Independence Day 2020 I love being an American. I love being an American as much as I love being human. That means that, as a human, I am God's creation. It means that for all the beauty that comes with being from God I am also deeply flawed. As a human, I am capable of …
Category: Uncategorized
An American Musical History
Today I am featuring my first guest blogger: my wife, Claudette Laureano. She has been an educator for what seems all her life in some form or other. Whether a private teacher of violin, instructor of string orchestras at Breck School in Golden Valley, MN. or as co-artistic Director at MYS. This, which started as …
This, too, shall pass.
Biblical tradition teaches us that life is fleeting and we must appreciate the smallest of joys as well as the largest among them. This is why King Solomon sent his Captain of the Palace Guard on a seemingly impossible mission to find a ring with the power to make a happy man sad and a …
Home of the Samaritans (part three)
We are accustomed to hearing the phrase "The Greatest Generation" describe that group of people that were mostly in their 20s during the second World War. The honorific of "greatest" could be fodder for debate but the deference we show for people that lived through a concurrent Depression is apt. Those were truly tough times. …
Home of the Samaritans (part two)
Directions to anywhere in Puerto Rico used to be about landmarks rather than road signs (today, GPS has erased a bit of the charm of stopping to ask the locals about where you were and where you needed to go). Couple that with a unique philosophy about driving rules to make getting around a separate …
Home of the Samaritans (part one)
On the way in to San Lorenzo, PR one thing was evident: Boricuas use their music to uplift themselves when times are tough. It seems a somewhat obvious point but it was never so clear until this trip as I listened to stations on the rental car radio. Song after song exhorted the importance of …
The Two Sisters Visit Puerto Rico (part three)
Caguas is a town that is familiar to those that have visited Puerto Rico. It's not as large as San Juan but large enough to lure visitors away from the crowds of Puerto Rico's capitol city to something homier. Caguas has the benefits of space to do a lot of walking and chance talks with …
Continue reading The Two Sisters Visit Puerto Rico (part three)
The Two Sisters Visit Puerto Rico (part two)
On my way to San Lorenzo the traffic was at its usual crawl since it was Rush Hour, after all. Given the Christmas Advent it was more like Rush Afternoon. At any rate, it gave me time to survey the difference between what I have always known versus what I was about to see with …
Continue reading The Two Sisters Visit Puerto Rico (part two)
The Two Sisters visit Puerto Rico (part one)
One thing that traveling does is lessen the faith one has in what you read and hear from others. I'll have to join that group of amateur writers and say clearly, "Don't believe everything you read." It's true; there is no substitute for firsthand experiences. That being said, I'll submit my recent experiences for your …
Continue reading The Two Sisters visit Puerto Rico (part one)
Please, stop.
I've seen a lot of trends come and go. Some have survived and others died a deserved death in mental gutters across great swaths of our nation. Often, these trends will come at a time where financial stability will subsidize the most ludicrous among them. Pet Rocks. Pokemon cards. Polyester leisure suits. The Nehru jacket. …
Manny Laureano 