For some it was “Blue,” for me it was “For the Roses”. The first chords of “Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire” still bring a chill. Favorites also include “Woman of Heart and Mind” and the quirky “Barangrill”. This album, more than any, foreshadows her later work.

Album 2 of 10. “For The Roses”

Disraeli Gears was the first album I remember buying with money I had earned. It think it was at Penney’s (?) in Westgate in Madison WI. The hook was “Sunshine of Your Love”, but my favorites were “We’re Going Wrong” and “Tales of Brave Ulysses”. Eric Clapton’s fun with the wah-wah pedal shines through.

Album 1 of 10. “Disraeli Gears”

My good friend, Craig Huegel, accepted a Facebook challenge from his friend, Jeff Klinkenberg: Post just the covers of the 10 albums which have been most influential in your life. Craig has finished his list and passed the challenge to me. This proved to be more difficult (and more fun) than I expected. I had to throw a bunch into “honorable mentions” and I know I will still miss a few. I’ll have to post the honorable mentions at some point.

These albums are starting points. These are all good, some even great. They are in no particular order. Your opinions will undoubtedly vary from mine. 😎

I’m augmenting the Facebook posts on my micro.blog. You’ll see one each day for 10 days along with its rationale. The honorable mentions will follow sporadically.

After about three weeks, I’ve decided to go back to WordPress from @blot. I really liked blot, but also like the flexibility of WordPress. I’ll keep blot, just not sure what I’ll use it for just yet. I’ll gladly take suggestions. 😎

I have one year to get in good enough shape to tackle Isle Royale for the third time. I was significantly younger the first two times. This is going to take some effort.

It seems like you can’t even buy a cup of coffee these days without getting a customer satisfaction survey.

Music participation in high school linked to higher scores on English, math and science exams

This should surprise no one.

I’m thinking a bit about what creativity means. Who is a creative person you admire? Can you explain why you feel they are creative?

Mike’s Sushi in Palm Harbor FL. 👍👍

I’m going all-in on @blot for my long-form blog.

I’ve moved from dropbox to git and copied all of the draft posts I had stacked up in MarsEdit to my drafts folder. Some of these will likely end up here though.

Pondering how to distance myself from Google’s clutches after this and this. Leaving my phone number off accounts. Thinking about Yubikeys. Getting as far away as I can from gmail and chrome.

Whenever I want mellotron death-of-the-universe music there is only one album to turn to: In the Court of the Crimson King. My latest trip to Florida to my parent’s triggered it when I drove past King Crimson Trace in Tarpon Springs.

After a long and somewhat disjointed six months I’m going to try being a bit more micro.blog friendly. I’ve been watching and learning though. Thank you all for keeping this platform active!

I’ve just started Maria Popova’s new book Figuring. I was struck by its more than passing resemblance to James Burke’s Connections. Turns out this is not an accident as expressed by Maria herself on Brain Pickings.📕

Anyway, enjoying it so far even though some of the connections are coincidental.

Watching “The Sound Of Music” on the plane. I love the outfit Maria wears out of the convent. It’s so governessy.

Off to Florida today. Aging parents.

Back from Lisbon. Pics to follow.

Flat white at fabrica in Lisbon.

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