A Reasonably Good Excuse For Not Blogging?
Flight of the Concord, in this week’s New Yorker. Now, if you think I’m the sort of person who would run down first thing in the morning and buy nine hundred copies of the New Yorker (and some potato...
View ArticleSome More Excuses for Not Blogging
It would be silly of me, I suppose, not to link to today’s New York Times Sunday Book Review… On top of the terror of becoming a “reviewer,” it was scary and depressing to see the little bio saying...
View ArticleImmortal Schubert
After the day of manic joy and sunshine and desire, the last thing I wanted was to go into Carnegie Hall with all the Schubert and the syphilis and death. But Mitsuko is a genius, what’s more a...
View ArticleSomething for Nothing
I don’t know for sure, but I think it might be nearing the last day to stream Ligeti/Beethoven for free on NPR. So break out the champagne, set out the canapés, dim the lights, pull your honey closer...
View ArticleNot Again
It’s not my intention to let this blog deteriorate into a series of self-regarding announcements. I would prefer to spin off a sort of house organ, let’s call it Denk News, or something, which would...
View ArticleAn Artist in Residence Eats Breakfast
I set forth into the sunny morning with purpose. I am (after all) an Artist in Residence at the Gardner Museum. My hotel is slightly too posh, kind of annoying yuppie old-school. The room keys are...
View ArticlePriorities
Two mornings ago I woke up in an absurdly cozy room, all quilt and nook and alcove. Snow was sort of aimlessly wandering around the air outside. I faced a daunting to-do list: 1. Futile nine hundredth...
View ArticleAn Excuse to Use the Word Flabbergasted
So many of my infrequent blogposts begin with the illusion of action, like “I was just settling down to … when …” or “I was innocently insulting my local barista when …” or perhaps: I was just getting...
View ArticleEvery Good Boy Does Fine
I feel incredibly honored to have been asked to write this piece on piano lessons for The New Yorker, and hopefully I used the honor honorably. It caused me some stress. Assembling a narrative out of...
View ArticleBizarre Boston Blog
Emptyish streets, sheen of rain. The college students have all left for the summer, or they’ve graduated and their long lives are about to begin, or they’re sleeping. There is no difference between a...
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