bill berry

#jazzchurch 59 – Sunday, June 13, 2021 – featured music by McCoy Tyner, John McLaughlin, John Coltrane, Tré Burt, Charles Lloyd, Melissa Aldana, Freddie Hubbard, Eliane Elias, Joe Henderson, Kevin Eubanks, Don Braden, Allison Russell, Peaches & Herb, Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rythm Band, The Friends of Distinction, Peaches & Herb, Celia Cruz & Tito Puente, and Chaka Khan, + commentary from Rev. Bill E. Bob! :-) We made a #JoyfulNoise! 🎶🎙🎵

1. Emotion in Motion (Peter Martin)
2. Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit (McCoy Tyner)
3. Peace One (John McLaughlin)
4. Impressions (John Coltrane)
5. Under the Devil’s Knee (Tré Burt)
6. When Miss Jessye Sings (Charles Lloyd)
7. Elsewhere (Melissa Aldana)
8. Suite Sioux (Freddie Hubbard)
9. Running (Eliane Elias)
10. A Shade Of Jade (Joe Henderson)
11. The Lady in My Life (Christian McBride Trio)
12. Day Trip (Pat Metheny)
13. Inner Crisis (Larry Willis)
14. Kid Charlemagne (Don Braden)
15. Round Midnight (Joe Henderson, Al Foster & Rufus Reid)
16. The Messenger (Kevin Eubanks)
17. Little Rebirth (Allison Russell)
18. Butterfly (Don Braden & Joris Teepe Quartet)
19. September (Marcela Mangabeira)
20. Do Your Thing (Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rythm Band)
21. Close Your Eyes (Peaches & Herb)
22. Funky Nassau (Beginning Of The End)
23. Lonesome Mood (The Friends of Distinction)
24. Reunited (Peaches & Herb)
25. I Know You, I Live You (Chaka Khan)
26. Fickle Funk (Chick Corea)
27. Cao Cao Maní Picao (Celia Cruz & Tito Puente)

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Next week’s #jazzchurch livestream can be found at postbop.com/jazzchurch Streaming live from 1-4ish PM PDT. Past episodes are available here as well.

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”I have become enraptured with the sky. It seems all of my recent photographs start with a teeny, tiny bit of water or land and a whole lot of sky. This latest one is a panorama comprised of 15 separate iPhone photographs stitched together using AutoStitch.“
6/10/2012

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
– Albert Einstein

(photo by Amritanshu Sikdar/Unsplash)
originally posted 6/9/19

#jazzchurch 58 – Sunday, June 6, 2021 – featured music by Alice Coltrane, John Coltrane, Kenny Garrett, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Donald Byrd, Jackson 5, Indeep, Cold Blood, and Betty Carter. We made a #JoyfulNoise! 🎶🎙🎵

1. Moanin’ (Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers)
2. Jaya Jaya Rama (Alice Coltrane)
3. Out Of This World (John Coltrane)
4. Sketches of MD (Kenny Garrett)
5. Sanctuary (Mahavishnu Orchestra)
6. Love’s so Far Away (Donald Byrd)
7. The Good Life (Ornette Coleman & Pat Metheny)
8. John McLaughlin (Miles Davis)
9. Lester Leaps In (Sonny Stitt)
10. Reflections in D (Jean-Yves Thibaudet)
11. Isfahan (Joe Henderson)
12. Senor Blues (Horace Silver)
13. Parade (Ron Carter)
14. Nocturno (ARTEMIS)
15. Irdir (Louis Martinez, Gérard Poncin & Philippe Panel feat. Sylvain Luc)
16. Afterglow (M.T.B.)
17. Humpty Dumpty (Akio Sasajima)
18. Parallel Lives (Rob Lockart)
19. Snap Your Fingers (Gail Pettis)
20. Dear Old Stockholm (Alan Pasqua, Dave Carpenter & Peter Erskine)
21. Darling Dear (Jackson 5)
22. I’ll Be There (Jackson 5)
23. Never Can Say Goodbye (Jackson 5)
24. Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life (Indeep)
25. Funky On My Back (Cold Blood)
26. B’s Blues (Betty Carter)

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Next week’s #jazzchurch livestream can be found at postbop.com/jazzchurch Streaming live from 1-4ish PM PDT. Past episodes are available here as well.

