• There is a reason that name-brand canned tuna is better than your grocery store brand: the store-brand stuff has chopped tuna eyes in it.  Look at the label if you don’t believe me.

• I have an idea for an iPad app for pianists.  It would not only display the sheet music for the composition but would “listen along” as you play and automatically “flip the page” when you reach the last measure on the page.  Ideally, the app would also let you place a second iPad to the right of the first so you can always see the look-ahead page.

• No rhyme or reason?  There may be no reason but one can always find a rhyme.

• A few days after the Malaysian airliner disappeared, NBC News chose to air a segment featuring a man who was scheduled to board the flight but did not, and so he “survived” this event.  The man attributed his existence on this planet to “the grace of God.”  Why is it that the logic of religion always seems to lead so quickly to the specialness of “me?”

• I am finally over mourning my 50s and I now take heart that I am in my early 60s.  (After all, what choice do I have?)

• Besides my wife saying “good morning” to me, the sound I love to hear to start my day is the friendly, familiar, slowly rising-in-pitch gurgle as hot coffee fills my mug.  The kitchen is quiet, save for this sound.  The echo of that sound makes my first sip taste delicious.

• Introverts vs extroverts: extroverts don’t care whether others approve of their behavior, so they go ahead and do whatever suits them, which ironically attracts certain people.  Introverts on the other hand are guarded about their behavior, protecting themselves from disapproval and isolating themselves from affirmation, effectively turning people away.  I wish I were more outgoing, because it is rewarding to seek out and exchange ideas with others — but then again I value the time I need to focus on my own creative goals.  In the end, I’m not sure there is that much difference between introverts and extroverts except for the ability to recognize and confidently project one’s own essence.

• People ask, what is my blog about.  I never have a ready answer.  Maybe that’s a good thing.  The minute I feel predictable is when I feel the urge to do something different and throw myself and my readers out of our respective comfort zones.  So I must make the following announcement: this blog is about making connections and it always has been.