My pal, James “Spunky” Godsil is an Internet giant. Not in the Google/Facebook/Microsoft sense of the word, but rather as an individual user.   Upon meeting Godsil, I learned quickly that anything I say, while not used against me, is likely to show up the next day on one of the list serves over which Spunky rides herd.  At first I was mortified. Here’s why: My tendency since early childhood has been to tailor each particular message to suit the needs of the audience. In other words, I’d tell my brother one thing, something approximating the truth, and my mother something different. The "…

The only real glitch on the whole trip was the train ride there. A freight train derailed east of Toledo, spilling something nasty on the track. The hazmat team closed the line, so we rode through the night from Toledo to Pittsburgh on busses, sitting bolt upright. The lady in the seat next to me was a pleasant but incessant talker, so no sleep was to be had, my sleeper compartment wasted. I arrived at Penn Station last Thursday feeling shopworn and grungy. Fortunately, I had a day to recover prior to the Friday afternoon rehearsal. The Times Center broadcast facility, part of the N.Y. Times …

This week I am headed to Manhattan to do a TEDx Lecture.  It will be my third trip to New York City.  In 1964, the summer after my high school graduation, I traveled to the New York Word’s Fair with two buddies. One day we walked from Time Square to Battery Park. When we told our host — my friend’s Uncle Bieber who lived in Queens — he declared us “idiots” and pointed out we were lucky we weren’t mugged.  Sometimes it’s better to be oblivious of the dangers. Plus, what mugger is going to target three guys in their prime who probably don’t have any money? The second visit was about twelve …

Last week the Port Washington City Council issued a stay of execution for two historically significant downtown buildings. Whew! That was a close call.  What if Athens decided to tear down the Parthenon because it was deteriorating? What if Rome decided to raze the Coliseum because lion feeding had fallen out of favor? What if the Wehrmacht had blown up Paris just because they were leaving?  I’m not saying the Port Washington buildings in question can be saved.  It may not be economically viable to do so. But knocking them down as a punitive response to a failed developer seems a bit …

I was sending a leadsheet to another musician this morning. A leadsheet is a hardcopy of the song lyrics with the chords indicated above. Other musicians can read along with the vocal and know where to change from a "D" to an "A7," for example.  The song was "Shed My Skin," and I had included an epilogue, the quote from John Muir: "Everybody needs beauty ... places to play and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike." — Voice for the Wilderness, John Muir, 1902 It reminded me of another guy from Wisconsin, Aldo Leopold. A friend and I visited the …

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a concept I learned from a naturalist. He said, "A tree doesn’t lose its leaves because it is no longer able to hang on to them. On the contrary, the tree rejects the leaves." In other words, a tree triggers a mechanism which will compromise and sever the twig-to-leaf bond.  I figure it’s like sending the kids to college. It is supposed to help them become independent — at least that’s the conventional wisdom.   My kids made the leap gracefully. My daughter, a new mom, has a terrific career underway, and my son has been a globetrotting world-citizen for …

The National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count is coming soon to your neighborhood. I say this with confidence because the count happens nationwide every year around Christmas.It just so happens that Riveredge Nature Center coordinates the local effort, specifically Bird Meister Mary Holleback.  The Christmas Bird Count has been going on for years. This year, the local count is planned for Dec. 17. The battle is waged on two fronts. You can do a “feeder count” in which you count every bird that visits a feeder within view of your cozy kitchen/living room/sports bar/etc. for an hour in the …

We’re still picking tomatoes at the Center for Veterans Issues.  By "we," I mean "me and the guys."  I am a peer-to-peer mentor in the CVI Organic Therapy Program. I may have mentioned it previously.  Today, I visited a friend in the town of Saukville and noticed he is still getting beautiful tomatoes from his yard as well. I ate one. It had that "fresh-picked from-the-garden flavor" that we all miss in grocery store tomatoes. It’s a glorious thing — picking tomatoes in November in Wisconsin, and rare unless you happen to have a green house. My friend doesn’t. His plants are outdoors, plain …

A reader recently responded to an editorial submission by Sen. Herb Kohl with the comment, "Herb Kohl is a waste of space on Patch," and signed it "Angry White Dude." Senator Kohl’s column was essentially nonpartisan in nature, pointing out that Marinette Marine of Marinette, Wisconsin has just been awarded a contract to build Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) for the U.S. Navy.  The first one is to be christened the "USS Milwaukee."  Granted the Senator did point out, "I worked with the secretary of the navy and other officials to bring the contract to Wisconsin and finalize the deal in the Senate…

How is it we live in a place where people oppose gardens and the creatures that help them grow?  What sort of world is this?  There was a time when gardens were prized by rich and poor alike. The Governor’s Mansion in Colonial Williamsburg was surrounded by gardens, many dedicated to food production. Likewise, a major focus of Thomas Jefferson’s life was his garden. He was an impassioned agronomist, testing new varieties of plants and growing methods, keeping notes, creating and sharing knowledge.  George Washington built an orangery at Mr. Vernon, a type of greenhouse dedicated to growing …

