The Genuine Article!

~ Paul Phillips ~ 1 Comment

He was back again today.  When he said, “I hope you’re doing well”, I think he meant, “I hope your doctor got the meds straightened out.”  Stradivarius violin discussion, Part 2.  This time with new evidence.  Really irrefutable evidence.  Three knockout punches!

1) “My Dad says it’s real, because he’s read the label.”  Even the following quote from the Smithsonian didn’t make much of a dent  “Therefore, the presence of a Stradivarius label in a violin has no bearing on whether the instrument is a genuine work of Stradivari himself.”  Dad said it!  Who is this Smithsonian organization anyway? 
2) “My Grandpa found it in an attic around 1900.”  Me:  “Stradivari built his violins in the late 1600’s and the early 1700’s.  Thousands upon thousands of fakes had already been made in the intervening 200 years.” Still no help…
3) “It has a real wood case and only the genuine Stradivarius violins had that case.”  Now, the fact that I could show him that eBay has these things available at $20 was helpful here...But still he was not convinced.

As he left, muttering that Grandpa and Dad both couldn’t be mistaken, and promising to get the violin to an appraiser to prove me wrong, it struck me…We all do that!  In the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, we believe what we want to believe.  Hey!  As I write this in the wee hours of the morning, not two miles away from me there are Don Quixotes throwing chips at the roulette wheels at the casino, knowing that it’s a fool’s game, but believing that this time, it will be different for them. (“To dream, the impossible dream…” Sung in the key of B-flat busted…)

“Statistics!  Phtooey!  Who needs ’em?  I’ve got a feeling that tonight’s the night!  Besides that, Jack’s cousin’s girlfriend’s brother won $10,000 out here a week ago (or was it a year?).  I’ll win for sure!”

We laugh, both at the Stradivarius guy and the Casino guy, but I’m convinced that we all need a little of that.  No, I’m not saying that we should live our lives based on the ridiculous falsehoods of easy money and hidden treasure.  What I am saying is that hopes and dreams are amazing motivators and, kept in perspective, goad us on to do things we might never attempt otherwise.  “Hope springs eternal in the human breast…” is not just the first line of an old, dead piece of prose, but it’s true.  We always hope for better, always believe that we can do more, and always reach for the future.  (And yes, I know there are times when the flame of hope dies down, but that’s a discussion for another time.)

Twenty-five years ago this month, I sat in the living room at the late Dr. Marc Gilbert’s house, having gone to him for advice about leaving the steady job I had (and really wasn’t fond of) and buying a faltering music store in the small town in which I live.  Dr. Gilbert advised strongly against it.  “The numbers just aren’t there.  You’ll be much better off staying where you are.”  But he, wise man that he was, also inquired, “You really want to do this, don’t you?”  Boy, did I ever!  The early years I had spent in music and the few years previous when I had worked in this very store were all I needed to know that this was it!  This was what I was made for!  Not a huge aspiration, as aspirations go, but it was mine!  And he, listening to me talk, knew a dream when he heard it and simply said, “Well you already know it won’t make you rich.  But it looks like it will make you happy.”  Yep!  Right on both counts, Dr. Gilbert!  But still loving it and thankful to the Lord for making it possible.

“There’s a time I can recall
Four years old and three feet tall
Trying to touch the stars and the cookie jar
And both were out of reach…”  (from “Reaching” by Carolyn Arends)

“A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a Heaven for?” (Robert Browning)

Aim higher!  Whether it’s cookies or stars you’re reaching for, you can’t get to them standing flat-footed in one place.  Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just stand there.

Keep hoping!  It’s even okay to look for the Stradivarius violin, but honestly, unless it’s just for entertainment,  the casino’s not gonna work out.

The Special for Tonight Is…

~ Paul Phillips ~ 2 Comments

I’m hungry! 

As I write this, it’s after midnight and I can’t figure out why I’m even thinking about food.  I had a little snack at 11:30 and drank a glass of fruit juice.  So why should I want to eat anything else?  Well, the problem is that I’m going for a blood test in the morning and it’s one of the “fasting” kinds (can’t figure out that word…Usually, the time just drags when I’m not eating. It’s not fast at all…).  So no food until after they stick the needle in my arm sometime after 7:00 AM.  I always think that a Honey Bun would be smart before that, just to keep me from getting queasy while watching…

What I want to know is, what is it about being told not to do something that makes me want to do it desperately?  Most nights, I can go from that little snack before midnight until 11:30 or later the next morning without craving a bite. But tonight, I just really need a little something right now!

I’m gonna blame this one on Eve…I know, not very gallant (nor even doctrinally sound), but she’s the bad example I point to when I need to rationalize my shortcomings in the area of forbidden food.  God:  “Of all the trees in the Garden, you may eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you may not eat.”  Eve:  “Adam, I want that fruit. Pick me one, will you please?  Pretty Please?”  So I’m in good company, when I say, “I’m hungry!” 

The blood test?  Oh, just my semi-annual sacrifice of blood so that my doctor, who I love, can have an excuse to castigate (I know, that even sounds medical, doesn’t it) me for my lack of exercise and self-control in dietary intake.  Well actually, I like what my oh-so-fit, run-til-it-hurts, don’t-be-a-crybaby sister-in-law said to me once.  “Paul, you don’t need to eat less (that’s the part I like!), you just need to exercise more (not so much that part…).  But the good doc, to his credit, keeps believing me when I say, “I’ll do better this time, I promise!  Yes, I understand what I need to do.  No, I do not need to take those pills!”