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I always feel like I’m not doing enough on the weekend! Why is that! Bill E. Bob needs his rest and is reminded of a friend saying, “Don’t work yourself to death!” #workingonit!!! (or is that #notworkingonit???)

#jazzchurch 57 – Sunday, May 23, 2021 – featured music by Charenee Wade, Bobby Watson, Mike Stern, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, Gil Scott-Heron, Stevie Wonder, Bootsy Collins, Rufus, The Esquires, and Evelyn “Champagne” King. We made a #JoyfulNoise! 🎶🎙🎵

1. Offering (Charenee Wade feat. Stefon Harris)
2. Ginger Bread Boy (Bobby Watson)
3. Body and Soul (Duke Ellington & Jimmie Blanton)
4. Solar (Bill Evans Trio)
5. Satin Doll (Victor Feldman)
6. Alice In Wonderland (Bill Evans Trio)
7. Caravan (Art Blakey)
8. Footprints (Miles Davis)
9. Red Clay (Freddie Hubbard)
10. Anselmo (Matt Slocum with Larry Grenadier & Gerald Clayton)
11. Like Someone In Love (Mike Stern)
12. Jean Pierre (Mike Stern)
13. Peace (Mike Stern)
14. Besame Mucho (Avishai Cohen)
15. The Thrill is Gone (From Yesterday’s Kiss) (Aretha Franklin)
16. Now He Sings–Now He Sobs (Chick Corea)
17. Essex/Martin, Grant, Byrd & Till (Charenee Wade)
18. Mr. Kenyatta (Hilton Ruiz)
19. Theme for a Brighter Future (Omer Avital, Avishai Cohen, Jason Lindner, Joel Frahm & Johnathan Blake)
20. Runaway Child, Running Wild (The Temptations)
21. Running (Gil Scott-Heron)
22. If You Love Somebody Set Them Free (Sting)
23. It Ain’t No Use (Stevie Wonder)
24. Ahh…The Name Is Bootsy, Baby (Bootsy Collins)
25. You Got the Love (Rufus feat. Chaka Khan)
26. Get On Up (The Esquires)
27. Shame (Evelyn “Champagne” King)

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Some Type of Lily, 5/22/2021.

#jazzchurch 55 – Sunday, May 16, 2021 – features music by Stevie Wonder, John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade, Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Young-Holt Unlimited, Kenny Burrell, Ron Carter, McCoy Tyner, Tom Harrell, Chet Baker, Sylvain Luc, Bill Withers, Lou Rawls, World’s Famous Supreme Team, Chic, and funky cuts from Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. #MakeAJoyfulNoise! 🎶🎙🎵

1. Love’s In Need of Love Today (Stevie Wonder)
2. Utopia and Visions (Don Cherry, Okay Temiz, Tage Siven, Tommy Goldman, Maffy Falay & Tommy Koverhult)
3. Afro-Blue (Live At Birdland, NYC - October 8, 1963) (John Coltrane)
4. Afro-Centric (Joe Sanders)
5. Ballad for a Noble Man (In Memory of Doug Sommer) (Brian Blade, Danilo Perez & John Patitucci)
6. Spiral (Tomonao Hara & Hiroshi Ikejiri)
7. Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder)
8. Eiderdown (Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade)
9. We Almost Lost Detroit (Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson)
10. Soulful Strut (Young-Holt Unlimited)
11. Better Get Your Thing Together (Kenny Burrell)
12. Saguaro (Ron Carter with Renee Rosnes, Jimmy Greene & Payton Crossley)
13. Beautiful Love (McCoy Tyner Quartet)
14. Contrary Mary (Tom Harrell)
15. Autumn Leaves (Chet Baker)
16. All Blues (Sylvain Luc)
17. Pata Pata (Sylvain Luc)
18. Young and Fine (Trio Sud)
19. Lovely Day (Bill Withers)
20. Old Folks (Lou Rawls)
21. They Won’t Go When I Go (Stevie Wonder)
22. Hey! D.J. (World’s Famous Supreme Team)
23. Positive (Spearhead With Michael Franti)
24. Nocturnal Sunshine (Me’Shell NdegeOcello Feat. Herbie Hancock)
25. Stolen Moments (United Future Organization)
26. Trouble Don’t Last Always (Incognito & Carleen Anderson With Ramsey Lewis)
27. 1960 What? (Amp Fiddler feat. London House Cats Choir)
28. Chic Cheer (Chic)

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”Your intelligence cannot be measured by a number. It is defined by your willingness to learn, solve problems and try new things. You are more than just a number. Develop your skills. Share your brilliant ideas. Your skills are more valuable than your grades.“
– Prof. Richard Feynman

#workingonit!!!

