In Which Ryan Tries To Eat An Elephant
March 2023 | 4:3
Koopa would like you to know that jaunty hats are very much in style.
What's Been Happening
February was once again the month equivalent of trying to fit all of my laundry in a basket at once; it really seems like it should fit before I start putting things in, and it all gets there, but it’s definitely a good idea to count my socks when I’m done. Nonetheless, there was much jazz including my first time back at DePaul in a long time and the first Medium Ensemble gig back in the Chicago area since “the before times”, and several jazz commissions on top of getting started for my busy writing season coming up.
Speaking of busy, somebody asked me this month if I ever feel overwhelmed doing so much stuff and I was surprised how much I needed to hear the answer out loud just for myself. So for starters; yes, I totally feel overwhelmed at times. But two specific things make it all manageable for me:
First, I make sure before I say yes to something that I actually have time in my schedule to accomplish it, and backup plans if I’m wrong. That’s a very learned skill (read as, “I messed this up a lot and then got better”) and one with constant adjustments too.
Second, I force myself to concentrate on the next useful steps rather than the things I can’t control or the enormity of a project. The old joke goes something like, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”, and it’s pretty much the only way I stay my version of sane. No one in their right mind would sit down and try to eat an elephant (if nothing else they’re endangered), but on the other hand it’s not like I wasn’t already going to eat an elephant’s worth of food eventually so I may as well start chewing.
May your masks smell pleasant and your packages arrive without incident,
Ryan
Chart O' The Month
I did this chart as part of the original Bluecoats Alumni Jazz Ensemble holiday concert we did during the pandemic, and while it was the last chart I did and the one I was least sure would work when I started, it’s become one of my favorites. For starters, I had no idea it was by Gustav Holst so that was interesting to find out as I was looking for holiday song options, then I had one of my “hey would this work as a <insert weird version here>” moments and the rest came together really quickly. This tune felt especially appropriate for this month given the weather in Chicago recently (30’s and rainy), so hopefully it cheers you up as well and sorry for the upcoming blizzard I just ensured.
Look, Nature!
It's currently the annual orchid show at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and my wife made the mistake of telling me I'm getting much better at identifying orchids. I remembered the name "dendrobium" getting said a lot so I asked her the characteristics and apparently there aren't super clear visual characteristics to those, so I've decided if there's a lot of them and I'm not sure it's probably a dendrobium.
Was that what she meant by "it's a diverse group but sometimes they're in bunches"? Probably not. Is this a picture of a dendrobium? No, it's apparently a bulbophyllum. In conclusion, the theory requires more testing and I'll keep everyone updated.
Education Notes
I finished the Leonardo Da Vinci biography I mentioned last month, and I was particularly intrigued by some of the conclusions at the end of the book:
Start with the details. You cannot absorb a page of text all at once, you have to read each word. Treat other visual observations the same way.
Go down rabbit holes. Being obsessively thorough for its own sake is worthwhile.
Get distracted. This can in fact be a willingness to see and find abstract connections.
Procrastinate. Putting something off can allow it to marinate and simmer rather than grow cold or stale.
Avoid silos. Science is an art and art is a science; make your circles into Venn diagrams and your Venn diagrams into one circle.
Let your reach exceed your grasp. Some things are impossible; try anyways, and find out why.
Be open to mystery. Reality exists in sfumato; not everything needs sharp lines.
In particular some of these are antithetical to concepts I was always taught, and even ones I either recommend to others or cultivate in myself. That doesn't mean I think we should throw those ideas out or follow these exclusively, but it does highlight positive aspects of things we usually perceive as negative actions and traits.
More importantly, it reinforces that the outcome is what determines if it's positive or negative. If procrastinating and getting distracted mean you give an idea time to simmer and you make abstract connections that improve the end product for the better, it's good. If they mean you lose momentum or clarity, or miss an important target, it's not.