Friday evening, what to cook?   Not fish since I had a baked flounder sandwich for lunch. There was a whole chicken in the fridge and two half sirloin steaks (an occasional “break” since I started to move away from my chicken/fish/seafood decades old regimen last year but that is another story for another time.)   Chicken.   I cleaned and butterflied the bird; removed the back bone, created two halves.   But this story is not about chicken.   It is about an extraordinary vocalist, artist…Al Green whose music I decided to put on the CD player in the chop room where I was prepping dinner.   Do not take my word.   Listen to his music and imagine that you are a horn player, back-up singer, organist, guitar player (lead or rhythm) or drummer on any of his songs especially his classic R&B hits.   As a college aged trumpet player with a Latin (think Salsa) orchestra out of East Harlem in NYC, I have played in front ...

I suspect that there is an inexhaustible list of things that we must do or elect to do that invariably will fall into one of two categories…painful or pleasurable. Having to go to work using public transportation; having to drive or walk on slushy, ice-slick roads or sidewalks, or not wearing enough clothes even if you are packed on several layers can easily be categorized.   The pleasurable actions probably outweigh the negatives even if we can’t achieve all of those things that we really want to do.   Regardless of where our personal decisions wind up, in those moments, we make “next time” decisions as to what we will do when we are faced with similar situations in the future For many of us, reading is one of those things we pursue when we are safe and comfortable in our homes. Books, magazines, chapbooks, e-zines.   We read on paper or online.   And I am reminded of a comment my younger brother made to me years ago about my propensity to read “all the t...