Paul McCrone is from Bellevue, Nebraska.

Biography

Every Blog has a first entry...............

Hello all,

I have not - in the past - participated in blogs. Mainly, this has been due to a feeling of reticence. I often feel like I am not qualified to speak out on topics - that I am not knowledgeable enough, or that I'll embarass myself by saying something stupid. Or worse yet, I'll speak on something that I DO know something about and start a major controversy. To a lesser extent, I fear being ignored, but I fear this much less than the previous issues.

In my normal profession, I am a meteorologist, working for the US Air Force, as a civilian employee (I was active duty, but got out about 10 years ago). I actually have a B.S. degree in Physics and an M.S. in Meteorology, so presumably I could feel confident in weather blogs in commenting. On occaision, I do make comments on meteorology blogs, but I am often overshadowed by Ph.Ds with philosphical / political 'axes to grind', etc. It has become really unpleasant for me.

OBTW,for the sake of the curious, I have reached the conclusion that global warming is a serious problem that man is either causing directly or contributing to significantly by pumping too much CO2 (+ other greenhouse gases) into the atmosphere. We are poisoning our own planet, however, I am not convinced that we can directly attribute stronger hurricanes to AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming or 'man-made' Global Warming). I do plan to start a web page in the future that will address the facts as I have researched them. (WHEW! I actually said it all! I wonder if anyone on violinist.com will try to nail me for saying these potentially caustic remarks! Am I safe?)

I feel like the violin has become a delightful escape for me, away from the pressures of govt funding/policy issues, and contentious weather professionals. I have adopted the saying that "....my worst day of violin practice is still MUCH better that my best day at work".

I am starting this blog because:

1. The violin is a tremendous musical instrument, and I really enjoy listening to it and trying to play it.

2. I am NOT an expert in the violin. I have only been a violin student for 1 and 1/2 years, and can easily claim some reasonable degree of innocent ignorance.

3. I feel like this blog presents a nuturing atmosphere and I will not likely be totally scalded for saying something that others do not necessarily agree with.... If I do not agree with you, well, it seems like - for the most part - that's a matter of opinion. My disagremeent does not threaten to render your entire life work and research null and void. You and I can go on with life playing a different tune.

4. I want to advance in my knowledge on the violin, and I feel like participating in this blog will contribute to my understanding. Hopefully, I can meet some fo you on my future travels and continue the learning process.

5. At work, I feel like I'm more of a robot at times, parroting the latest party line, that I do not necessarily agree with, and pretending to support it by saying nothing and doing what I'm told. Here, I can have my own little French Revolution......Ne c'est pas?
I think that artists will appreciate a soul searching to express itself freely. While I do not really classify myself as a true artist, I do appreciate art, especially musical art. I have always felt that Grieg must have been in a particularly expressive state when he wrote "Morning Mood" for Peer Gynt. There are many other wonderful examples of course, but that one came to mind first.

Well.... I feel like I've really accomplished something here- especially when I hit "post entry". I hope some of you respond. I hope to hear from you.

-deep breath-

Best Regards,
Paul

Welcome, enjoyed reading what you wrote, and I, too, am an adult beginner on the violin for about a year and a half now. Fun stuff!

Yes, I have a nearly 6 month old boy, named Alex. Here's the website on my son:

http://www.mccrones.com/alex/

Nice to hear from you and everyone!

I saw you post on droplet sizes and I had immediate nightmares of my cloud physics class in grad school. Cloud drop size distribution studies are very important to meteorology, but, if you'll pardon the pun - never has such a *wet* subject ever been so *dry* .............. I'll henceforth beg out of droplet discussions.....sorry.

Thanks for the warning, good to hear of other scientists on the blog.

We need to pursue renewable energy resources, but will John Q. Public be willing to give up his mini-hummer?

Actually, the biggest threat to us is COAL. There's a great National Geographic article from last year that talks about coal in detail....and the USA and China are the 'saudi arabias' of coal.....check it out.

But anyway, I wish you a warm welcome, and look forward to reading more from you in the future. :)

As for global warming, since I live in central Alabama, I am looking forward to owning beach-front property one of these years...

Also, if anyone is interested in coal, google "Kentucky mountaintop removal".

Violin is the best. Persevere, and enjoy.

I'm a scientist as well (neuroscience), although lately I write about it rather than actually doing experiments. That flexibility has given me more time to pursue music. I started blogging here last fall and it is a great way to keep focus and momentum. Keep up the good work!