Words & Music

by Mike Power

latest

  • Turkey Day 2020

    45 years ago today, I ate my last traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The day on our calendar that is most closely associated with killing other species of animals, and of enjoying the consumption of its flesh, seemed the perfect day to become a vegetarian. I have nothing against carnivores. Some of my best friends, and so… Read more

  • Bloggiversary 2020

    Seven years ago today I became a blogger. I had just quit a band that, in one incarnation or another, had included me as a member for about 30 years, and I needed a new creative project. So I blogged. I had been keeping a journal for a while before launching the blog and it… Read more

  • The Lopsided Friendship and The Other Side

    She turned 30 a couple of months before we met. I turned 50 a few months before that. Consequently, ours was a lopsided friendship, kind of like riding a bike with a flat tire. She said things like, “I don’t want something to just get me through the night,” and I said things like, “I… Read more

  • Veterans Day 2020

    This Veterans Day, let’s remember that every soldier to join forces under the American flag was risking their life for democracy – the right of all our people to have their say in who governs them. This year’s election saw the greatest percentage of American citizens to vote since 1968. In the middle of the… Read more

  • America, the Beautiful

    One of the first things I thought of when I saw the spontaneous outpouring of emotion that followed the news that Joe Biden had defeated Donald Trump was the importance of music to the celebration. The power of music – to express joy, to comfort sorrow, to inspire the best in us – is overwhelming… Read more