top of page
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!



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
5 days ago4 min read
16 views
0 comments


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
28 views
0 comments


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
31 views
0 comments


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
51 views
0 comments


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
26 views
0 comments


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
56 views
0 comments


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
24 views
0 comments


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
11 views
0 comments


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
10 views
0 comments


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
64 views
0 comments


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
76 views
0 comments


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
63 views
0 comments


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
50 views
0 comments


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
82 views
0 comments


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
84 views
0 comments


"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
189 views
0 comments


"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
0 comments


DIALING UP THE MAGIC WHEN WE ARE WORN OUT
Coming upon the poet and activist Joanna Macy (who lives just across the Bay from me!), I decided to see how her perspectives on life...
rhapsodydmb
Oct 30, 20246 min read
10 views
0 comments


ACUTE ATTITUDE ILLNESS AND SURVIVAL OF OUR SPIRITS
I found an article in a recent online Journal of the American Medical Association that I thought was entitled "ACUTE ATTITUDE ILLNESS",...
rhapsodydmb
Oct 28, 20244 min read
27 views
0 comments


TOO MANY, OR JUST ENOUGH?
San Francisco moon, October 18, 2024 I often get tangled up in the lure of words. Mainly by using too many, sometimes by choosing wrongly...
rhapsodydmb
Oct 19, 20244 min read
23 views
0 comments
bottom of page