because everyone needs to cheer up

quick update on random things

Life is busy, but good.

Things I'm working on:
- searching for instances of metrical dissonance in electronica music, and working on a presentation/paper on this topic for my hypermeter seminar (if you have any ideas/examples, let me know)
- "Tribeca Sunflower," a marimba solo (which is currently kicking my butt) that I'm supposed to perform in three months
- arranging Lauridsen's setting of "O Magnuum Mysterium" for two marimbas - also to be performed in three months
- some other duet, also to be performed in three months

On top of all that percussion stuff, I also have a lot of post-tonal theory stuff. I'm taking three classes right now that deal with post-tonal theory. Oh, Schoenberg...

Classes are going well, though. I'm taking 14 credits this quarter, which is ridiculous (since 10 credits = full-time), but so far it's fine. I think my hypermeter seminar is my favorite class - it's totsweet*. This week, we spent most of the time sight-singing isorhythmic motets (which made me appreciate Dr. Peters even more, since I think I was the only one in the class who'd ever learned anything about isorhythmic motets in music history classes). Then we looked through an article that my prof wrote, which was published in Italian. This was bad news for me, since I don't know any Italian, but luckily one of the other first-years is fluent, so he helped the class with it. Anyway, it's an interesting seminar - I never know what to expect.

In other news, today I spent about three hours standing (split into two sessions of 1.5 hours) while doing percussion stuff. Then I spent 45 minutes on an elliptical machine. After that, I walked all around the U-District. None of these ideas were good. My ankle and knee hate me right now.

Other than my knee/ankle/leg stuff, physically I've been feeling pretty good lately. I've been pushing myself harder during my workouts, and it's starting to pay off - I feel like I have more energy. So I end up doing more things, and wear myself out, and by the end of the day I'm always exhausted. C'est la vie...

The weather has been a little chilly here, but definitely not "cold." It's funny to hear everyone complain about it. Thanks to the "cold," the skies have been really clear lately, and the mountain views from the city are amazing. I need to get out soon and take some photos. Here are some that I took at Magnuson Park a couple weeks ago (and haven't had a chance to post):








*"totsweet" was used in this post so I could join the trend of everyone saying it.

it's raining

Long time no write, I suppose.

This week, I have to:
- read 250 pages worth of articles (okay, 50 down, 200 to go)
- read two chapters of Rahn's Basic Atonal Theory (which is out of print, so I have to share the library's copy with two other people)
- read a book (I don't remember which one) for my hypermeter course
- read a chapter or two for atonal theory
- practice percussion so much that it doesn't seem like I didn't have a chance to practice over break
- physical therapy/working out
- other stuff that I'm forgetting
- oh yeah, regular meals

I finished my work for the day, and I have a few minutes before bed, so that's why I'm writing.

Christmas break was good. It was nice to be home, but at the same time, I missed Seattle. It's weird because this is the first time I've "gone away" for school, so going home is all different. I was home for three weeks, but it actually went by really fast. Now I'm back in Sea-town and back to school.

My ankle is appreciative of my return to a temperate climate. I was really sore while I was home, and I'm not even feeling much better now that I'm back here. I don't know if my ankle is still all screwed up from the climate change, or if it's just getting worse in general. I've started going to physical therapy again for the first time in a month, so hopefully that will help.

Anyone paying attention to the primaries? I've felt pretty apathetic for the past year or so when it comes to national politics, but I've surprised myself lately by getting interested again. I think I was disinterested because I wasn't very impressed by any of the front-runners, but inevitability has caused me to start to pay more attention to them. Anyway, I guess I'm not surprised that Obama and Hillary are neck-and-neck now. I bet Edwards will drop out soon, which is just fine by me. I think the dynamics of the Hillary campaign are really interesting right now, following her "meltdown." I think it's unfortunate that she's subjected to such a double-standard: she's been criticized all along for seeming too "cold" and "unemotional," but now that she's showing some emotion, she's accused of being "weak." There was an Edwards quote after that incident (that I don't think was included in the NY Times article) - he basically said that if she can't handle the campaign, she won't be able to handle the presidency. I wonder what the reaction had been had this "meltdown" come from Obama or Edwards. It makes me think the country isn't ready for a woman president. Anyway, judging by the NH primary, this incident seemed to have worked in her favor. Which makes people question whether she can cry her way into the White House. Whatever...

On a completely unrelated note (but something that has been on my mind lately): since I've spent some time away from home, it has given me some much-needed physical distance from the accident and all of the aftermath. Now that I've moved, I've had to tell the whole story to my friends, since nobody out here automatically knows what happened to me (unlike at home). Summing up the last two plus years of my life in that way has also seemed to give me some cognitive distance. All this distance has helped me to realize that I sort of got a second chance at life, and now I've decided that I want to come up with a list of things I want to accomplish in my lifetime. I haven't sat down and figured it all out yet, but I know I'd like to: get my PhD, climb a mountain, and see Italy, Ireland, and Japan. I expect the list to keep growing, because even as I accomplish these feats, I should always have more challenges waiting for me. :) Dear reader, if you were to make a list, what would you include?