Piano Therapy

Annamaria on Monday

"These are the times that try men's souls" comes to mind.  The other beginning that comes to me is the laundry list of the distressing events happening all around our sacred planet these days.  But my mission today is to change your mood.  To convince you to shut off the news.  To turn away from the conversations about all the bad stuff.  My weapon is one of the finest inventions of humankind: the piano.

It will take something like half an hour to make yourself feel better. Sit in a comfortable chair or lie down in a comfortable place.  Herewith, except for the electronic gizmo within reach, is everything you need to feel better.

Take a deep breath, close your eyes and focus 100% of your attention.  And listen, really LISTEN, to this:

Lovely.

Now let your mind wander, while you follow the great George Shearing down your favorite beautiful path in nature:

Nice, huh?

Now (I hope), you are ready to wake up to some delightful positive energy from a piano man par excellence.  And with him the incomparable Milt Jackson!

There now!  Piano therapy.  It works!

I don't know about you, but I am going to keep this therapeutic music handy.  It would be nicer if we didn't need it so much.  But along with the n'ere-do-wells who are hogging all the air time, I assure you that our species creates tons more beauty than it does horror shows.  They just don't put the beautiful stuff on the nightly news.

Let's keep sharing the good stuff, shall we?

Election Results 2021

Annamaria on Monday

If you haven't followed the results of last week’s election in the USA, I wouldn't blame you. On the other hand, I would be surprised you were able to escape it. I imagine that, worldwide, the  headlines were the same. One way or another, the news has probably seeped into your consciousness. And you might have believed the prevailing message: that Democrats in the United States took an awful drubbing, that the Democratic Party is doomed. And that Democrats nation-wide are in shock! That the Republicans' showing dealt a devastating blow to anyone on the left. 

In pretty much all the lead stories in broadcast media this past Wednesday morning, you would have heard of Democrats dealt a death blow. Political shockwaves! A thumping for President Biden! "The left is in the mourning this morning!" Newscasters reported.

I am here to say, "NOT SO FAST!"

First first of all, none of this "bad" news was a surprise at all.  As a matter of fact, Republicans winning Virginia was totally to be expected. Fact is that, except for two highly unusual years, whichever party has won the White House has lost the Virginia governor race the following year.  This is true almost without exception, so should we be shocked? I'm not. Are you? You might be, thanks to the pundits who gave you the news the next morning without the background history to put it in context.

You see, the result of one election always energizes the losers. Does that shock you? Of course not. So why should the Democrats feel knocked for a loop??  That's what the broadcasters told us we should be, and I would imagine a great number of us obeyed.

Then, there were the other races the news announcers chose to talk about.  After Virginia's, The New Jersey governor race got the most attention. As I write this, it seems as if Phil Murphy of New Jersey has eked out a narrow victory.  That this race was as close as it turned out to be means anyone on the left should be terrified. Or so the voice is on the radio and the TV would have us believe. They want us to be angry and upset.

In my own state of New York, I have heard repeatedly on local and national broadcasts of a pair of awful outcomes: two Republicans were elected as districts attorney in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.  Until last Wednesday, I have never been moved emotionally in one direction or another by who got elected district attorney anywhere. Yet, that news was delivered in a tone of voice appropriate for a report of a white whale attack on the Long Island beaches.

Then there was the real news that nobody talked about, at least not on my New York and national stations--the far more important races that have yielded enormous good news for someone of my political persuasion. Allow me to introduce you to a few Democratic winners:

Michelle Wu, the first Asian American mayor of Boston, who won by a 2/3 majority of the vote at the age of 36!

And Ed Gainey, the first black mayor of Pittsburgh!

Justin Bibb, the first ever black mayor of Cleveland Ohio!

And Sharetta Smith the new mayor of Lima, Ohio.  The first black woman to hold that office!

Also on the good news front is a raft of local ballot initiatives that have the potential to make a great difference in the lives of ordinary people.  E.G:

• Detroit is forming a committee to consider reparations to black residents
• Greenbelt, Maryland has raised its minimum wage
• Minneapolis voters approved new bonds to finance the construction and rehabilitation of low and moderate income housing.
• Albuquerque has created a new civilian review board to investigate police misconduct
• Etc....

I rejoice!