Wakari Masen

The newest piece of equipment here at the newsletter offices is a 1923 Crown upright piano. If this week's issue seems to have less of a flow to it than usual, blame the many piano breaks we have taken. I may be no Alfred Brendel, Thelonious Monk, or Benmont Tench, but my lone hidden talent is the ability to play just about any Paul McCartney song. Man I tell you, there is nothing that can relieve tension and stress better than coming home from a long day at the office and banging on the piano playing what at least I consider to be music, until my heart is content (which these days, it surprisingly sometimes is). Special thanks to those who made it all possible...

Well the kids are just about done with school, graduation is over, Memorial Day weekend and Grand Old Days have come and gone, the hockey season only has another month to run, and the Twins are pretty much out of the pennant race, so that must mean summer is nearly here. Mom and dad have told me that someone is trying to develop a jalapeno pepper that is not hot. What's the point? It's just like ABC bringing back Murder One without Teddy and without the follow one case throughout the year premise.

Here is a special summer newsletter tip for all of you: Be sure and check yourself for ticks on a regular basis. You just can't be too careful. And here is another tip: It isn't exactly a secret these days that I'm not exactly seeing eye to eye with my bosses at the state. It is becoming increasingly clear that as a state employee I make a fine Cheapo newsletter editor, and as a Cheapo newsletter editor, I make a fine bureaucrat. Thus I have reverted to the philosophy that has made my private life the success that it now is. Several years ago, I was struggling a bit and listening to everyone who had an answer to all that was ailing me. Believe me, everyone had an opinion as to what was wrong with me. I finally decided what I needed to do was to stop listening so much to others and start listening to myself again. If David was going to screw up his life, he should at least do it as David. I've now decided to apply that principle to my work situation. Instead of trying to adapt myself to what I think my bosses want from me, I'm just going to do my job in my own inimitable fashion, and if I screw up, at least I go out knowing that I did it as David, not some imitation. One man's unconventional creativity is another man's flakiness. After years of supressing my own natural tendencies, it will at the very least be a liberating experience.

This is not to say I recommend to all of you that you stop listening to your boss and start doing things in strange unfamiliar ways. This is to say that I think most of you are lucky enough to have a job where you are allowed to be yourself anyway. Perhaps that has something to do with the type of person that is attracted to music retail to begin with. Our business tends to attract more creative, artistic, independent types and the companies that succeed are the companies that effectively use those talents to their advantage.

Being the cap'n of the hottest softball team in the state, I am trying to apply that lesson to the advantage of my team. Recently I recruited the MIAC soccer player of the year to be a member of Joan's Jets. She told me one of the reasons she got into soccer in the first place was that she didn't have very good hand/eye coordination. But I could see she was a damn fine athlete, and in our softball league that puts you ahead of the pack. She finally played her first game last week (literally the first game of her life) and she did swimingly well. I pitched a few to her before the game and she was able to hit just about every pitch. Her speed on the basepaths led to a couple of runs, and when the opposing pitcher chided her hitting ability, she responded by cracking a legitimate hit. I was so proud of her. My job is to find the best way to use her talents to overcome her inexperience in this foreign game. Thus I told her if all else fails she should either kick or head the ball to its proper destination.