Thursday, May 21, 2026

In November 2025 I began teaching myself guitar using the Mel Bay Modern Guitar Method Complete Edition and Justin Sandercoe’s Justin Guitar app. I usually practice once a day for 30 to 45 minutes.

I inherited my mother’s very fine cello, and after trying unsuccessfully for three years to sell it on consignment, I decided to learn to play it. Unlike my parents and my siblings, I am not gifted musically, so I do not expect to play it very well. But I am attempting this because it will make me learn something new, and playing will provide social interactions if I get good enough to join an amateur ensemble. I had my first lesson with Ana Ospina on May 9, 2026.

I am running every other day, and I have been entering short races for the past few months. I recently joined the Somerville Road Runners on the advice of a good friend who is a member, and I am enjoying the group runs.

I do a lot of reading, and as I finish a book I usually write a post on this blog. Books I finished recently (watch for reviews on this site) include:

• Bach’s Cello Suites by the cellist Steven Isserlis
• Jacqueline du Pré: Her Life, Her Music, Her Legend by the cellist Elizabeth Wilson
• The Universal Timekeepers: Reconstructing History Atom by Atom by the scientist David J. Helfand

Among several books I’m reading right now are:

• Learn Faster, Perform Better: A Musician’s Guide to the Neuroscience of Practicing by Molly Gebrian
• Downbelow Station, by C. J. Cherryh
• more mystery novels written by a friend of more than sixty years, Maple Quinn