Hello! Nice to virtually meet you! My name is John Murphey (with couple of middle names I’ll keep to myself, and some other sorts of names I wish other people would keep to themselves). I’m an American, born in Nashville, raised in Illinois (Eureka) and Kentucky (Lexington), and educated in New Hampshire (Exeter) and Connecticut (Yale). But LA was home for thirty adult years. Physically I’ve just passed the sixty-year milepost, which is kind of unbelievable, but there is so much left to explore and I’m still able and eager! Emotionally I’m probably still somewhere between sixteen and twenty-six–which is both a wish and a fear. Although I’m not a very socially-oriented person, I’m passionate about things that tend to bring people together: primarily music and travel, but also books and architecture and food; sometimes I get really excited reading a cool article about science or nature or animals or the vast mysteries of space.
Architecture was/is my profession, by the way, and I was privileged to find myself employed by many great architects and firms over the years. I’m a detail-oriented guy, personally and professionally. I’ve been enjoying some semi-retirement time lately, but I may find myself back in an architecture office before long. Or, even better, in some new line of work…
Some of you may be wondering what credentials I have to write about music, since I do that a lot, and I’m not sure I can offer you much of a comfort zone. Read what I write and decide for yourself whether or not you want to keep reading; I think basically anyone should feel qualified to express feelings about music, or through music. But I will say that until college it seemed like a pretty good bet I would be going into a career in music. I studied both classical violin and classical piano for many years, and dabbled with the guitar, and in high school I was actually known as The Piano Guy. But I really didn’t have the talent or the discipline to keep grinding down that route. These days, though, I spend several hours each day exploring new artists or new music or old artists and old music. I like to send myself into lots of genres and styles and cultures. A luxury of retirement! I enjoy sharing what I find and I’d like to find more people with whom to exchange thoughts.
I don’t feel comfortable sharing a lot of details about other people–if you’re curious enough I’m sure you can dig up plenty. But I will say that I have two incredible sons, one about to finish college and one about to enter college as of the end of May, 2020. They might be joining me here as wanderers…(I hope!). Their mother is Japanese so the boys, and I, benefited from immersion in two cultures and languages. My current wife, Lynn, is Singaporean and she has a son and a daughter, both twenty years old, who are also here in our current home of Singapore. Lynn and I are actively investigating future options, so a change in home location could be in the cards for the near future. Suggestions? Offers? We spent years living in Vietnam (Lynn many, I just a few) and both of us lived in China for a couple of years before we met each other. Lynn has also lived in Indonesia and Fiji. Together we have so far enjoyed excursions into various parts of Asia, Europe, Australia and back and forth across the US. Can’t wait to decide where is next!
It has taken me years just to get a simple blog set up, for reasons both technical and personal, and I’m still stumbling around as if completely dumb as I try to get it going. It’s hard for a detail-oriented guy to accept so many things here that aren’t quite right! I welcome any and all constructive criticism and suggestions! Please let me hear from you.