On Nachos

 It's been a long long struggle to try and "eat healthy", and I am always losing. To quote Justin Bieber from his autobiography: ""Singers aren't supposed to have dairy before a show, but we all know I'm a rule breaker. Pizza is just so good!" Experts have said that the over-stuffing of the gut that some of us do on the regular is a product of unbalanced emotions. But have we looked that the fact that some things are just too delicious? I am certain there is a component of habit as well; just doing something over and over without thinking about it, but I wonder if these expanations are just fooferaw, hiding what is the real obvious solution to my torment about food. It's just too good. 

A certain member of my household, who shall remain nameless, recently begged me to stop baking so many cakes and cookies. And I get it; no one wants to get so plump that they can't tie their shoes (I am currently too plump to tie my shoes without considerable effort). But there is an equal draw just to celebrate life: we are here, we are safe at home, we like each other, and we have enough to eat. If that isn't cause for celebration, I don't know what is. 

 We also have ample time to prepare good food, and not eat on the go. I made a promise to myself a couple of years ago, when I would grab a sandwich from the vending machines at school to stave off the body's cravings for sustenance, that I was never going to eat shitty food again. I am sticking to that promise to myself, and honestly, this time in lock-down has made me appreciate and indulge in the culinary arts as never before. I have gone overboard, of course, but still... think about what Justin Bieber said... 

Since April, I have maintained two new habits that I hope will counterbalance the deleterious effects of over-consumption of foodstuffs: a strength workout 3x a week, and 2-3 times a week walking more than 10k, usually up Mount Royal from my house in NDG. If I cannot be svelte because I am searching to quench my emotional wants through food, or simply because I fucking love pannetone, I am at least somewhat healthy of limb and lung, due to these precautions. 

 Now that we are done with the obligatory "feel-good inspiring" part of the post, let's get back to food. I think one of the proudest of my latest kitchen accomplishments, (aside from learning how to do Bain-Marie cheescake), was made last week, when, in aid of a Star Wars mini-marathon, I once again celebrated life by making a plate of not-too-bad nachos under the broiler, and a large tub of buttered popcorn on the stove in a mere 10 minutes. Boy was I chuffed!

 I find myself reminded of a song from my distant past; a song of celebration, filled with wisdom:

"In heaven, there is no beer; that's why we drink it here".

 

Gordon Pinsent reads from Justin Bieber's autobiography:

Life?

 Well, not much has happened since I last wrote. Things have been incredibly dull this past year. How about all of you, dear readers?

My retirement is looming, and I often address these questions: should I be busy during retirement? Is there something I need to accomplish before I die?  How will I leave a mark? Do I need to leave a mark? And I'm finding the answers pretty interesting. Basically it boils down to this: I could leave something behind of mediocre quality, or maybe even something excellent. I could also make contributions to other people's lives and be a force for good. I could also just enjoy a quiet life, not doing a whole lot until I take the big dirt nap.

And that's a great place to be; a person who is comfortable having had a career, not a notable one, but a nice one anyhow, and is equally comfortable with the idea of passing unsung into the great beyond. It reminds of this poem by Pope: 

Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground.

Whose heards with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire,
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.

Blest! who can unconcern'dly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night; study and ease
Together mix'd; sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please,
With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me dye;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lye.

 

By all accounts, Pope himself was a contentious and ambitious man, which makes this verse all the more surprising.  My dear friend and compadre, Mike Wilson, who has himself just retired, seems to be taking this all to heart. He lives alone, and practises his instrument every day, as he has done for the last 50 or so years, paints beautiful water-colours, and reads a lot, mostly history. These days we don't till the land, and milk cows, but we have enough to eat, and hobbies, and even with the disease currently scourging the land, we can see friends, one at a time, or on line. I have found the idea that I might "Steal from the world, and not a stone tell where I lie" oddly comforting. 

It is the work of a lifetime to learn to die with equanimity, so some say, and I agree in a sense. When one has attended this great banquet, and had his fill, why stick around? And yet; there is a pull towards life. I remember my Mother in hospice care, only a couple or two days left to live, taking her jello. I asked her: why do you want this stuff? And her answer was simple: "because I like it". A body wracked with pain, beset by visitors, still rejoicing in a cool, sweet treat. 

