032 - Buy a bugle and learn to play Taps

I think the first time that I heard Taps was as a kid watching the movie No Time for Sergeants.

In it, Andy Griffith plays a country boy US Air Force recruit (kind of like Gomer Pyle is a country boy marine recruit.) There's a scene where he is in the barracks his first night when lights out is called. From outside, the lovely 24 note tune, Taps, is played. Airman Stockdale, Griffith's character, says thoughtfully, "Somebody brung their trumpet." It was a beautiful sound and it seemed to calm my emotions, even while watching a screwball comedy movie.

Then I heard it in 1975, when my young uncle, Albert, my teenage uncle, died while in the Marine Corps on a Navy ship off the coast near Thailand. I answered the door when the men in their dress uniforms came to tell my grandmother (I used to spend at least one day a week with her during the summer months.) When Al was buried with a full military ceremony, they did the 3 volley salute (seven rifles, fired three times) and the bugler played Taps in the distance.

I played trumpet in elementary school band for a few years, but gave it up. Now, I think I want to get a valveless bugle. I want to learn to play Taps.

It didn't help when about ten years ago I finally read From Here to Eternity by James Jones. (I can't recommend the book enough.) I lived in Hawaii for many years and knew the places Jones refers to very well. One of the main protagonists in the book, Private Prewitt, is the company bugler. He plays bugle like no other. No matter what people think of him, they are astounded when they hear him play. (If you can't read the National Book Award winning novel, then at least rent the movie made the following year.)

All my life, the desire to play bugle, especially Taps, has been ricocheting around my subconscious. I need to act on it, so here it is on the 101 in 1,001 list.

Please do not misunderstand. Taps is not a morbid tune. It is a short melody that practically forces calm and quiet. It centers one, causing introspection and thoughtfulness. The spiritual nature of the piece (especially for someone who isn't traditionally spiritual, like me) appeals to me. I feel the same way about certain classical and new age compositions, but for those, I don't hold out hope of learning how to perform them.

I linked an .mp3 of Taps to the image of the bugle. Click on the image and a window will open and it will play on your preferred applications (winamp, media player, etc.)

Historical self-help, a commentary, #1

From The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracian, published in 1647:

1. Everything today has its point, but nothing is more important than becoming a person. More is required to produce one wise person than used to be required for seven; and more is needed to deal with a single individual in these times than with an entire population in the past.

This is the opening salvo from Gracian in a book that contains 300 such entries. This is one of the weaker ones, mainly because of its generic introductory nature.

What I like about this paragraph is the human conceit that one's time is so much more complex and difficult than any earlier time. I don't know if "seven" is from an idiom of 17th century Spain but it serves to show that Gracian wanted to make his audience feel that they have a great responsibility for themselves. He makes the ratio even greater for our responsibility in dealing with others.

The real importance of this paragraph is in the initial sentence. Everything has meaning, art, commerce, nature, science, religion, philosophy, etc. "But nothing is more important than becoming a person." Aren't we all persons? Isn't that just another word for human?

It is, but in this context, Gracian is talking about our character and our individual personalities. We'll see as we review this book that he focuses on how to behave and get along in the world. Clearly, he believes if we focus on correct behavior, we'll have a far better go of it here on Earth. And a better go of it, to me, is what happiness is all about.

Surprisingly, his advice isn't all that dated. As a matter of fact, a lot of so-called self-help gurus have probably just rewritten Gracian's wisdom, maybe even unknowingly. I'm not charging anyone with plagiarism.

This commentary will be a periodic thing. I'm not promising a post per day on this one. And this feature will not be limited to this book, though most everything will be pre-20th century (or at least in the public domain!)

A song you won't remember - Cinderella by Firefall

Here we have a song from my tween years, by Firefall called Cinderella. This is soft rock mixed with pop country. Not really my thing, but I always enjoyed Firefall. Their lyrics stood out for me, especially with this song.

