"Looking, really looking, at art (some might say seeing…feeling) is like this: It is like all the other really amazing things in life…You do it too much & you forget how good it can actually be…you become jaded. You don’t get enough & it is all you can think about—the good & the bad. Then, there is one photo…drawing…performance & you want to know all there is to know about it…It is a little bit like falling in love. It’s best, most exciting, when you don’t know why you like something…the thing you are looking at is something you might usually be inclined to dislike…But, with this, you cannot stop looking, cannot stop thinking. And so, in every other thing that you think about, talk about, read about, talk about, read about, you start to see it in all of those other things, whether or not they, directly, have anything to do with that thing you are suddenly, entirely, falling for…all of those other things have changed. And everything that you thought you knew is no longer the same."

"…part of life is finding new things to love and new ways to love things more deeply, and understanding the creative arts —their scope, history, contemporary contexts, intentionality— opens them up for ever-deeper appreciation. But the most obvious way to learn an art is to become a practitioner of that art, a time-consuming and difficult task, and one impossible to pursue across all fields.

Fields that make such demands have a high barrier to audience entry.

…when I talk to people who find jazz musically intimidating, or unintelligible in its refusal to be as repetitive as popular music, I sometimes tell them to try to hear in the solos little musical structures, any one of which could be a song in itself, but each of which is built, explored, and discarded with breakneck speed. Popular music relies on the ecstasy of trance: repetition of what resonates. Jazz relies more on restless exploration."

"And all of this is to prelude a simple question: Why did I have to wait so long for this opportunity? While I was already a music “fan” and immersed in family practices that included going to musical performances, singing at family gatherings, and enthusiastically drumming on car dashboards, it really wasn’t until college that I was able to see music as a source of study, as a place to connect passion with purpose, a place to learn new ways of listening…

we leave music instruction into the hands of people who are inclined on the production side of things (and even then in only limited ways such as marching bands and big band numbers). Why do we wait to make the study of music, its history, and the cultural meaning of it an option only for those students that eventually matriculate into universities?"

"I will never be comfortable in my own skin in a city. I need to be able to see the sky without a multi-story building obscuring the view. Walking in a forest sans the cacophony of taxis and emergency vehicles always feels safer than venturing deep into Olmsted’s well planned Central Park woodlands.<br />
<br />
However, I’ve also learned to appreciate cities from my son. He views cities as places of delight; intersections of rich cultures and an artistry of space.<br />
<br />
I’ve grown up as a parent while observing my millennial grow into an adult. I feel he’s learned some important life lessons from me, but I’ve also learned many critical lessons from him as well. I learned the power of Skype when he lived in Valencia, Spain. I learned don’t call, just text when he spent time in Mexico City. And, I learned to experience, not reject, buildings, people, sidewalks, dogs, parks, graffiti, museums, sounds, smells, and the sky of cities."

"When my husband died, because he was so famous & known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me — it still sometimes happens — & ask me if Carl changed at the end & converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage & never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don’t ever expect to be reunited with Carl. But, the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief & precious life is. We never trivialized the meaning of death by pretending it was anything other than a final parting. Every single moment that we were alive & we were together was miraculous — not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural…" [continues]

"In 3rd grade, near end of WWII, I learned why I wanted to be a teacher…Mrs. Wright…taught me what every child needs to know…

…She was a gentle, supportive & knowledgeable person who was obviously born to be a teacher…voice never rose in anger or frustration…pleasant, plain face…never displayed anger or disappointment.

& in back of room…sat Joel, active 7-year-old w/ dark unruly hair, lopsided glasses & fidgeting hands…decided lisp…did not speak to rest of us often…math genius…exceptional intellectual ability…taking math classes through local HS & college-level classes…Today…would be identified as ADHD, or perhaps even as autistic…spent most…time running around classroom…

Joel was different in how he worked, but we respected his differences because Mrs. Wright respected them.

…if I could make 1 child feel as comfortable w/ “specialness” as Joel was made to feel…help 1 child accept another who was “different”…I would do something really wonderful.

&…that is why I teach."

"If design is visual communication, it should be treated as such: as a means for people to transmit what they think, what they feel, and as a way to amplify their message, whatever that may be. Teaching people about design in no way nullifies the value of designers, much in the same way that teaching someone to write does not dismiss the value of the work of Shakespeare, an essayist at the New Yorker, or a copywriter. Learning to write teaches us to organize thought and how to communicate with one another. I believe design can do the same when taught at a mass scale. [quote here] I guess what I’m saying is that an understanding by the masses doesn’t negate the value of the specialists. Or, more simply: if we think it’s important, let’s teach everyone."

"in a day or so, i will leave bombay for a longlong time. i wrote ordinary love stories in tribute to andre jordan, one for every friend who came to bid me fare-thee-well. and they wrote some back for me." [via: http://twitter.com/tanushri_shukla/status/24598432658 via: @robinsloan]

"The challenge of winning more than your fair share of the market is that the best available strategy--providing remarkable service and an honest human connection--will be abused by a few people you work with.

Follow-up to a presentation about the NMY program and Q&A with students including reference to articles mentioned and an introduction to others not mentioned during the talk. Topics include progressive education, one-to-one laptop programs, transparency, high scool and college admissions, and the purpose or 'big meaning' of education. Also posted at: http://tcsnmy6.tumblr.com/post/358630658/an-open-letter-to-those-in-attendance-at-the-childrens

"I used to work in a bookstore and often parents would ask me how they could get their children to read more. Always, my first question was "what was the last book you read?". Unvariably, the return answer was "Oh, I don't read." <insert head in doorway, slam door hard until rendered unconscious.> That is one reason I was happy to find this site. ... So, we return to the question at the top. How do we get children to read more? We have to focus on the children because it is already too late to convince the latest generation to hit twenty that reading is a singular, important and valid experience itself. This leads to two points:

"Just an idea: next time you see something you like, write the person who made it a note telling them so. Even better, explain why."

"I suggested that it was more important that children, and everyone really, be imbued with a sense that they themselves might make things — that the things they might make have value — as opposed to learning mainly to appreciate the great masters, whether they be Bach, Picasso or the literary canon. I proposed that the value of art might be of more use to society in that regard, rather than focusing on supporting, well, museums and symphony halls. ... Encouraging students to write, to make stuff, to cook, design, to draw, play an instrument, record music, sing, edit films, etc. — all of that creates a sense of self-worth, curiosity and experimentation that has applications way beyond each of those disciplines. I would argue that this is where the greater percentage of state funding should go. Of course in the US, it’s the part that has been eliminated almost completely."

"pleasure, something a man can call good without self-disgust"; "Irresponsibility is part of the pleasure of all art; it is the part the schools cannot recognize"; "A nutty Puritanism ... in the schoolteachers' approach of wanting art to be "worthwhile""