I was an agent and manager for roots musicians like Mike and Peggy Seeger (great children’s album on Folkways), Elizabeth Cotten, storyteller Jackie Torrence, and the Georgia Sea Island Singers. I have a strong distaste for “children’s art” that is cutsied up to mollify parents. Children are, if anything, more…

This kind of jealousy fits into the standard monogamy/cheating narrative. Even though sex is allegedly not happening, maybe the same tools that couples dealing with cheating might be relevant, perhaps they should watch a bunch of Esther Perel videos and TED talks, and maybe read the “dealing with jealousy” chapters of…

Morning and/or afternoon dates are also a great idea for older people, too. At 74, my life partner and I no longer have the energy we had as teens. Our energy peek is about 10 AM to 4 PM. So love making followed by lunch or dinner really works for us. And morning wood makes it all the better.

When our children were toddlers, mid 1960's, we took them to our favorite Chinese restaurant, Tai Tung in Seattle, often. They were quiet, and polite, but still some food always hit the floor. We took an old sheet and put it under their high chairs. When we left, we just took the sheet, and the mess, home. The staff…

In the early ‘80's I met Joe Diminguez and Vicki Robin who were lecturing on FI, financial independence. They wrote “Your Money or Your Life” about attaining financial independence, even for those on a relatively low income, in 5 - 10 years. I know people who followed their plan. I didn’t, but I did read the book…

I am a radical anti smoking advocate, but prohibition is by far the worst way to effect social change, and mostly counter productive. Education and taxation have combined to bring down smoking rates markedly since the 1950's. And not allowing smoking in public places and workplaces has helped us non-smokers greatly.…

Before my rant begins, my advice to someone who wants to try making music is to think about the songs they love, learn them, sing them, even if you don’t think you have a great voice, and then get the simplest instrument you can to begin playing your songs on. Definitely not a guitar. Try a penny whistle, a 10 hole…

How about a tutorial on advanced Bluetooth tech. Are there range extenders? Is there a way to send PC audio to Bluetooth speakers? Is there a way to voice control Bluetooth devices?

“Your Money or Your Life”, by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez, created the FI movement in the 1980's. When I first met them, they and two friends, a polyamorous quad, were traveling the US in their small motorhome, lecturing on how anyone could achieve financial independence within a decade. They got a lot of national…

“Your Money or Your Life”, by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez, created the FI movement in the 1980's. When I first met them, they and two friends, a polyamorous quad, were traveling the US in their small motorhome, lecturing on how anyone could achieve financial independence within a decade. They got a lot of national…

I’d like to add that children have always learned music through games - jump rope songs, clapping games, etc. These games have been lost by middle class American culture, although people like Dan Zanes have tried to bring them back. This is often awkward because the music and games are without a cultural context. One…

As cautious as I am of taking important life advice from fiction, Robert Heinlein came up with a definition I think is very useful. Paraphrasing Heinlein, you love someone when their life is as important to you as your own life.

I have represented roots musicians for over 40 years, including 6 Grammy recipients. I can tell you that for most people, reading music, theory, etc is not only unnecessary, but usually the kiss of death for introducing children to music. All the musicians I worked with couldn’t read a note. They grew up with music…

Having taken medical microbiology, it is pretty clear that we would be going through one plague after another if it were not for sanitation workers and water treatment workers. They top my list for the most important jobs, with teaching coming next. After all, teaching much harder to do during plagues.

Years ago I…

My path was to figure out how to monetize what I loved, not "do" it. I loved playing the guitar. My wife and I became a competent amateurs, and played minor gigs for a while, but we had day jobs which we thought we liked but ultimately didn't serve us well. In college we started producing concerts so we could meet and…