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Rhapsodydmb.com
A soft place for humanists to land to read poetry
& stories about music, share our love of piano adventures, & work toward restoration of a more just & kind America & the world!



THE SYSTEM DOES NOT CARE IF YOU ARE HAPPY - The lure of "glittering bullshit"
My favorite joyful dance group! The Ghetto Kids Do you remember the first time in political life you heard the Democratic candidate for...

rhapsodydmb
May 24 min read
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LEARNING AN INSTRUMENT: THE IMPORTANCE OF TRUST and PERSONALLY MEANINGFUL PURSUITS
As a returning piano student starting at age 76 in 2020 after a 58-year gap to do other art and business-related things, joy in making...

rhapsodydmb
May 14 min read
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FINDING OUR SPIRITS AND STAYING WITH OUR CREATIVE MUSE
I sometimes lose my creative muse. Especially during the last 100 days and starting about four months before last November 6, she goes...

rhapsodydmb
Apr 293 min read
19 views
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ENRICHING THE WORLD ARTS CULTURE IN VIEW OF DECLINING U.S.INFLUENCE
The US entertainment industry has been the single major feature behind the world-domInant export of US-style culture and values to the...

rhapsodydmb
Apr 174 min read
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EYES SHINING - MARIN ALSOP GUEST CONDUCTS TO A WARM RECEPTION AT THE SF SYMPHONY
Eyes shining and a warm heart was my overall feeling when I left San Francisco's Davies Hall Friday night after hearing renowned...

rhapsodydmb
Apr 135 min read
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IS POETRY USEFUL IN THESE DISMAL POLITICAL DAYS IN THE U.S. AND WORLD? -- CELEBRATING NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
"Poetry doesn’t seem to be doing much to alleviate the tension in our communities" It doesn't seem to address the moral outrage of we...

rhapsodydmb
Apr 97 min read
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HOW MUSIC INTEGRATES WITH THE HEART AND HUMAN CONDITION
"All aspects of the human condition are somehow related to politics" says Hannah Arendt in The Human Condition (published 1958). That's...

rhapsodydmb
Mar 208 min read
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THE TRUE "CANCEL CULTURE" OF U.S. FASCISM APPLIED TO MUSIC
DO YOU KNOW THE FEELING OF NOT BEING ABLE TO BREATHE IN THE MOMENTS AFTER YOU FALL A LONG DISTANCE, AND HIT THE FLOOR WITH FORCE? Please...

rhapsodydmb
Mar 171 min read
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FROM DIGITAL TO "REAL LIFE"?
I was gobsmacked to run across an online ad for the cutest ever toy - a realistic faux-fur covered mini-bunny. Here's what it said:...

rhapsodydmb
Mar 163 min read
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THE MOST CREATIVE WAY TO DISPLAY A PIANO
Sometimes we just need a smile or a good laugh. I'm feeling that way recently. And I'm recently thinking about repurposing, because at...

rhapsodydmb
Feb 273 min read
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THE BRUTAL TRUTH: MUSIC AND HUMANISM IN DEATH AGONIES IN THE UNITED STATES, ESPECIALLY AT THE KENNEDY CENTER - COURTESY OF NO. 47
I was stunned to read in our Feb. 25 SF Examiner online that: San Francisco’s International Pride Orchestra says it was “disinvited”...

rhapsodydmb
Feb 263 min read
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Ooooo La La! /C'est Manifique! - A ROMANTIC PRE-VALENTINE'S CONCERT AT THE LIBRARY
What a manifique second-ever GROUPMUSE concert at the San Francisco public branch library in Glen Park on February 9 on a relaxed, sunny...

rhapsodydmb
Feb 143 min read
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JIMMY CARTER: A MAN FOR ALL TIME
Watching and listening to the celebration of life and benediction at Jimmy Carter's memorial service this morning, I realized that...

rhapsodydmb
Jan 93 min read
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ON THE FINAL DAY OF THE YEAR 2024, WHAT COUNTS IN MUSIC & LIFE
I am dedicating this blog to one of the most outstanding of our US Presidents and a hero of mine, Jimmy Carter (10.1.24 -...

rhapsodydmb
Dec 31, 20245 min read
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SEVEN PERSONAL WISHES IN 2025 FOR YOU AND FOR ME
"A" is the first letter of the English alphabet (here calligraphed on parchment and gilded by me some years ago), and the perfect way to...

rhapsodydmb
Dec 6, 20243 min read
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THINKING ABOUT HONORING OTHERS AND NEW BEGINNINGS AFTER YEAR'S END 2024
"The Golden Rule, a version of which is appears in all major spiritual and ethical traditions, may be the most narcissistic of our moral...

rhapsodydmb
Dec 1, 20245 min read
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ONE MORE STEP ALONG THE CATTLE CHUTE TO CERTAIN DEATH -- BY FASCISM
When I opened up a blank page on which to write today's music or poetry blog, a full third of the bottom of the page was occupied with a...

rhapsodydmb
Nov 26, 20244 min read
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UNEXPECTED GIFTS -- THE BEST KIND!
Do you notice how sometimes you set out in one direction toward a location only to end up headed in another direction and landing at...

rhapsodydmb
Nov 18, 20247 min read
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"NOT INDIFFERENCE, BUT DETACHMENT" (OLIVER SACKS)
The Phoenix Bird statue, carved out of the remains of a burned out tree and living now on the patio of Nepenthe, my favorite restaurant...

rhapsodydmb
Nov 10, 20246 min read
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"ESSENTIAL TRUTHS" - NECESSARY IN POETRY (AND MUSIC)?
My A.I.-generated picture of "frivolous"; is she holding a plum? (read on) Does poetry have to have a meaning, or an "essential truth"...

rhapsodydmb
Nov 6, 20247 min read
54 views
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