As a teenager, my daughter marched in color guard for the Seattle Cascades and, later, for the Blue Devils. She now coaches and choreographs the show for the current Seattle Cascades drum and bugle corps, and we went to watch their early season show when it passed through Everett in early July.

Competition and the definition of ‘win’

We’ve been going to these Drum Corps International (DCI) shows for a long time now. There is definitely a priority placed on scoring during the tour (for most, this is June through mid-August). Winning with the highest score at tour’s end during finals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis is the overarching goal.

It’s really exciting to watch not only your “home corps,” but other corps, at a comparable level, improve their shows and, by doing so, improve their scores.

At the end of the season, it’s those points that matter most if you’re at the top of the leaderboard, where one corps might beat out another for the World Championship by a fraction of a point.

We’ve been there, seen the leaders duke it out over that tiny little bit of a point, and those shows are, indeed, spectacular.

If you’ve never gone, try to go just once. You’ll see what I mean.

What is the W in publishing?

I can’t help but see how similar comparisons can be made to publishing. There are bestselling authors who rise on the charts of The New York Times, a phenomenon which both influences and catalogs their sales. Those listings also rise and fall, like DCI scores.

Being number one on The New York Times Bestsellers List is a spectacular flex, though; what author wouldn’t want … [Read more of this and other great stuff FREE at the Rhymes With Camera Substack ]