In a do-over life, I’d study music

Do you have to understand classical music and opera to enjoy them? My friends without musical training say no. They judge a performance by how it makes them feel, not whether they can analyze it. I’m not sure that works for me.

I once described myself to a music aficionado as “a musical illiterate.” I never had music lessons and didn’t grow up in a household that listened to music. 

I can’t say that I dislike classical music, but I don’t really hear it so don’t get much from it. In contrast, I usually find folk, rock, and country music accessible, maybe because of simple melodies and meaningful lyrics.

Choose a reading chair that’s good for your back

With today’s attention to ergonomic work stations, most of us know the importance of a proper desk chair. But when furnishing our living rooms, we’re more likely to focus on cushiness and style than on how a chair affects our bodies.

I’m going to stop suggesting “should reads” to my book group

Should book groups read sure bets or challenging books they may not love?

The seven members of my fiction-reading group are open to challenging novels, but I still hope that everyone likes the books I suggest. Fortunately, we have a process that makes the whole group ultimately responsible for the choice. The person whose turn it is proposes a few, usually three, titles from which the rest of us pick. 

The word “like” doesn’t fit our last choice suggested by me, N. Scott Momaday’s House Made of Dawn. We all thought the 1969 Pulitzer Prizer winner, about a Native American who feels alienated on both the reservation and in urban society, was an arduous read, with its dense, poetic language, nonlinear plot, and inscrutable main character.