🧠

#jazzchurch 54 – Sunday, May 9, 2021 – featured music by Joshua Redman, Alan Broadbent, Cyrus Chestnut, Mahalia Jackson, Richie Havens, Stevie Wonder, Al Jarreau & Kurt Elling, Camilla George, Billy Hart, Alan Pasqua, Gil Scott-Heron, Chic, Tito Puente, Mary J. Blige, and Cheryl Lynn, among others shown below. We made a #JoyfulNoise! 🎶🎙🎵

1. Jazz Crimes (Joshua Redman)
2. Ceora (Alan Broadbent)
3. Gymnopédie No. 3 (Cyrus Chestnut)
4. Summertime / Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (Mahalia Jackson)
5. Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Miguel Zenón)
6. Freedom (Richie Havens)
7. Run, Shaker Life (Richie Havens)
8. It’s All in the Game (Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock & Jack DeJohnette)
9. 38-58 (Alex Sipiagin feat. David Binney, Adam Rogers, John Escreet, Matt Brewer & Eric Harland)
10. Love Dance (Akira Tana feat. Carla Helmbrecht)
11. As (Stevie Wonder)
12. Take Five (Al Jarreau & Kurt Elling)
13. The Night has a Thousand Eyes (Camilla George)
14. Cosmosis (Billy Hart)
15. Here But I’m Gone (Camilla George, et al. feat. Omar Lye-Fook)
16. Land Of The Midnight Sun (Al DiMeola)
17. Lulù (Enrico Rava, Stefano Bollani, Mark Turner, Larry Grenadier & Paul Motian)
18. Milagro (Alan Pasqua)
19. Ms Baja (Camilla George)
20. Underneath It All (Harvie S)
21. Acoma (Alan Pasqua)
22. Song for Reds (Camilla George)
23. Eighty-One (Miles Davis)
24. Don’t Give Up (Gil Scott-Heron)
25. I Want Your Love (Chic)
26. Oye Cómo Va (Tito Puente)
27. Bang Bang (Tito Nieves)
28. Show Love (Mary J. Blige)
29. Got to Be Real (Cheryl Lynn)

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Next week’s #jazzchurch livestream can be found at postbop.com/jazzchurch Streaming live from 1-4ish PM PDT. Past episodes are available here as well.

Where else can I find #JazzChurch?

• Postbop.com: Livestream plus audio archives and information for all past shows
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#jazzchurch 53 – Sunday, May 2, 2021 – featured the music we began with in our first episode one year ago, including songs by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, Joe Henderson, Gary Bartz, Charles Lloyd, Alice Coltrane, John Scofield, Michael Brecker, Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln, Pharoah Sanders, Harvey Wainapel, and the Branford Marsalis Quartet. We made a #JoyfulNoise! 🎶🎙🎵

1. Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord (The Edwin Hawkins Singers)
2. Photograph (Joe Henderson)
3. Dear Lord (Gary Bartz feat. Andy Bey)
4. Come Sunday (Charles Lloyd)
5. The People Could Fly (Camilla George)
6. He Knows How Much You Can Bear (Terell Stafford)
7. New Delhi (Cannonball Adderley)
8. Lord, Help Me to Be (Alice Coltrane)
9. Tulle (John Scofield)
10. Nothing Personal (Michael Brecker)
11. Turiya And Ramakrishna (Alice Coltrane)
12. 30 Years (Betty Carter)
13. A Turtle’s Dream (Abbey Lincoln)
14. Harriet Tubman (Wynton Marsalis Septet)
15. Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord (Pharoah Sanders)
16. Tha Go ‘Round (B Sharp Jazz Quartet)
17. No. 3 (Geri Allen)
18. Beautiful Love (Harvey Wainapel)
19. Eternal (Branford Marsalis Quartet)
20. Friend Forever (Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen)
21. Gaslight (Duke Pearson)
22. Sail Away (Kenny Barron)
23. I Waited For You (Bebop & Beyond)
24. Peresina (McCoy Tyner Big Band)
25. Time Remembered (Bill Evans feat. Zoot Sims, Jim Hall, Ron Carter & Philly Joe Jones)
26. Believer (Jazzanova)

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Where else can I find #JazzChurch?

