22 May 2008

dcac postcard

Dallas Children's Advocacy Center Postcard: 1Dallas Children's Advocacy Center invitation postcard (back)

20 May 2008

I, Claudius

Our old exchange student and close family friend, Dr. Claudius Conrad, earned his way into the Times this morning over an important medical paper he wrote which empirically supports music's medicinal, healing properties. (go here) It was a bit strange to see, although not the least bit shocking because it was this particular German Claudius kid they were talking about.

If there was ever an ambitious, almost absurdist polymath, it'd more than likely be the good doctor, a mind of minds and musician/bon vivant/adventurer; a German Indiana Jones of sorts apt to treat every circumstance, however banal or grand, as a mere opportunity to master an expertise. You wouldn't necessrily know the type ever existed without knowing someone like Claudius, but the good German has this rare ability to do anything before having ever done it.

For instance...the last time I saw Claudius was in Maine two years ago, after he had begun his surgical residency at Harvard Medical School (Claudius, a world-class pianist, also earned a doctorate in music philosophy betwixt fulfilling his compulsory military service in Germany, where he was an alpine sniper in a special operations unit. He is a mountaineer and alpine specialist/survivalist who runs 12 miles with ease.) He had shown up to the rural seaside late one Friday with two German friends, ready to be away from residency, ready for whatever adventure he could find -- something which invariably found him very quickly -- or as he divines. We all went sailing the next morning and Claudius, despite no experience in the water whatsoever, assumed the helm of a friend's fancy wooden 36-footer out into the windy bay, when it was clear, albeit subtly, that he had never sailed any waters, let alone the Atlantic. But it didn't matter. The kid has poise and you can't worry about a mind that, again, knows what to do well before ever doing. Only non-verbal cues would reveal that he was just trying something out. If something were to go awry, he'd react, and properly so, and then would he simply know how to do it better. So, going into it, regardless of the outcome, it was just something new to learn and run with. If you don't know how to do at all, pretend that you know what you're doing, because you know sort of anyhow and ultimately you will know.

That's how he works, and I'm not convinced the Times touched upon this even the slightest in their profile.

It didn't matter that there were 7 others on the boat, that that seas got hoary and choppy, roughly dangerous, and that he, for whatever reason, was the neophyte captain bombing through these swells that climbed straight to the decks, burying your legs in water a foot deep, over and over, tack upon tack. (This was funny to him, as indicated by the dude's wry, mischevous smirk. Claudius' wit/humor, profound in its own right, is unrivaled in its desert-like dryness). My sister and I found it hilarious, that whole scene, and maybe you had to be there, but what he managed was hardly a simple task. For some, life is a chess match and it'll be ok, whatever that is, if you believe it will be. The seas were rough as hell, but it didn't matter.

Thrilled as beans to see a German Indiana Jones carving his path with his parallel gifts, music and medicine. Ninety percent of everything is doing.

17 May 2008

trip

Swell wave tideAmerican BeachI, ClaudiusCrag PlantsEroded Grecian CragSurfer Americana

Harper view in an evening.

07 May 2008

"Mesquit Rodeo"