Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 – Our family has a favorite story, originating with my younger sister and featuring the word, “behave.” Actually, it’s two words. The tale goes like this . . . My sister Jenny was on an extended tour playing violin in the orchestra of an opera company. In a rather obscure and underserved …
SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 – On the Nilsson side, I have three brothers-in-law, each of whom is an avid reader. One, however, is the dean. In fact, his name is Dean. Late last week, I had the privilege of visiting with him about his extraordinary literary travels. I first met Dean when he was a student …
SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 – Metaphors can work like 3-D glasses in a movie theater, revealing features not readily discernible otherwise. Consider for a moment, eating establishments—dives, diners, delis, oyster bars, steakhouses, club houses, fast-food franchises, and upper crust/uppercut restaurants. They’re as varied as people. Speaking of whom . . . I often wonder what contrasts …
SEPTEMBER 14, 2019 – At 10:18 I zipped out the door and onto the elevator. Remembering I’d not brushed my teeth, I fished the last piece of peppermint gum from my briefcase. As the doors opened on the fifth floor, I just about mowed down a waiting passenger. She screamed. I apologized. On the ground …
SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 – A fortnight ago I’d bought online a NYC-Boston Amtrak ticket. The objective: to visit my sister Kristina and her husband, Dean. I’d received confirmation but hadn’t given it another look until . . . precisely 10:11 yesterday morning. A week before I’d made flight arrangements—Minneapolis/St. Paul to LaGuardia—with the return flight …
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 – Yesterday evening I attended the annual “dinner at the Algonquin” with this year’s class of the World Press Institute (“WPI”) fellowship program. Each year our organization brings journalists from around the world to the U.S. for a nine-week tour of media centers and other urban and rural corners of this sprawling …
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 – Right now I’m in New York City on multiple missions. Remembering 9/11 is not among them, but it is impossible to be in this great town on this date without reflecting on the horrific event that so disrupted the life of the world on 9/11/2001. No one alive and conscious then …
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 – One view of humankind is that we’re a bunch of incompetent dolts. Another view is that we’re just the opposite. You might say, we’re like LaGuardia Airport. It can be your worst nightmare or, against, the odds, everything can turn out just fine. When my younger sister, Jenny, flew to LaGuardia …
SEPTEMBER 9, 2019 – Unless your name is “Benjamin Button,” when you’re young, everything you know about being older is vicarious. You watch your parents, grandparents, maybe great-grandparents, and wonder how you’ll appear, think and act when you’re an old geezer. More likely, you’ll proclaim how you won’t appear, think or act. Good luck with …
SEPTEMBER 8, 2019 – My friend Steve repeatedly cites several aphorisms that help explain humanity. Here I describe three. Continually I encounter evidence supporting their validity. FIRST: “NO ONE IS AN A-STUDENT AT EVERYTHING.” By this Steve means that limits exist to the range of everyone’s competencies. Your plumber might be brilliant at installing a …
SEPTEMBER 7, 2019 – Yesterday evening while I was working on a passage of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, an extraneous thought appeared: what would Aristotle think of me playing this piece? Why Aristotle? I have no idea. The mind works in strange ways. I had to allow the possibility that Aristotle would greatly prefer the …
SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 – Our family first crossed paths with David in July 1967, when my mother responded to an ad he’d placed in the Minneapolis Star. He was off to the Army and had to sell his beloved year-old collie, Björn. We crossed paths with David again in 1996, not knowing it was the …
SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 – When I was young and ambitious, I wanted to influence the world. Now that I’m old and contemplative, I want to understand it. But how? I’ve developed a three-part prescription: READ GOOD BOOKS. In the first place, a non-fiction book, as opposed to most any other media (e.g. podcast; film documentary) …
SEPTEMBER 4, 2019 – Yesterday I ran into “Charlie.” We used to work at the same bank, where he managed money, and I managed corporate trust accounts. That’s how we met. I still run into Charlie on a regular basis, and every time I get his take on the economy. He’s smart, reads voraciously, and …
SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 – I’ve now started the “War Years” portion of Carl Sandburg’s two-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln. If you want to know “polarization,” read this work. But here’s the thing: the fracturing didn’t happen overnight. The seeds had been sown when slaves were introduced to Jamestown in 1619; when 13 independent colonies debated …
SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 – After putting the last of our recent house guests onto the airplane, my wife and I and friend Sue sauntered off for another day at the Minnesota State Fair. Sue is delightfully curious, ensuring that we wouldn’t miss a thing. Given the hordes of other fair-goers, it was hard to miss …
SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 – Friday, while at historic Fort Snelling just outside Minneapolis, I was struck by a map of Minnesota on which just a handful of names appeared—neither of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and Saint Paul) being among them. The map depicted important sites in the lore and history of the Dakotah Indians who …
SEPTEMBER 1, 2019 – After a two-week hiatus from the news, I dared to take a peek. My glance prompted two thoughts: 1. People’s world views are determined primarily by people’s perceptions of how their bread is buttered; and accordingly, 2. A considerable degree of government regulation is a necessity. “Bread” is financial well-being. “Butter” …
AUGUST 31, 2019 – Yesterday we took our international guests on a boat ride down the Mississippi River and then to the historic Fort Snelling at the confluence of the Mighty Miss and the Minnesota River. Much water had flowed since I’d last seen the old fort, built in 1820. It’s staffed by engaging, knowledgeable …
AUGUST 29, 2019 – Yesterday we took our international house guests to . . . the Minnesota State Fair, the nation’s largest. I love to see the familiar with people for whom it is unfamiliar. Take gargantuan, snowplows, for example, on prominent display. Or hot-dish (Minnesotaspeak for “casserole”) on a stick . . . or …
AUGUST 28, 2019 – One has to be careful about generalizations. If based on unrepresentative data points, generalizations can lead to inaccurate extrapolations. Generalizing about a whole culture or nationality is particularly perilous. However, I’ve now read enough about the Portuguese and spent sufficient time among some to conclude confidently that they are a plucky …
AUGUST 27, 2019 – A few of us of the 7.2 billion who inhabit earth are emerging from an extraordinary experience in friendship. Our younger son and his wife wanted to host at our family’s northwoods retreat, a big celebration of their marriage earlier in New York City and more recently in Portugal. Their friends …
AUGUST 18, 2019 – Friday we picked up travelers from overseas flights—extended family and friends from France and Portugal. Our dual-national daughter-in-law Mylène had arrived Thursday from New York; our son Byron and his birth mother, Sang Hee, fly in next Tuesday. After clearing customs and baggage claim with extraordinary ease (our guests remarked how friendly …
AUGUST 16, 2019 – Wednesday’s edition of The New York Times included a front-page story about financier and influence peddler, Elliott Broidy. If you hadn’t heard of him, now you have: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/us/politics/elliott-broidy-donald-trump.html?searchResultPosition=1 I was aboard the bus on my way to work when I read this remarkable piece of investigative journalism. It exposes what goes on behind …
AUGUST 15, 2019 – As administrator of my uncle’s estate, I sold some stock—on July 12. Little did I know that I’d have to growl at various levels of “customer service representatives” and expend my entire repertoire of expletives before the check arrived would arrive–30 days later. My extreme frustration was almost matched by my curiosity …