• Postbop.com: Livestream plus audio archives and information for all past shows
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#jazzchurch 52 – Sunday, April 25, 2021 –featured music by Joe Henderson, Cyrus Chestnut, Herbie Hancock, Eberhard Weber, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Charles Lloyd, Paul Chambers, Charles Mingus, Prince, Amel Larrieux, and Daft Punk. We made a #JoyfulNoise! 🎶🎙🎵

1. Mode For Joe (Joe Henderson)
2. No More Blues (Chega de Saudade) (Joe Henderson)
3. Hello (Cyrus Chestnut)
4. Biji (Sonny Rollins)
5. So Near, So Far (Joe Henderson)
6. All The Beauty She Left Behind (Live In Berlin) (Bonus Track) (e.s.t. Esbjörn Svensson Trio)
7. One Of A Kind (Herbie Hancock)
8. Yesterdays (Eberhard Weber)
9. San Lorenzo (Pat Metheny)
10. Donna Lee (Jaco Pastorius)
11. Sister (Charles Lloyd)
12. Soul Dance (Joshua Redman)
13. Wave (Rosa Passos)
14. Evidence (Thelonious Monk)
15. Black Narcissus (Joe Henderson)
16. Chasin’ the Bird (Paul Chambers)
17. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Charles Mingus)
18. The Return (Upward Spiral) (Branford Marsalis Quartet & Kurt Elling)
19. Gymnopédie No. 1 (Cyrus Chestnut)
20. The One Step (Chick Corea)
21. Bala Com Bala (Romero Lubambo, Helio Alves, Edu Ribeiro, Reuben Rogers)
22. Good Morning Heartache (John Patitucci, Vinnie Colaiuta & Bill Cunliffe)
23. When Doves Cry (Prince & The Revolution)
24. Welcome 2 America (Prince)
25. Get Up (Amel Larrieux)
26. Lose Yourself to Dance (Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams)

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Next week’s #jazzchurch livestream can be found at postbop.com/jazzchurch Streaming live from 1-4ish PM PDT. Past episodes are available here as well.

Where else can I find #JazzChurch?

• Postbop.com: Livestream plus audio archives and information for all past shows
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Why Zigging Is The Enemy of Innovation

As Henry Ford may have once said, “If I asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said, ‘faster horses’.”

This is why a real innovation culture in a business is really, really hard to cultivate. People’s first instinct is just to copy the competition with a tweak, and hope for the best.

But that’s not how transformational innovation is built. It never has.

This sounds like “best practices” to me. Why pursue mediocrity???

She’ll be coming round The Mountain when she comes!

#jazzchurch 51 – Sunday, April 18, 2021 – featured music by Charles Lloyd, McCoy Tyner, Christian Sands, Darrell Grant, Ellis Marsalis Trio, Jen Chapin, Tuck & Patti, Jill Scott & Chris Botti, John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett, Marquis Hill, and Orrin Evans. We made a #JoyfulNoise! 🎶🎙🎵

1. Chant (Donald Byrd)
2. Love/Dear Lord (SFJAZZ Collective)
3. Come and See (Pat Metheny)
4. #knowingishalfthebattle (Orrin Evans)
5. Be Water I (Christian Sands)
6. Shades of Jazz(Take 1A) (Keith Jarrett)
7. Mashup (Dave Holland)
8. Tender Warriors (Charles Lloyd)
9. Beast of Burden (Donald Byrd)
10. Mary’s Intro (Marquis Hill)
11. The Poet (Marquis Hill)
12. Detour Ahead (René Marie)
13. Time After Time (Tuck & Patti)
14. Love Don’t Live Here Anymore (Rose Royce)
15. Good Morning Heartache (Jill Scott & Chris Botti)
16. Pastime Paradise (Jen Chapin)
17. Golden (Jill Scott)
18. I Didn’t Know (DJ Romain, Nedelka & DJ Spen)
19. Speak Low (Wayne Darling/Arni Egilsson/Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen)
20. Spiral (John Coltrane)
21. Suddenly (McCoy Tyner)
22. Reconciliation (Darrell Grant)
23. Twelve’s It (Ellis Marsalis Trio)
24. Sponge (Randy Brecker & Michael Brecker)
25. Czekając na deszcz (Zbigniew Seifert Quartet)
26. Echo - Side Blue (Sonny Rollins)
27. Clear Cut Boogie (Sonny Rollins)
28. Estuary (Tom Harrell)