I once did a thought experiment: You are dead, but you have the chance to come back to earth for 20 minutes. You will neither see nor speak to anyone, and you will be doing something completely banal or even unpleasant, like driving to work, or scrubbing the kitchen floor. When I asked my future dead self, "would you come back under these circumstances?" the answer was always "yes". I was surprised, to say the least, but I shouldn't have been. Even in times past, when in the throes of a minor depression (it didn't feel minor to me), I knew that this life was " the greatest show on earth", even if that expression makes little sense. 

I am reminded of what Joe Zuskin, my colleague for a year in the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal  once said: "Life is short, but if you do it right, it's enough". And oddly, right now, I feel like I have had a good measure of what life has had to offer, and could die tomorrow with no complaints. After telling this to my dear friend Larry, he confided he felt the same way. Do I wish I had climbed Mount Everest? No! I have never been to Khatmandu nor Timbuktu nor Machu Pichu, nor even Kalamazoo, but I feel quite satisfied nonetheless. I have lived, and I am glad to have lived, and at least for now, I have few regrets.

 Right now, I am reminded unfortunately of the anthem of dysfunctional maleness "My Way", words by Paul Anka, written for Frank Sinatra, who was once lithe of body and progressive in his politics, but who had become a bloated Republican at the end, as so many rich people do. I hate this song, because it's the anthem of the self-satisfied self-made man, whose ego is as swollen as his bank account. Maybe some of you can offer me a kinder interpretation of this tiresome ode to the life of a successful Alpha Male. I like Sinatra the striver, the man who understood a broken heart, not the macher, the legend. 

All this Sinatra-bashing is putting me in a bad mood. I love Sinatra; one of the greatest interpreters of popular song who ever lived. Bashing others makes the soul shrink, and not expand, and we want our souls to be free and not tight in our chests. What is the soul? That's a topic for a later installment, but it's timely. During the current pandemic, we have been afforded lots of time to look at our lives and to ask some questions that in our previous lives we didn't have time for. The topic came up this week; my friend Bob, who is as well-balanced an individual as I know, loves to ask people what a soul is: Is it immortal, or is it just the meeting up of a brain and a body. Is there a cosmic- or world-consciousness? When we die, does our soul go up to heaven? 

There are people whom I love and respect, who firmly believe that is what happens. It amazes me that intelligent, perceptive, even brilliant people will fall for the obviously empty promises of a non-existent super-being. I find the concept of an after-life absolutely unbearable. Life is hard enough without having to attend on the humourless Lord of Hosts and sing in his bloody choir once you have snuffed it. But as the French have it: À chacun son goût.

Lots to ponder, and as we are stuck at home, now's the time. Hope your reflections bear fruit, dear Reader. Be well, and I hope you are finding things to enjoy about your life today.

Routine part two

In an effort to complete a difficult assignment (not difficult in its essence, but difficult because I don't like it), I have chosen to take a work vacation, and I can't recommend the practice highly enough.

I'm in the beautiful colonial city of Guanajuato, Mexico, and have established a very productive and satisfying routine. After the early meditation and "morning pages", I am getting to work in manageable bits, thanks to a time-management technique called the "pomodoro method", and named for that small kitchen timer in the shape of a tomato. I first heard of this from one of those random articles that Firefox sends your way, after they have listened to your concerns via the microhpone on your computer... finally Big Brother has come through with something to help me out! (Thanks to motivational coach Darius Foroux who wrote the article).

What you do is: set a timer for 25 minutes, then work uninterrupted for those 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. After that, repeat the process three more times before you take a longer break. I have adapted it to my temperament, and the breaks get a little longer as the day wears on, but I haven't been this productive for months. And the end is in sight for this remunerative, but spiritually draining job. #firstworldproblems

Here is a little story I shared on facebook this week:

Sitting outside in a resto in Guanajuato when a young man sets up his amp to play Beatles tunes. Not bad, improvised solos, but honestly I was not in the mood. When he got up to pass the hat, I asked him "Could you play one of your own songs please?" He was a little surprised, but favoured us with a fascinating 7 minute prog-rock suite about his views on society. I was glad I asked! #singyourownsong

Once this contract is done, it's time to face up to another task, and find an outlet for my hitherto frustrated and hidden creativity. I am so proud that my children and my wife have found outlets for their creativity; it inspires me to begin to pursue composition in a serious way, and hang the doubts that crowd out and crush the creative impulse lying there dormant.