We're told of a young girl who falls for the narrator, a man who disdains her so-called love, yet is still willing to have sex. She gets pregnant and he gets angry, mainly over finances, and sends her away. There is plenty of understated irony here. The notion that she doesn't know what love is, yet this shallow guy does? When he finds she's pregnant, he seems worried about how he'll get the Camaro running and repainted with a kid around.

After a musical bridge, with a lot of "no no no" repetition where the singer/narrator seems to be trying to convince himself that he was in the right, we come to the final verse. Here we discover an older man contemplating possible regret, maybe even remorse or guilt over having abandoned a young woman and his son. Somehow he finds a way to rationalize his wrong by blaming her for not leaving sooner.

The oddly soothing synthesizers, harmonica, and guitars belie the lyrical content of this song. But it works without being a cringing country message song or an intentionally misogynistic pop tune.

It is one of my favorite songs of the '70s and it takes me back to a time that I thought would always be filled with regret for me. Things change. Things are what they are. What is important is how we respond to them. We have to forgive ourselves especially if we want to be forgiven.

Cinderella could have left earlier but she didn't. The man could have kept them all together but he didn't. The boy might or might not have had a happy childhood. None of those decisions can be reversed.

The question is: what are we going to do now? The present decisions are the important ones.

100 - Do the taxes without filing for an extension

It has happened every year for the last 18 years. April 15th (or whatever day is Tax Day for a given year) rolls around and I sit down to do what I have put off since late January when the W-2s arrived: I fill out the filing extension form and mail it in.

Then I fret about doing the taxes for the next three to six months. The undone paperwork stays in the back of my mind, gnawing at my happiness and for nearly two decades I've attacked it with the poorest weapon in my arsenal: I procrastinate.

This is simply stupid on my part. I need to get the taxes done, the sooner the better. If I owe, I can put off filing until the last day, but otherwise, just do them.

That's why, task number 100 on my 101 Things in 1,001 Days is doing the taxes without filing for an extension each year. Even on this list I nearly put this task off until the end.

And this year, I did them. I did my taxes with two weeks to go. They took me a long time to do because of some interesting income from 2007, but I got them finished.

Next year's will be even tougher, especially if we move. Even if I have to hire an accountant, I'm still taking credit for completing this task.

Does anyone else have this problem? How do you make yourself do it?

Where have you been?

Geez, I turn my head for just a moment and over a month goes by. What happened?

Well, I accomplished one of my 101 Things in 1,001 Days. I did my taxes, on time, without an extension. I haven't done that since...1990. Yes, it has been 18 years since I did taxes without filing an extension. And this was one of my more complicated years. It took me about six or seven hours to get them done. I have a real mental block when it comes to taxes. I'm not a fan of paying them, but to be forced to report them and my exemptions and my deductions and it just gets to me that we're required by law to do this. There must be a better way.

I'll add the task to the list on the right. It feels good not to have that burden hanging over my head for the next few months. (And if you think I am putting off a monster refund, I am not. I try to plan my taxes so that I have either a very small refund or a very small payment due. This year it was a medium sized payment due, but it was offset by a state tax refund, so we were pretty happy.)

I never told you that Monica received 2nd place in the Science Fair for her project on hydrogen fuel cell efficiency and the challenges surrounding that technology. She did a great job. Once she figured out the scientific principles, she really connected with the project. Her science teachers loved it.

We're exploring a possible move, too. Things are very busy here. If you're looking for a reasonably priced modest 4 bedroom brick two-story transitional, with an acre or two of wooded lot and a fenced backyard, let me know.

I've yet to see a wrist specialist, because I've been seeing a sleep specialist. I'll post more on that later, but getting a good night's sleep seems like a fairly important activity.

So, I'm writing this post basically to do a quick catch-up, in an effort to restart this blog. Winter has never really been fun for me. That's something I need to improve. I'll have to work it into the list.

Anyway, welcome back, even though you haven't been gone at all.