were all confused and geeky and ironically lovable! It was all about the friends wasn't it?

Okay now I am 50 and am just now getting into Facebook. While many things about technology intrigue me and I find myself gobbling up the latest gadget and enjoying dropbox, google, kindle, iphones, ipads, itunes, cloud computing, and constantly texting, at the same time I am resistant to fads. And facebook seems a little fad-like to me. But I decided to dive in and discover the world of social networking. Lo and behold I find myself in groups, wanting more friends, talking about myself to others, keeping secrets when possible, trying to fit in with others, desperately holding onto my independent identity. Wait...is it possible? Is this junior high all over again?

Maybe so, but it sure is fun to reconnect with friends and to know what the old guys and gals are doing. Wonder what happened to Ginger? Maybe she is a mud wrestler or more likely a lawyer still beating everyone at arm wrestling. Facebook is kind of like dancing without having to (yuck) touch somebody or even having a face to face conversation. I see pictures of people (Tim has lost lots of weight and looks great!) and I find out what all they are doing. We even talk sort of and become popular while retaining our independence. It's kind of fun and a little addicting even. I sure value my privacy but I also enjoy social networking. It is the best of both worlds--popularity and independence at the same time! Plus there is no pressure to be anything or look a certain way or have a particular circle of friends. While protocol is part of the action on facebook, and there are hints of social contract expectations, a person is autonomous.

So I feel like I am in junior high all over again except without the inanity and confusion and fear and arrogance. It's kind of like we get to keep the good things and forget the bad, isn't it?Smile if you want to, you are on Facebook. After all, it's about the friends.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Just a few Tidbits today...

It is cold outside but warm inside. My youngest son didn't make the All-State band this year. What do these two sentences have to do with each other?

I am listening to Fernando Ortega sing and play the Deep Deep Love of Jesus. Joel is playing ping-pong on the Wii and loving it.

Sure enjoy a good cup of coffee, but only in the mornings. Currently reading three books--A Robert Parker detective mystery, a Michael Palmer medical mystery, and a biography of Theodore Roosevelt. All are good. Plus lots of great articles on teaching, academia, the future.

Exercising is minimal right now with freezing weather. Still doing the usual 300 jumping jacks, 100 situps, and 50 pushups. But no running until it is warmer.

Kind of vacillating between listening to film scores and praise and worship these days. But I interject Messiaen moments here and there as well. I love his organ music. Praise and Worship music of the Gettys is great stuff too. Really like The Power of the Cross.

Thinking more on True Grit. I am intrigued by the poetic, precise language melded with the harshness of the Cowboy world. I respect the concept of art and beauty amidst the ugly and dirty.

More writing of music and trying to finish my book. Lots to do, but with the semester about to start, I am spending more time getting things underway at school. Feeling productive though which is good. Reading, writing music, writing words, exercising, praying, listening...great life.

Back to youngest son. He feels hurt, disappointed, confused, scared, and low. He had a rough day and didn't make the band after being there two years in a row. He feels cold and unimportant, like a piece of dirt. Tough feelings.

I enjoy computers, iPhone, iPad, and all manner of work apart from humans. But wait, I also enjoy human interaction. Fun to smile, engage, apply energy, and emotion to events. Makes me want to be a politician. Wish I had several million to run for governor! Silly idea but fun to think about.

Playing piano is a release for me. Fun, creative, joyful. Gospel, jazz, praise, 12-tone, polytonality, variations on children's themes, added tones, it is all great. I continue to subscribe to the idea that all sound is music. Some simply prefer certain organization systems to their sounds. I myself lean on liking it all (okay, most!).

Looking forward to hearing my choral piece based on Jordan's Stormy Banks. I call it Promised Land. It is a complicated but fun piece. Since most people don't care for my music (aside from maybe my children's song cycle), I suspect this one won't get much acclaim. Still...you never know!

Okay, youngest son named Jordan. Didn't make All-State this year. Still same great guy, great heart, immense talent, quick wit, compassion for others, creative energy, curiosity about life, ready to conquer the world, but got knocked around this time. Think he can bounce back? Yes, he can. Tuckers are survivors. It might be cold out there, but the heart is warm and ready!

Okay, time for some reading and editing the book. Should be ready soon.