"Oh, hear that old piano from down the Avenue. I smell the rain, I look around for you. My sweet old someone, coming through that door....

I love to read. So, me and libraries go back a long ways, even if our relationship wasn't always the most cordial. My first real job...

Recently, I saw a powerful film on Netflix called Maestro. In fact, I found it so moving that I viewed it twice in a row. The film tells...

This fall, I taught a community ed class at Southwest High School on the subject of songwriting. It was my first time teaching that...

Next fall I'm planning to visit Germany again after some 17 years absence. I would like to see my cousin Ali and her significant other...

Last week, a close friend complimented me on being willing to take on tough challenges and embark on new, sometimes scary adventures....

This afternoon, I attended a Kaffeeklatsch (social get together with refreshments) with a group of German-speaking seniors, who’ve known...

I first began writing songs in the winter of 1971 while I was lving in my hometown of Marburg an der Lahn, in Germany. I had spent the...

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time...

I just bought a ticket to a Twins post-season playoff game. It cost me the whopping amount of $81.50, but I think it will be well worth...

You arrive at the coffeehouse around 6 p.m. with your banjo and harmonica in hand. It's a Wednesday night and Open Mic night. You...

As long as I can remember, I’ve always been a deeply spiritual person. As a child in Germany, I was very pious. I recall how important my...

The earliest times I remember being recognized was in third and fourth grades when I received gold and silver stars for homework well...

I spent all day yesterday at the Minnesota State Fair, the Great Minnesota Get Together. It was a gorgeous picture-perfect day with the...

For the past couple of years, I've been spending a lot of time with my 5-string banjo. I've acquired quite a few excellent instruction...

This summer, I finally had cataract surgery on both my eyes. Although an opthamologist from the U of M recommended that I get both...

At the end of June, I was finally able to get away from Minneapolis for a week-long vacation, my first one in four years. I travelled to...

Most of the topics in my blog posts so far have been fairly easy, even fun to write about. But the one I want to tackle now is very...

Much of my life consists of a great variety of rituals and routines. I looked up both words in a dictionary. A ritual was defined as a...

I just finished attending a four-day, national NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) conference at the convention center in downtown...