3x2 II

Hey guys, its been more than a month since the last time I wrote one of these and it got some solid reactions, so I thought I'd write another one.

1x2

Anyone that knows me knows that I can't live without music. I think every single person who enjoys music as a core part of their life goes through a phase where they want to be the only one they know who has heard of the music they're listening to. I know I went through that phase. As I've came out of that phase, around sophomore year of college I'd say, I began listening to more diverse kinds of musicians. As I began to develop new tastes in music, I also began to be drawn to listening more intently to the music itself. The drive to not just listen to new music, but to discover new aspects to hearing music became increasingly fun to me.

Recently I came across a guitarist from the hard bop era of Jazz, Grant Green. When I first heard his music I had to take a moment to pause and just listen to it. He's by no means a forgotten name, but he hardly receives the respect he deserves for how talented he was. His playing blew me away, but what drew me to listen closer to his music was how he phrases his melodic lines. His phrases don't just sound fresh, they sound appropriate. His phrases aren't always 100% new or different, but his spin on them is. To describe his playing as tasteful doesn't go far enough. Many players are tasteful. Few have the ability to play in a way that makes it feel as if the song is truly a conversation.

Often in music, musicians fall back on familiar phrases they know will work. I know that as an amateur I do that all the time. That is one of the reasons why I love jam music so much. Jams force musicians to think of ways to convey what they want to say in ways they haven't yet. Jams aren't as much one song as they are an excuse to communicate through music in specific modes of time. We live in a time where we can have music from any specific time period captured and replayed infinitely, and that's a great thing. Still there is a power to music taking physical form in specific time periods. Since jams are never the same, the feeling of listening to each song is feels more unique. Each one is like a different spin on a conversation between artist and audience, and each makes us feel differently - regardless of which role we fulfill in the mix. It is that transportative quality that draws me to The Allman Brothers Band. A significant body of literature has already looked at how this band changed the way guitarists jam together, and I don't intend to add to that here. I think I can leave it that body aside and say that music becomes special when emotions, phases, and time become wrapped together, and I find all of those things in The Allman Brothers Band.

2x2

One thing that I don't think many people think about - but that I certainly do almost every single day - is stretching. I've been injured almost every 6 months or so each year for the past 4 years. While I blame my love of ice hockey, there isn't much to be done about the physicality of a sport. With that said the injury number would be much higher if it weren't for stretching. Having been in and out of the orthopedist's office enough times these past few years, I've learned a great deal about the sheer power of stretches. Yet, when I talk to my friends, and especially with my parents, I'm surprised that people don't know basic stretching exercises. Nearly everyone I know deals in some degree with the pain of stiffness, but few know how to make themselves feel less stiff. Of course not all stretches are created equal, and some are far more difficult to learn than others. So I thought I'd share two of my favorite stretches to do on myself and others (I'm not a doctor or a yogi or even that good at stretching so don't use me as an authority here). These stretches are best done with a partner, and should be researched a bit before trying them out. I've included pictures that show how to do them, but online videos from therapists and trainers do a better job explaining them. They look simple, but their effects are tangible. I feel 100% more agile, loose, and athletic after doing these stretches.

The first stretch is a lying knee lock stretch

This one is killer for thigh pain on the outside and even on the inside, it also does wonders for showing you how little we actually stretch this muscle.
The second stretch here is the Thomas Stretch

This one is just a plain killer. It hurts, but it works. Get a friend and try it. The pain is worth it for how good it feels afterwards.

3x2
I recently came across an article by Julia Annas, a neo-Aristotelian (kind of) virtue ethicist. Since graduating I've been struggling with what happiness means, what I want out of life, and how I need to go about starting it. While many of my friends have gone on full steam ahead, no questioning of whether or not the dominant ideals of our society's considerations of success are fair markers of true happiness, that has never been my style. I think too much. That isn't to say that I have anything against being a go-getter (after all I'm a ridiculous perfectionist go-getter type) but sometimes I think checking how I view what I want out of the world around me is a necessary part of growing. As I think about it and talk to more adults about it, I realize that Aristotle was right about happiness being the one thing we all do crave. As I lay in bed thinking about how I might get to a happy life, I have continuously wondered if happiness has to come at the cost of success, fulfillment, or other important life goals. Of course, Annas' piece got me thinking in a different, less somber direction.
Happiness, often is painted in a manner of collection. We collect pieces of happiness, and then eventually we are happy. Annas says that isn't so, and I agree with her. Her version of happiness was an important read for me recently, not just because I like virtue ethics, but also because our dilution of happiness to an end goal and not a continuous action makes real happiness harder than necessary to attain. With that all said, give it a read, it'll make you think. Though her version is not the same as Aristotle's I think the two have roots in the same place. It is how we live our lives that bring us happiness, and not happiness that makes us live our lives.

http://www.amacad.org/publications/spring2004/annas.pdf

Need a refresher on Virtue Ethics??? Here's a video.

Until next time guys!

3x2 II

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