They say you only get one chance to make a first impression …
I started this blog because it has become increasingly apparent to me, as I get older, that my thoughts and interests are random and scattered. I had a notion that trying to organize them, even in some sort of haphazard fashion, might allow me to think about them in a more ordered, structured way.
I am nervous and afraid as I begin, because it seems that the only way to do this is to do it honestly. I do not feel that any soul-searching is imminent this morning, but I am sure that there will be posts about the things I am passionate about at some point … my kids and after them in no particular order — Wilco, cooking, golf, Allie, The Shawshank Redemption, The Count of Monte Cristo, Leonard Cohen, etc.
I am determined to use this space to try to make connections between these random things, even though my interest in them seems to be the only connection. In this space, I am only interested in politics that are optimistic and help people. I am only interested in religion as an admiration of true faith and acceptance, but also an investigation and acknowledgement of how little we know. If you are interested in politics and/or religion, there are a million blogs and podcasts about those things available. In the immortal words of Melvin Udall, “sell crazy someplace else … we’re all stocked up here.”
The only way to begin is to jump right in.
- Cavs v Pacers
- What I am Eating
- Before the Show: How Wilco (and Jerry Douglas) Make Me Think About Mastery
Cavs v Pacers
I found Matthew Syed’s The Greatest on a list of books that were featured in Ted Lasso.
I have been pretty serious about trying to play better golf. Not serious enough to practice in any meaningful way … but I am playing two or three times a week, and I would like to play better and more consistently. The area I have the least confidence in is my short game, and my problems in that area feel 99% mental. So … back to my Kindle library …
As I was reading Syed, I was watching the Cavs lose Game 5 of the second round of the NBA Playoffs to the Pacers. The Cavs, after a brilliant regular season and a dominant opening round series against the Miami Heat, seemed overwhelmed, confused, and even resigned to the inevitability that the Pacers would win.
How could this happen? The Cavs have an All-NBA First Team player in Donovan Mitchell. The reigning DPOY in Evan Mobley. Their top four players are the envy of the league, and the bench is capable and deep.
What happened?
This excerpt jumped off the page:
The Pacers had several significant runs in the series, each of which seemed to rip the heart out of the Cavaliers’ collective chest.
In Game 1, all five Pacers starters scored in double figures. The Cavs looked rusty and ineffective as the Pacers went on key runs in the second half.
The Pacers’ late game surge in Game 2, culminating with Haliburton’s dagger trey, recalled Reggie Miller’s legendary 8 points in 9 seconds.
The Pacers’ 19-2 run to close the first half of Game 4 put them up 41 at halftime. Game over.
The Cavs showed a little heart in Game 5, but it ended up being a death rattle as the Pacers went on runs of 17-2 and 24-5 in the second half. Even when the Cavs drew within three points at 106-103, the Pacers responded with an 8-2 run that put the final nail in the coffin.
Sure, injuries are a big part of the story. But the ability of the Pacers to score in bunches, to execute “a small number of selective strikes,” sapped the will and resistance from a team that entered the playoffs as the best team in the Eastern Conference.
What I am Eating
I need to lose weight.
I keep telling myself that it will never be easier than it is right now, but neither that nor my imminent knee replacement(s) have motivated me enough to actually try to shed pounds.
I did keto for about a week-and-a-half. I was a vegetarian for about a week,
My latest brainstorm is snacking. I am trying to eat 3-4 snacks a day of 100-150 calories, then eat one full meal. I am borrowing from my library of keto and vegetarian recipes to meal plan. My one maxim is to cut out sugar.
Ironically, teaching my foods class has inspired me to be more creative in my food choices. I think I will be more successful if I can figure out what tastes good to me.
A number of years ago, I tried intermittent fasting. The one part of it that really appealed to me was planning my first meal coming off a long fast. Looking forward to eating something I loved helped me stay the course. I am hoping that smaller tastes of flavors and textures that I love will inspire me in a similar way.
Turns out that I love:
- olives, especially the ones stuffed with blue cheese,
- cheese — most notably, parmesan cheese crisps,
- hard-boiled and scrambled eggs, and
- chicken broth.
It is landscaping season, so my activity level will be super-charged. That will help.
My expectations are low, and I am trying incremental changes. I will keep you posted.
Before the Show: How Wilco (and Jerry Douglas) Make Me Think About Mastery
Chris Black’s latest article in GQ (May 15, 2025) really hits my sweet spot.
GQ is one of my favorite magazines for culture updates.
Waxahatchee was my favorite discovery of 2024 and dominated my Spotify Wrapped.
And Wilco … ah Wilco …
I enjoyed the anecdotes and painful details about travelling and sleeping on the bus. But the revelation for me in this story was that “Jeff Tweedy & company have a full setup backstage, so that every night they can play before they actually play.”
I dug deeper and found a Tweedy interview with Paste where the artist says that the pre-show practice sessions are “just the way we work.”
I think about things like this often. Here is Wilco, with a combined professional music history of 220+ years, practicing before every show.
I was a musician in high school, but my aspirations never amounted to anything more than pipedreams.
I teach high school. I have over 20 years of coaching experience at the middle school and high school levels. I have heard countless student-athletes exclaim how much they love their sport and how much they would love to continue to play at the next level. But not once have I seen those would-be college or professional athletes dedicate themselves to the fundamentals, personal fitness, or craft in a way that would make those dreams a reality.
I myself have wished that I could get on stage or write a book or become a better golfer. But I don’t do what it takes to actualize those dreams.
I teach at LaBrae High School, and one of our alumni happens to be the best dobro guitar player in the world, Jerry Douglas. A former colleague at LaBrae went to school with Mr. Douglas and told me a story.
This person was a pretty good high school athlete, and as a teenager, was running down the street to whatever baseball or basketball game that was scheduled for that day. He ran past Jerry Douglas’ house, and Mr. Douglas was on the front porch practicing his guitar. He yelled, “Jerry, come play ball with us.”
He said that Mr. Douglas replied that he couldn’t because he had scales to practice. My then-teenage colleague yelled back, “Aw c’mon … you’re never going anywhere with that guitar.”
Little did he know.
The idea that mastery takes endless practice and dedication is hardly a new one (see Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers and his 10,000 hour theory).
But I love seeing it illustrated in a way that makes me believe that Jeff Tweedy, Nels Cline, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Pat Sansone, and Mikael Jorgensen have a true passion for playing music together and devotion for getting it right.
Keep strumming.
keep wondering.
Keep adding your voice
to the good noise.
- JHW
The Good Noise 