Apple Music Playlist

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Next week’s #jazzchurch livestream can be found at postbop.com/jazzchurch Streaming live from 1-4ish PM PDT. Past episodes are available here as well.

Where else can I find #JazzChurch?

• Postbop.com: Livestream plus audio archives and information for all past shows
• Twitch Livestream: 1-3pm-ish PDT on Sundays plus audio/video of recent shows
• Soundcloud: Listen to past shows and subscribe to receive notifications and listen to future shows

I’ve been on PTO for two weeks and return to work on Monday. This vacation has been timely because, even though I’ve acquired the nickname “Dr. Zoom,” I was suffering definite Zoom fatigue. Maybe work fatigue! We had a quarterly team planning session a few days before my time off. I noted that I was on the verge of burnout and that hopefully, my vacay would help. Then I found myself needing to take a timeout from the meeting.

Yeah, I needed to, and did, get away! Now I’m heading back into the fray and am facing an age-old question: “How do I want to be when I go back to work?” What changes do I want to make? What do I want to do differently?

It seems my most memorable vacations came when the stress became too much to bear. That wasn’t the plan. Maybe I was oblivious? I wrote about this a couple of years ago, of course, while on vacation.

Here’s a related experience I had early in my career:

Once upon a time things weren’t going so well at work. I can’t remember what we were arguing about, but I left my boss’s office, walked back to mine, and kinda sorta slammed the door. I sat at my desk for a few minutes – in the dark – pissed!

After a while, one of my colleagues came in and said, “Bill you’re obviously having a bad day. Why don’t you just go home?”

I thought, “you mean I could do that?” While it hadn’t occurred to me, it was great advice!

I grabbed my coat and briefcase, told my assistant I was leaving for the day. And left.

I walked across Central Park South. When I got to Lexington Avenue, the proverbial lightbulb went on.

I ambled into Bloomingdales and took the escalator up to the seventh floor. I went to the American Express Travel counter, where a young woman asked how she could help me.

“Send me away,” I said.

“Where would you like to go?”

“I have no idea but I obviously need a vacation.”

Man, that vacation was so timely!! Anyway, my current one is ending, and I’ve got just a little time to face that question:

“How do I want to be when I go back to work?”

I don’t have answers just yet. Maybe a future blog post will reveal how it all turns out?

Of course, if you have some advice, hit me with it. Soon! Thanks!

April 15, 2012. Our first visit to Jazz Alley. Waiting for The Real McCoy. That would be McCoy Tyner. Not sure who was on bass. Thinking it might have been; oh wait, let me go find out:

Bb’s Journal Notes

Ballad For Aisha - 4/15/12

McCoy Tyner !! @ Jazz Alley!! with Gary Bartz!! on Alto, Francisco Mela on drums. Not sure who’s playing bass – don’t know the name.

Opened with Fly with the Wind, I think. Awesome! McCoy wrote Ballad for Aisha for his wife, who’s in the audience tonight. McCoy said they’ve been together since they were teenagers. (Not the only such couple in the house!!!)

McCoy looks frail when walking but sounds like the Real McCoy when playing.

I’m Living the Dream!!

I love seeing McCoy smile at Francisco and vice versa. Cool interaction. Everyone is Present. Right. Here. Right. Now!

Moment’s Notice!

Suddenly popped up. There it is!

Lot’s of young kids in the audience!

Blues on the Corner!! – McCoy sits out for two choruses of Gary’s solo, then BAM!! Then he does it again.

The bass plays along with part of the melody. Gerald Cannon?!

Solo Piano –> For All We Know

Francisco Mela is a revelation!!

In a Mellow Tone! (No Peresina???? Oh, welly welly!)

Walk Spirit. Talk Spirit.

Great memory. I’m so glad I documented it, most likely journaling during the concert (which may explain why my only photograph is above???).

