Category Archives: random musings

Staying the Course

Posted on May 10, 2023 by midiguru

This is going to be a personal journal entry, along with anything else. It’s about writing — specifically, about writing novels — but it’s about a difficulty that maybe doesn’t get talked about enough. Having noticed that I’m not dead … Continue reading →

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Rabbits in the Wallpaper

Posted on May 6, 2023 by midiguru

I have a weird double attitude toward the tenuous tenets of mysticism. On the one hand, I’m a hard-headed atheist. Scientists have investigated paranormal phenomena at great length, and there’s just nothing there. But on the other hand, weird things … Continue reading →

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Sticks & Stones

Posted on April 24, 2023 by midiguru

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine on Facebook was hating on J. K. Rowling. As far as I know, my friend is a very nice person; I tend not to collect a following of wackos. My friend … Continue reading →

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Brain Waves

Posted on March 21, 2023 by midiguru

I’m angry at my brain. It no longer functions the way it once did. I’m 74 years old. I don’t think this is Alzheimer’s. It’s just being old. My brain still functions pretty darn well, but not in real time. … Continue reading →

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Heretics R Us

Posted on October 22, 2022 by midiguru

In 325 A.D., the emperor Constantine arranged a conference among the Roman world’s Christian bishops. Accounts vary, but about 300 bishops traveled from near and far to the city of Nicaea, in what is now Turkey. Constantine paid for their … Continue reading →

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Processed Art Substance

Posted on October 10, 2022 by midiguru

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a Zoom panel discussion about the use of AI (artificial intelligence) software in the arts. This was hosted by Nick Batzdorf, who is the content director at the Synth & Software website, … Continue reading →

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Let Me Count the Ways

Posted on October 9, 2022 by midiguru

I first encountered a synthesizer in 1975. I had just been hired as an assistant editor at a startup magazine called Contemporary Keyboard. (The name was later changed to Keyboard.) My boss, who was living down the walkway in the … Continue reading →

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The Great Red Spot

Posted on October 3, 2022 by midiguru

I’ve been re-reading James Gleick’s 1987 book Chaos. A lot of chaos theory is about mathematical abstractions, but it also has a very practical side. The Great Red Spot on the surface of Jupiter is still a bit of a … Continue reading →

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Fumble-Fingered

Posted on September 25, 2022 by midiguru

I’ve memorized a fair amount of piano music. I can sit down at the piano and play for an hour, going through ten or fifteen pieces, without opening any of the books of sheet music that are stacked next to … Continue reading →

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Call Me Irresponsible

Posted on September 18, 2022 by midiguru

The fourth of Unitarian Universalism’s Seven Principles is, “A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” Three years ago, several hundred UU ministers signed on (literally) in a thuggish attack against one of their fellow ministers, Todd Eklof, who … Continue reading →

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