Here is a link to Vivian's latest blog post:http://www.vivtranquilgarden.com/author/osmviv/

Are there things in your life, dear Reader, that you long to do, but haven't found the time or courage to attempt?

Best wishes on your journey!

Daily routine

Since I last checked in, the fallow period I mentioned has blossomed into a very busy time indeed. I was lately reading an essay by Herman Hesse, wherein he speaks of that desire for refuge, a place to be at peace. It doesn't end as you would expect; in fact he rejects the idea completely, saying, in essence that this desire for a calm and quiet place is actually a destructive force in his life.

Still thinking about the ramifications of that; a refuge, a quiet place, has long been a dream of mine as well- and an elusive one.

There are now times, though, in my daily routine, when I find a moment of calm, and I'll let you in on them. First, the half hour I spend in my bed, ostensibly meditating, but really just thinking, and following my thoughts. I feel nonetheless that it is a better way to start one's day than jumping right out of bed (a habit that I had almost all my adult life).

Then, I spend a half hour with a coffee or two, writing pages in a journal. Now that the internet has been a major distraction, it is hard to just focus on that one activity, but once I do, I find it flowing, and eventually a kind of calm sets in, and I don't want to stop writing. But I do, when it feels right, and get on with my day.

It's not a refuge, but a routine; one that I have come to value and miss if by chance I don't get to do it that day.

I'm enjoying cleaning the kitchen too... my Mother, wherever she is, would be gobsmacked.

These three things are comforting, and I guess make me feel grounded in a way I haven't felt often in my life. What comfort do you, Dear Reader, find in routine?

Wide open

A rare occurrence last evening: our neighbors, Russ and Angie, were over with their 5 year old son, Matty. It's been 25 years or so since we had that kind of spirit in our house, and it is always overwhelming: the energy, the enthusiasm, the inquisitiveness!

A person of that age is a "sponge", so they say, but the word is inadequate. The curiousity, the dynamism of wanting to try everything, touch everything, see everything. So inspiring and exhausting, for not only are you their guide and mentor in the excursion into the objects and experiences contained in your house, which are all new to them, you also need to set limits on what can be allowed in their explorations. Fortunately we lived through Hurricane Travis (our son and second-born), and have a lot of experience with enthusiastic, fearless young people.

It was a joy to show Matty the piano:  how the pedals work, what the hammers do, how to play "twinkle twinkle", how to guide a pick along the strings for a special sound.

Kids that age are wide open, and what happens to them between that age and their late teens and adulthood is a sad, sad, mystery. We all know, or have heard of those who, even in their adult years, have kept this sense of wonder. I can still access it at times in a limited way, when I am able look at something with an unjaundiced eye, and taste of the wonder of it. But for most of us, the adherence to rules, and the million compromises we make in order to become "productive members of society" and "grown-ups" stop up that font of joy that we had free access to in our youth.

Herman Hesse (I think it was) proposed that we spend part of every day in quiet contemplation of a tree, or some such object in nature. Having done this a few times I can testify to its healing properties. It's a way to re-frame our experience, to step outside the adult who says: "I see a tree", barely acknowledging it as real; reducing it to a statistic, and not the wondrous miracle that is any tree, large or small.
In what other ways might we re-connect to the capacity for wonder, for joy in our adult lives?

Fallow time

Many years have passed since my last post, and so much life lived. Since then, I became a full-time professor at Université de Montréal, then a tenured one, and now am in my first ever Sabbatical year. That I ever would find myself part of the academic bourgeoisie was, at the start of my career, inconceivable, since even back in the 80s, "common knowledge" was that they were no longer giving out these posts.

But here we are, and I am enjoying the "fat of the land", as it were, and will continue to do so for another year or two at least. This year of research and relaxation has already brought much time for reflection on where I am headed in my few remaining years.

The "year off" began with a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, from Porto, by the interior route. I love the time on the trail, where the activities are listening, observing, using all the senses really, and thinking your own thoughts. I get a lot out of solitary reflection while walking. I read somewhere that your thinking is of a higher quality when you are walking, and I think this must be true. In a age of distraction, we need time to reflect and just "think our own thoughts"

This week is a week off after a busy four days of concerts and rehearsals. I continue to play, conduct, arrange and sing etc. during my sabbatical, which is a joy; I may retire from teaching at a school, but I doubt I will voluntarily retire from making music in some form. I count myself lucky to be able to do a job I love.