Posted by: Peter
Continue Reading →“…she said we were to keep clear of the Sirens, who sit and sing most beautifully in a field of flowers; but she said I might hear them myself so long as no one else did. Therefore, take me and bind me to the crosspiece half way up the mast; bind me as I stand upright, with a bond so fast that I cannot possibly break away, and lash the rope’s ends to the mast itself. If I ...
Posted by: Peter
I hate colds. HATE them. What I’ve found is that it is not only the physical manifestations I despise, but the stark realization that the rest of the world moves on, without pause or concern, or, most painfully, me.
In these miserable moments of fever and phlegm, it is perhaps easy to let your mind wander, wondering whether the work you do has any value, or whether you’re really as good as you think you are.
It’s the latter question I’ll explore ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Peter
“Way, way back in the beginning…there was someone vitally important to me…that was a huge inspiration…”
Trent Reznor (NIN, London, UK. July 15, 2009)
So, who is it? Who’s your muse? Your hero? Your inspiration?
I look and listen for the answers to these questions a lot. I watch for them in the books I read, the movies I watch and in the music I listen to. I’m fascinated by the things that motivate people and the forces that drive ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Peter
“Great”, I thought to myself, my sarcasm in full effect.
“Another long flight. Another horrible in-flight movie.”
This time, thankfully, I was completely wrong.
“It Might Get Loud” is a documentary by David Guggenheim about three, iconic, rock guitarists: Jimmy Page (Led Zepplin), The Edge (U2), and Jack White (White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather).
In the opening scene, Jack White bustles about an old, run down farmhouse. A few cows look on and moo their curiosity. In the 1:35 that ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Peter
Anyone who knows me personally knows my favorite band is, without exception or peer, Radiohead. But the band is also the source of one of my favorite stories about stretching the limits of human achievement.
A few years ago, I purchased their 5th album, “Amnesiac”. And like most Radiohead albums, it took a number of listens before the tracks grew on me and I felt I understood what the band was trying to do. One track, however, intrigued me ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Peter
I decided about a year ago that I wanted to begin writing as a way to express my thoughts about human performance in an open and collaborative way. As I hope you’ll have the patience to find out, I am diversely influenced. I like to find connections between seemingly disparate themes. And, I actively seek out both sides of this equation – particularly when it pertains to human performance and, more generally, the human endeavor.
I am motivated by one simple ...
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