Friday, June 19, 2026

Music

In recent months, I have immersed myself in playing cello, reading about playing cello, and listening to podcasts about playing cello (and other instruments). In May I began taking cello lessons with Ana Ospina at New School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The cello is extremely difficult to play, not to mention play well, and so far I can do only the most simple things, none of them well. But I wanted to try something hard, I’m enjoying myself, and I’m improving.

I have finished reading several books about the cello:

• Bach’s Cello Suites, by Steven Isserlis
• Jacqueline du Pré: Her Life, Her Music, Her Legend, by Elizabeth Wilson
• Never Too Late, by John Holt
• The World of Music According to Starker, by János Starker
• Bach: The Cello Suites, by Edward Klorman
• The Art of Listening: Conversations with Cellists, by Anthony Arnone

I have been listening to the following music podcasts:

• The Cello Sherpa Podcast
• Stand Partners for Life
• The Bulletproof Musician
• Classical Breakdown

Running

For the first five months of 2026, I was running every other day, averaging ten miles per week, and running a 5-km race about once a month. I started doing hill repeats to build strength and speed. I joined the Somerville Road Runners on the advice of a good friend who is a member, and I went on two group runs. Then, as happens to me once or twice a year, I began having problems with my left knee, and I have not run for four weeks.

I am saddened to report that two runner friends have died this year, one of ALS, the other of a sudden cardiac incident. I miss them.

Reading

Books I finished recently include:

• The Universal Timekeepers: Reconstructing History Atom by Atom, by David J. Helfand
• Out of Thin Air: Running Wisdom and Magic from above the Clouds in Ethiopia, by Michael Crawley
• Garner’s Quotations: A Modern Miscellany, by Dwight Garner
• Probably Overthinking It: How to Use Data to Answer Questions, Avoid Statistical Traps, and Make Better Decisions, by Allen B. Downey

Among several books I’m reading right now are:

• Learn Faster, Perform Better: A Musician’s Guide to the Neuroscience of Practicing by Molly Gebrian
• Downbelow Station, by C. J. Cherryh
• Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie
• After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People, by Dean Spears and Michael Geruso
• I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything, by Joanna Stern
• more mystery novels written by a friend of more than sixty years, Maple Quinn