As the old saying goes, “the cream always rises to the top” always inspired me to listen well to the timely advice of so many of my former life mentors. But when I think back to someone who best exemplifies an ideal role model for making me believe in this ideal, allow me to tell you a brief story about Mr. Tulu, an accomplished Italian trombonist and former private lesson teacher who challenged me to play this slide instrument in high school better than anyone else.

So on this particular occasion, mother sat proudly in an adjoining room as I set up my sheet music in Mr.Tulu’s living room and warmed up my horn for my weekly lesson that day. Working with him then on some difficult pieces I’d prepared for that week, I felt totally confident that I played the pieces right. But Mr. Tulu soon ranted otherwise and then gestured violently as I feared he might tear up my sheet music or perhaps hit me with his baton.

So as his dissatisfaction with my playing quickly sunk in, he demanded we play each piece together over and over with the idea of raising my performance expectations at the same time. So as I played the pieces with such vehemently put instructions multiple times, sheer exhaustion and some anger set in from this effort. But by such arousal of my emotions, I finally began to get it. I must express the music more passionately when I am playing to resonate a much fuller sound. Unfortunately I would also notice that  my impulsive trombone teacher failed to channel his emotions appropriately at the end of this lesson as he tried to woo my mother into some nonmusical bliss with glasses of Chianti and sweet amorous talk of them being together as more than friends.

Yet in spite of Mr. Tulu’s fiery style of teaching and his seductive “come-ons” to my mother, his presence in my life had proved immensely beneficial to me in future concert band competitions. For as a result of his approach to raise my playing expectations to make my instrument “sing” with intensity of emotion, I caught the interest of band contest judges whenever I was chosen to perform. Thus, during those those high school junior and senior years of my former musical stardom, I eventually earned #3 ranking as an All Star trombonist throughout the state of Florida.

I’ve been a huge fan of the rock band Chicago ever since my college days over fifty years ago. After all, I play the trombone and have long admired their infusion of sheer horn talent as a featured element of so many of their songs. You might even say that tunes like “Beginnings”, “Feeling Stronger Everyday” and “Dialogue” from their large musical repertoire strongly affect me emotionally to this very day.

So that raises the issue of tribute bands who attempt to emulate the trademark Chicago Band sound today. Some depict them as a flashy Vegas act involving short version “singalongs” of their early hit glory, while others hone in on their later love song era when the horn section seemed to be disappointedly gone. I’m imagining then that Terry Kath, their original lead guitarist who tragically died during the band’s heyday is laughing in heaven unmercifully about these cheap Chicago imitations.

So that brings up the matter of our last live concert attended featuring the Tribute band called “Leonid and Friends.” With little doubt in my mind, this enthusiastic group of primarily Russian musicians put on a masterful musical show of Chicago tunes in my my opinion much better than those pseudo Chicago band acts mentioned before. . For these were no “old guys”  living again the dream of Chicago’s long ago past but accomplished younger performers who infused the Chicago brand of fresh performance energy creatively now.

Thus I considered during this wonderful Leonid “gig” the musical director’s youthful son Roman who would race on stage to enthusiastically introduce the band before they arrived on stage. Or I would notice the stunning presence of their female singer, Ksenia, who wowed the audience with her captivating voice and persona.  But of greatest interest to me this night seemed to be how Leonid and Friends simply outplayed the original Chicago band as the wildly enthusiastic crowd responded to their exceptional musical talents. We’ll be most certainly looking for them again on tour during our upcoming road trip travels. Have a listen of them if you like. Click on the link below.

When thinking about a dream job of this lifetime, my longstanding fascination for realistic science fiction plots immediately arise. I thus consider the iconic 2001 Space Odyssey saga where artificial intelligence possibilities introduced the computerized “Hal” as an integral part of an outer space mission. Or perhaps more prominently I think of the cool logic of Spock in Star Trek overcoming human error that could jeopardize the lives of the Enterprise crew in so many  TV episodes.

So I might need to create a new job description for this question but here it goes. My dream job for one day would thus be labeled as an assigned “Earth From Space Advisor” on a one day space mission circling the earth. I might best assist the astronaut team in this capacity by noticing how space photographs of key geographical features along the different continents of our planet proactively influence the minds of each member of the crew to   to focus intensely on solving our world problems during minute to minute progress of this mission.

From a psychological perspective then, I might for instance encourage this space team to work in tandem to study photo evidence of global warming’s impact on sea level change along the Poles or I could also provide up to date visuals of extreme weather pattern change in war stricken areas Iike Ukraine, Haiti and Sudan. Such provided insight might render my job contribution quite useful at these times. 

When it comes to a list of people I currently admire and trust in their advice, those daily acts of giving that I receive from each of them must be correspondingly balanced with a degree of positive reciprocity from my side that I must wisely return. In the following unranked list then, I can also say that the names described below resonate most strongly according to my present life circumstances.

1. My yoga teachers teach me time tested movements to improve my strength, flexibility, and balance followed by periods of silent meditation where I direct positive energy toward each of them from my inner soul.

2. My massage therapist follows up this yoga routine with some skillful adjustment for areas of physical tightness as we converse in mutually beneficial conversation about how to lead our lives productively in the present moment.

3. Shared common interest about sports, music, travel, and past career experiences motivate me to allot quality time talks with two  wisely minded  ex- teacher  friends throughout my week.

4. My elderly mother’s best friend gives up so much of her free time to be with her for some leisurely fun. As I often coordinate the timing of my own visits to mother with those of this female companion, I’m elated that I’ve worked successfully with her as a team to provide greater comfort for my mother in this time of dire medical need. 

5. The independent spirit of travel counts strongly at this moment as a major source of giving admiration for my loving wife.  For during this current crisis of family illness, I trust her uncanny ability to foresee the right adventures that we will most economically afford to  enjoy abroad when the opportunities to do so arise again. In turn, I will surround her in due time with destination based maps/apps, practical tourist research information as well as some travel friendly human contacts to consult as needed. 

When duty calls, I always choose to vote. As it’s one of my responsibilities as an American citizen to stay informed about issues that may critically affect me, the act of voting seems to be a practical way to perform this task.

Yet what difference does it make if I vote Democrat or Republican these days? For we are all Americans and I need to consider what’s best for the common good rather than bend to the will of the party. On the other hand, a wasted vote means nothing so it would not be advisable for me to vote as an Independent or other less recognized third party.

So if the day comes that my right to vote has been taken away from me, it’s definitely time to rethink my proud allegiance to this country. What would you do under those dire circumstances?

You might notice every so often that some “heavy” event happens that makes you think of a new direction that your life must take. In my case, whether such self epiphany is caused by luck, fate, or coincidence, I respect what changes my intuition is telling me.

So it seems I have come to a crossroads in my retired lifestyle with some lingering medical crises in my family preventing me from upcoming travel. So this ever present “tug of war” between Yin and Yang in my mind caused by sick loved ones now tells me to stop obsessing about going somewhere in person to write and publish blogs. In lieu of such self imposed pressure, I feel greater need to prioritize now just finding more ease in the company of family, friends, and even new strangers I meet. Know that my restless traveling mind will will no doubt return to me, however, when the right time comes with Japan, Antarctica, Nepal, and Ireland journeys on my “bucket list” for sure.