McCoy Tyner is the musician I’ve seen the most during my lifetime. I really love him. I’m sad he’s no longer with us, but his music and memory live on.

”Of course it’s nice that we’ve managed to gather virtually. But I don’t know, it’s just not the same.“
– Sandy Boynton

Even Dr. Zoom agrees!

Yesterday, the third Thursday of April, was the second National High Five Day in a row during which I, self-proclaimed Chief High-Five Officer, gave zero high-fives!

Why are high fives important to me? Here’s a bit of brilliance from one of my esteemed former colleagues:

“As Bill and I ‘High-Fived’ at the end of our meeting today, it occurred to me that you can’t really effectively High Five by yourself. It takes more than one person. It is a shared validation of a positive outcome or success (which can be any step achieved along the way), agreement of ideas, vision, or action plans. And, it feels good, brings inspiration, acknowledges, carries momentum and gives positive reinforcement. Have you ever experienced a negative High Five?”

So, I started high-fiving everyone, becoming a high-fiving fool.

I can’t wait for this pandemic to be over!!!

Early in my career, a colleague suggested I send a “brilliant, yet difficult” employee to an American Management Association training program formally called Executive Effectiveness, and euphemistically referred to as “charm school.” I reached out to the AMA instructor, who assured me that the class was appropriate. However, he also suggested I first take the workshop myself, so I’d be better nable to support my direct report. He told me, “no one ever takes this advice.” Challenge accepted!

Not only did I learn a lot, but his advice also set a pattern for me. I go first. It helps me help you. If I’m open, it also just helps me. I wouldn’t be where and who I am without following this idea of taking the training first!

P.S. Charm school taught me that I should be less charming, that I should speak what’s on my mind because the team needs to hear it. Still #workingonit!!!

Message on the way to dinner this perfect day!

It’s 3:45 PM PDT. It’s also 79° where I sit. Not exactly because, well, I’ve got it made in the shade! :-)

This is my last day of extended PTO. I still have a weekend in front of me before I have to start thinking about fixing to get ready to possibly maybe go back to work on Monday.

In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy it! Great weather! Best of the year so far!!

Unfortunately (not really), I have to go inside and get ready for dinner! I’ll put on real clothes for a change. Looking forward to Primo Grill!

Great quotes on writing from James Baldwin.

“Write a Sentence as Clean as a Bone” and Other Advice From James Baldwin

Travel.

The story of what can happen to an American Negro writer in Europe simply illustrates, in some relief, what can happen to any American writer there. It is not meant, of course, to imply that it happens to them all, for Europe can be very crippling, too; and, anyway, a writer, when he has made his first breakthrough, has simply won a crucial skirmish in a dangerous, unending and unpredictable battle. Still, the breakthrough is important, and the point is that an American writer, in order to achieve it, very often has to leave this country.

-from “The Discovery of What It Means To Be an American”

Don’t be too ironic.

You are speaking to an old rat. I find much of so‐called avant‐garde writing utterly trivial. If there is no moral question, there is no reason to write. I’m an old‐fashioned writer and, despite the odds, I want to change the world. What I hope to convey? Well, joy, love, the passion to feel how our choices affect the world … that’s all.

-from a 1979 interview published in The New York Times

Remember why you write.

The bottom line is this: You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can’t, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world. In some way, your aspirations and concern for a single man in fact do begin to change the world. The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way a person looks or people look at reality, then you can change it.

-from a 1979 interview published in The New York Times

Yes, I know. I shouldn’t be reading this. Dilly-dallying. Lollygagging. I should be writing!

Police Told to Hold Back on Capitol Riot Response, Report Finds - The New York Times

The Capitol Police had clearer advance warnings about the Jan. 6 attack than were previously known, including the potential for violence in which “Congress itself is the target.” But officers were instructed by their leaders not to use their most aggressive tactics to hold off the mob, according to a scathing new report by the agency’s internal investigator.

In a 104-page document, the inspector general, Michael A. Bolton, criticized the way the Capitol Police prepared for and responded to the mob violence on Jan. 6. The report was reviewed by The New York Times and will be the subject of a Capitol Hill hearing on Thursday.

…

“Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in, and blood from their BLM and Pantifa slave soldiers being spilled,” the message read. “Get violent … stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal.”

Civil War