And now the Day-of-Reckoning has once more arrived and I’ve not walked, biked, or jogged more than three times in the last two months.  The trips to La Juerta (I love the guacamole) and La Capilla (ditto), to say nothing of Fratelli’s (Chicken Florentine is to die for, of course, not literally), have been pretty frequent lately too, so the conclusion is the ever present foregone one;  The cholesterol will be high, the triglycerides even higher. However, I’m pretty sure that the sodium levels will be within the acceptable limits.  Do you suppose that will placate him?  Will he even compliment me about my self control in not adding salt to my food?  Nooo!…He’ll just have to focus on that cholesterol number being higher than the number of candles on Uncle Sam’s birthday cake last July 4th.  And after he’s scolded me for awhile, I’ll tell him that I’ll do better next time and I understand what I need to do.  Oh!  And I don’t need those pills!  Did I tell you that I love my doctor?

So, like the night before any big exam, I’m not sleeping, but I’m not cramming either (food, that is).  At this point, a walk through town seems unproductive (it’s raining anyway), so here I sit, craving food that I can’t have.  Anybody have a Twinkie?

Why am I hungry again?

Going no place…at the speed of life

~ Paul Phillips ~ Leave a comment

“I just wanted to check,” came the band director’s voice through the phone.  “Have you had my student’s instrument for a week and not fixed it yet?”  I’m in shock and reply, “She brought it in yesterday afternoon and I did the repairs last night!  What do you mean a week?”

And the realization hit…my reputation is in the hands of seventh graders, who do what they have to when it comes to staying out of trouble.  How is that possible?  Can’t I get some sort of insurance, some sort of certificate of merit that exempts me from these pitfalls?  You work for a lifetime building a professional reputation and some teeny-bopper tears it all down with one falsehood.  Well, I admit, it’s not as bad as that…I have been known to take a very long time on instrument repairs (although never more than 3 years), and the lifetime I’ve worked for my reputation has been interrupted at frequent intervals by periods of carelessness and just plain indifference. But still…

I guess what  bugs me is that I want to make a difference to the kids, their parents, and yes, even their band directors.  But I’m one of those nuts who has to bat a thousand, has to get it right with every person who comes in my door.  Unrealistic?  You bet!  But it’s what makes me tick, so the disappointment that any normal person would shrug off bogs me down, making me try to find a “fix”, a way to rectify the situation.

Don’t worry, though.  I’m better now and ready to get on with my life in spite of the setback.  I’ll get up tomorrow and remind myself that I least I didn’t disappoint my Grandma by becoming a bum, as I threatened to do many years ago.  Then, I’ll resume my work of helping young minds full of mush (sorry, Mr Limbaugh) become the disciplined musicians of tomorrow (even if it does mean that they want to become a metal guitarist and emulate Dimebag Darrell).

Honestly, which one of us hasn’t at one time or another thought that we would change the world?  We just knew that if we had a stage and an audience, we’d convince every single person within the sound of our voice to come around to our point of view.  But what happens is that, like the fellow I tried to convince that his violin was not actually a Stradivarius simply because the label said so, they look at you wondering if your medicine dosage isn’t right and go on believing their own truth.

So I can’t fix all of them, but I’ll settle for the knowledge that I’m doing my best to impact as many as possible. We might not straighten out the world, but we can sure make an impression on those who cross our paths.  All that’s ever required of us is to live by the Light we’ve been given. 

Oh, and when the little girl came to pick up her instrument, I told her what had been repaired and showed her how to avoid a repeat visit, without ever mentioning my conversation with her band director.  I’m thinking that 13 year old girls already have enough drama in their lives without me adding to it…

Going to check my medicine labels now…

On The Way…

~ Paul Phillips ~ Leave a comment

Well, I’ve finally done it!  You know…Taken leave of my…Well, it’s been a long time coming, but the day has come when it will be proven to the world that this guy’s not playing with a full deck…his elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top…he’s not the brightest crayon in the box…not even the sharpest knife in the set. 

I have things to say and finally have set up a soapbox on which to stand, a pulpit from which to preach, if you will.  I’m guessing that what I have to say will be of interest to very few people, but maybe the process of getting it written down will relieve the pressure in my brain.  I’ve maintained for the last few years that the mass of trivia with which the cranium was filled in earlier years is impeding the input of new information (at least that’s my excuse for forgetting names and appointments, along with various other semi-important information).  Perhaps the cathartic exercise of blogging will act as a relief valve and finally allow the retrieval of new information. 

If your expectation is to read an entertaining blog on a regular basis, good luck!  The ramblings of an old nut hardly fit that description, but there may be a statement of interest to read now and again.  Even a blind man with a rifle hits the target sometimes (it’s just the shots in between that keep you on edge).

I won’t waste your time telling you who I am.  If the writing proceeds as it should, you’ll figure that out as we go along.  For now, I’ll just say that I’m a fifty-something man, who sometimes is surprised at how fast he’s arrived at this time of life and wonders what has been accomplished.  Other times, I have lucid moments when I see the progression and am amazed at how full my life has been.  That seems to be the conundrum we all live with; the satisfaction, along with the longings for what might have been.  Overlying the confusion is the sure affirmation that God is in control, which is a real solace, considering the ineptitude I  frequently show in situations where maturity and skill are required.

In case you haven’t also noticed, I’m fairly long-winded, which fits rather nicely with the loopy part of me.  Maybe an editor will have to be found, but for now, skim the lines and glean anything worth keeping.  I’ll write of many things, about most of which I know very little.  You’ll be amazed at the acuity I show in demonstrating my ignorance!

Keep the straight-jacket handy!