Something interesting about human beings is how we have time to let our minds wander. We have the time and energy to think about things that are totally unrelated to surviving in the world and perpetuating our genes through future progeny and descendants. While I am pretty new to the practice of blogging, it seems like it is an exercise in blithely spilling out the non-essential contents of our minds. Does anybody really need me to tell them about mixing up different breakfast cereals, no matter how cool it actually is? 8^)
On the other hand, it's kinda cool that we have this capability to just relax and make connections between totally unrelated things. This probably doesn't make any sense, but here is a concrete example. Every weekend, I usually do a run with a local running group, and I met the infant son of one of the runners at the post-run breakfast. His name was Ayler. My mind then made the jump to Albert Ayler, a relatively famous (some would say infamous) free-jazz saxophone player who helped revolutionize jazz in the 1960s. He along with Ornette Coleman, another pioneer in jazz music, were two musicians who played at the funeral of another famous and pioneering saxophonist, John Coltrane.
While I really enjoy jazz music and consider myself a jazz fan, I am a music fan in general, one of those crazy people who have a ton of CDs. It felt like I hadn't been listening to much jazz at all the last few years, so just meeting this kid named Ayler got me all excited about listening to the jazz CDs I have in my collection. Then when I started going through to enjoy some old favorites, I picked some books about jazz and jazz musicians off my bookshelf to read.
What's the big deal? I dunno, just rambling today. But I thought it was neat that meeting this little kid who couldn't even talk to me sent me around to something totally different and unrelated like reading about jazz and what various jazz musicians go through to create their music. And that led to me writing on my blog, which is somewhat related as this entry was totally improvised and off the cuff, like a jazz performance. Sometimes you create something beautiful, sometimes not. Like one of our greatest living jazz musicians, Sonny Rollins, you just go for it trying to utilize your life's experiences and whatever chops you've built up over all those years of practicing. There's no safety net, and in some ways that's true not only for music and blogging, but also for the way we live our lives in general. I guess I am reaching here, but that's what happens sometimes. (I am feeling somewhat more scatterbrained than usual.) Anyhow, maybe I can think of something more cohesive next time, but until then, I hope you enjoy whatever the day brings!
On the other hand, it's kinda cool that we have this capability to just relax and make connections between totally unrelated things. This probably doesn't make any sense, but here is a concrete example. Every weekend, I usually do a run with a local running group, and I met the infant son of one of the runners at the post-run breakfast. His name was Ayler. My mind then made the jump to Albert Ayler, a relatively famous (some would say infamous) free-jazz saxophone player who helped revolutionize jazz in the 1960s. He along with Ornette Coleman, another pioneer in jazz music, were two musicians who played at the funeral of another famous and pioneering saxophonist, John Coltrane.
While I really enjoy jazz music and consider myself a jazz fan, I am a music fan in general, one of those crazy people who have a ton of CDs. It felt like I hadn't been listening to much jazz at all the last few years, so just meeting this kid named Ayler got me all excited about listening to the jazz CDs I have in my collection. Then when I started going through to enjoy some old favorites, I picked some books about jazz and jazz musicians off my bookshelf to read.
What's the big deal? I dunno, just rambling today. But I thought it was neat that meeting this little kid who couldn't even talk to me sent me around to something totally different and unrelated like reading about jazz and what various jazz musicians go through to create their music. And that led to me writing on my blog, which is somewhat related as this entry was totally improvised and off the cuff, like a jazz performance. Sometimes you create something beautiful, sometimes not. Like one of our greatest living jazz musicians, Sonny Rollins, you just go for it trying to utilize your life's experiences and whatever chops you've built up over all those years of practicing. There's no safety net, and in some ways that's true not only for music and blogging, but also for the way we live our lives in general. I guess I am reaching here, but that's what happens sometimes. (I am feeling somewhat more scatterbrained than usual.) Anyhow, maybe I can think of something more cohesive next time, but until then, I hope you enjoy whatever the day brings!
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