I became a grandpa this week for the first time, although I have been AARP eligible for fifteen years. So, I guess you could say I am a "late bloomer." My daughter and husband live near Madison, and now the little guy lives there, too. But, they all took up residence in the maternity wing last Tuesday night whilst he was making the transition to this plain of existence — a job well done. I made a dash to Madison late Tuesday evening for the event then drove back to Milwaukee during the late morning on Wednesday to work on a grant request due at the end of the week. It was an important project…

I’m watching the Brewers play St. Louis, second game of the league championship series. The Brewers are taking it on the chin.  It’s currently seven to two.  But "hope springs eternal" as the poem (Casey At the Bat) says. The Brewers have an explosive offense, so "it ain’t over ‘til it over."  I believe that one was Yogi Berra.  The series started badly for me. My clock radio awakened me from a deep sleep yesterday morning with the DJ quoting a Brewer saying something not nice about one of the St. Louis players. My tendency is to take that sort of hearsay with a grain of salt. First of all, "…

Do you feel another downward dip coming? I do. Or maybe the whole game is changing. For a century or more, we have counted on economic growth to absorb the sins of the past. The thinking has been that by allowing rich folks and wealthy corporations to invest in and expand their businesses, it will stimulate an annual gross domestic product large enough to generate sufficient tax revenue to offset our national debt.  But we are losing our middle class, the great mass of people in the middle who actually pay taxes. Instead, wealth is being consolidated in the hands of individuals and …

Our harbor is filled with flopping fish this time of year — flopping fish and fidgeting fisherpersons.  Walking in Rotary Park on Friday night I came across a very excited guy who had just landed a 29-pound Chinook on 10-pound-test line.  There was enough ambient light to see the fish on the pavement at the base of the blue binoculars.  It was “a keeper,” to say the least. “The hook broke off just after we got ‘em in the net,” said the fisherman, a powerfully built, shorter gentleman, with a seasoned beard.  “You have an accent,” I was curious.  “Where are you from?” “I’m from Ireland,” he …

I had a meeting tonight at a coffee shop in a nearby community.  I’m on a board of directors, and we occasionally meet there because it is a central location, equalizing the commuting pain for each of the members. It’s part of a small chain of coffee shops. The first is charming in a rustic sort of way, plus the location offers great woodsy views and the staff is warm and fuzzy.  Location number two also has charm. It’s in another historic building, and it also has a similar "wrap its arms around you" ambience as is found in location number one. But tonight’s meeting place is contrived, …

I have been being a responsible adult nonstop since April. You know that old adage, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."  Well, it’s nagging at me. I can feel it breathing down my neck. Yesterday afternoon the "Project from Hell" bubbled up from limbo, so this morning I attacked it with both guns blazing.  "It’s time to wrestle this monster to the ground for once and for all," I said to myself.  "No one’s going to do it but me. It’s time to get tough, because the tough get going. No time to procrastinate. The only way to deal with it is head on. Think Vince Lombardi or General Patton…

I’m teaching a class tonight.  "Music Theory for Dummies" the people in my songwriting group called it, but I don’t think of it that way. To me, it is "Ho’s Quick and Easy Overview of Music Theory for People Who Have Been Formerly Intimidated." There are a lot of wrong answers in standard music education.  Teachers spend most of their time pointing out mistakes, wrong notes and deviations from perfection. As my buddy James Godsil says, "The 'perfect' is the enemy of the 'good'."  In other words, if perfection is the standard you’re aiming for, don’t even bother.  You’re bound to be …

Feels as if it has been autumn for the last week or so.  I hiked Riveredge Nature Center on Labor Day. There were hints of fall color, but not a lot.  The sumac was still green, a little faded and shopworn, but soon to be blazing red and gold just as surely as the aspen will turn shimmering yellow.  Some years the color is better than others. I’m not sure why?  My guess is it has to do with lingering moisture. Too much and things get funky like a shower curtain. As I recall, last year as a good one for New England asters. Until autumn, they look like not-particularly-interesting meadow plants…

I did what I usually do; headed to the Java House in Cedarburg for coffee with the gang.  But, many of my friends were curiously missing.  "Where is everyone?" I asked Hillary Goldblatt. "Didn’t you hear? An airplane crashed into the World Trade Center," she replied. "A small plane?" I asked. "No, they think it was an airliner." I got coffee-to-go then went home to watch GMA.  Charley Gibson and Diane Sawyer were staring at the monitor and the plume of smoke, occasionally cutting away to remote broadcasts; first person accounts from people telling their personal story. My thoughts drifted to …

I was recently asked to provide background information to a high profile business leader who is slated to speak at a Sept. 11 commemoration.  His public relations person asked, “Who are the veterans who live in Veterans Manor, and what wars were they in?”  It is a common question, one that I couldn’t answer with specifics.  After all, it is their home and, like us, each has a right to privacy.  Instead, I offered this personal perspective on veterans, and I would like to share it with you:  Veterans Manor stands as a dignified home for veterans who have served our country in a variety of …