"this is different from a gun..."

Marin Alsop with the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra

"This is different from a gun," was what a young man in Venezuela observed when given his first clarinet. It changed his life. The power to create beautiful music is one of those things that can differentiate successful kids from those who may become a burden to society. There is a transforming effect on the individual when he or she aligns with his or her own creative capacity. And yes, young man, there is a difference between tools for creativity and those intended only for violence.

This morning an NPR Weekend Edition article told the story of Marin Alsop: A Utopian Musical Dream From South America and her youth symphony orchestra. Music has the power to transform young lives. Please listen to the story.

"Recently, the Brazilian government declared music to be mandatory in elementary and secondary school, and officials are currently creating teacher training programs to serve all children."

Yesterday, and in very stark contrast, the NRA proposed that we have guns and armed guards in all our nation's schools. Surely that will play on folks fears and make them buy more and more guns. It would be far more transforming and less costly to have greater access to music. And let's not forget wood shop. Tools give shape to thought. Our use of tools gives sense of self. And so is it any mystery that those hands which hold guns would see the rest of us as irrational and vice-versa?

A reader, Randall, suggests this book, The Lost Carving, a journey to the heart of making by David Esterly and reviewed in the New York Times. It is a sort of memoir of a woodcarver, to be released later in the month. From the dust jacket...

"Written with a philosopher’s intellect and a poet’s grace, The Lost Carving carries the reader ever deeper into the marvel of creation, exploring the connection between creativity and physical work and telling the story of the passionate pursuit of a vocation that unites head and hand and heart."

Simple white oak headboard now on bed!!

Make, fix and create...

Readers will note that I added a translation function at the top right, making things easier for those reading in other languages, and the simple white oak headboard is complete.