Tsarnaev, heartbreak, and the violence borne of suffering

Last week, the federal courts sentenced young Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for his crimes in the Boston Marathon bombing. I don’t talk politics much here, but I will say on the record: I was hoping against hope that it would be life without parole. I hoped – and even believed – that we were better

Carmina Burana, the bombings, and being an artistic first responder

On Monday night, I returned to rehearsal with the Back Bay Chorale. We rehearse on Newbury Street, about a block from where the Boston Marathon bombings occurred, and since we rehearse on Mondays, last week’s rehearsal was a no-go.  But this past Monday, we were back, and our fearless leader Scott Allen Jarrett had some

Shelter in place

Today the weirdness around the Boston Marathon bombings continues, as Boston and surrounding areas are in lockdown, the police are on a supermilitarized manhunt, and residents are being ordered to stay inside with their doors locked.  I am just outside the lockdown area (by a town), and I for one will be going out of

“We are not built for this.”

Once again, in the face of unthinkable tragedy – this time much closer to home than any of us here in Boston would like – Mark Morford says the thing I need to hear, and that I wanted to say myself. I’ve asked here before how we humans are meant to deal with the tragedies