First Post: WordPress, Coltrane, etc.

Thanks to my good friend, Chris, for getting me started on my first WordPress blog. A few days ago, when I initially viewed the WordPress sites and a few sample WordPress blogs, I was so struck by their high aesthetic quality that I had what some might refer to as a “moment of Zen”. Having just spent the previous two weeks tinkering with Blogger, this was quite a change, indeed.

As I write this, I’m reminded of a conversation with Chris and I’s mutual good friend, E.J., with whom (along with our wives) I’d just seen the film Sunshine. E.J. and I were discussing a scene near the end of the film in which one of the main characters has his own “moment of Zen”, so to speak. As we veered onto the topic of such moments, E.J. asked if I’d ever had any of my own. I paused, and then recounted that yes, as a matter of fact, I had recently experienced a Zen-like moment — or closer to 10 minutes, actually — while listening to John Coltrane‘s spellbinding rendition of “Afro-Blue” from the album Live at Birdland.

The entire album is truly one of my favorites, featuring Trane’s legendary quartet of McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and the seismic Elvin Jones on drums. But it is that opening number that truly takes my breath away. More so, even, than the first time I learned about WordPress.