Yesterday I was very fortunate to attend a talk given by the great jazz pianist Randy Weston-about his life and his music. Here are some of the things that he talked about.....when he was growing up, his parents generation felt it was very important to be "cultured"-so everyone either studied an musical instrument or went to art classes etc., went to hear music and to museums-all of that was a high priority-remember that Randy is in his 70's-and segregation was the rule while he was growing up. His parents also told him to "surround himself with the best minds".
Here are some other wonderful nuggets.....he equated "the blues" with an Egyptian word that meant "ancient memory"........."music is our first language"...."music is out spiritual langauge"..."music is a healing force"....and he said that we have to take music back into the community-get it out of the corporate world. That last one was ironic considering we were sitting in a room on the 5th floor of the ASCAP building ;-) A very inspiring experience! Thank you Elzy for including me!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Text of Steve Jobs' Commencement address (2005)
Hey everyone-it's been a long time since I've posted anything-and I'm working on a bunch of things for all of you-but today I ran across this in my inbox. Steve Jobs tells the story of his life in this commencement address to Stanford University. I found this to be very inspiring!
If you have been wondering how I'm feeling lately-the last part of his story really pretty much describes my life.
And interesting enough-the first part of his story is close to my story-I too am an adopted child.
Being adopted makes you are an outsider in society-but I've always found that to be a special gift. Because I was adopted, I developed a broader sense of humanity when I was very young. I told myself that I could choose anything that I wanted to be, since there were no constraints via family genes or expectations. So even though many of my so-called school chums were reminding me that I was different (i.e.-"you don't fit in")-I was off exploring ideas,philosophies, religions, cultures-creating who I wanted to be. It was and continues to be a very wonderful journey.
And, in case you're wondering right now-GIST is not familia-for the most part-there is a tiny , tiny percentage of cases where they have found GIST in family members. Dr Forte and I discussed that issue right at the beginning and will keep a watchful eye on Chad.
Text of Steve Jobs' Commencement address (2005)
Posted using ShareThis
If you have been wondering how I'm feeling lately-the last part of his story really pretty much describes my life.
And interesting enough-the first part of his story is close to my story-I too am an adopted child.
Being adopted makes you are an outsider in society-but I've always found that to be a special gift. Because I was adopted, I developed a broader sense of humanity when I was very young. I told myself that I could choose anything that I wanted to be, since there were no constraints via family genes or expectations. So even though many of my so-called school chums were reminding me that I was different (i.e.-"you don't fit in")-I was off exploring ideas,philosophies, religions, cultures-creating who I wanted to be. It was and continues to be a very wonderful journey.
And, in case you're wondering right now-GIST is not familia-for the most part-there is a tiny , tiny percentage of cases where they have found GIST in family members. Dr Forte and I discussed that issue right at the beginning and will keep a watchful eye on Chad.
Text of Steve Jobs' Commencement address (2005)
Posted using ShareThis
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