Been a few weeks since the last post:

1. FLE Vol. I Nos. 2 and 4 are up on the Mystery Cabal site. Almost done with all of the reissues.
2. Continued confusion about Composition Project 2.
3. Prospectus for research doc submitted to committee.
4. Submitted abstract for a conference next fall.
5. Finished all teaching responsibilities for the year.
6. Accepted admission to the MSRA program at University of Colorado – Denver.
7. Work for Mentormeter Media.
8. Large rework on the coding for the brandonvaccaromusic.com website. Trimmed the size down by about 40%.
9. Added artists websites for mysterycabal.com – Free Love Ensemble, Kallisti, Coefficient of Friction, S. Lyn Goeringer and Brandon Vaccaro, and Ground.
10. Sketched a bit, but I am still unbelievably unmotivated to compose right now. Frustrated, broke, hungry, and depressed.

I am burnt.

I need a vacation.

Maybe I’ll win powerball this week.

Never mind. It is “Mother” from the Police album Synchronicity.

Alright, this one goes off the map a bit. . .

I think that the most interesting aspect of existing as a consciousness separated from the other conscious entities that surround me (to the extent that I engage in such a reality) is that we all have different tastes. It is conceivable that humanity, taken as a whole, actually likes ALL of the music.

But somehow, I can’t help but think that there might some special magical piece of music that NO ONE likes. I want to find that music and listen to its fundamental un-likableness.

I’m trying to get in the habit of posting at least weekly.

New this week:

1. Mystery Cabal store continues to grow. The score for Erisian Cycles, the piece that won the ISU Carillon Composition Competition in 2006 is up in PDF form.
2. Got Carter Pann’s approval on Composition Project 1 of my dissertation portfolio.
3. I got a request for some second round material from a job search. I did some work to assymble the packet.
4. Started a new semester at CU. I’m teaching the same class, but I’m trying to make a few changes this semester.
5. I did a bit of brainstorming on an ISIM member survey. We are moving into recruitment season, and I would like to have some idea what attracted our current membership to the organization.
6. I did some more assembly work on Composition Project 2. The music is done, but I need to work on packaging and presentation.
7. I got a number of errands taken care of. Busy work.
8. Migrated the Mystery Cabal mailing list to Dada 3.0.2 (from 2.6 or 7). I took it as a chance to move the location of the mailing list over to the Mystery Cabal domain.
9. Started a new project for Mentormeter Media.
10. Assembled package for a fellowship I am applying for. Using the Hide & Seek soundtrack

The Coefficient of Friction Teaser CD has been re-released at the Mystery Cabal Store . It was really strange to revisit that recording. It is really sloppy, but there was a fun-loving quality that I love.

I finished the mix on Song & Dance. I think I’m done with Distillations, etc. Weird. I hadn’t finished anything in so long, I forgot how good it feels.

I had coffee with Janet Feder today. I gave her a copy of Distillations, etc. for a bit of peer-review. I’ll probably do the first public listening on Thursday.

Studio work has slowed to a crawl.

Last week, I was working in the control room, and I heard a loud bang. I looked all over around the house, expecting to find that the cats had knocked something over in their mad chases around the house. I found nothing.

The next day, I noticed that part of the floor in the control room was “bouncy.” It had about an inch of play or more. A few days later I noticed some of the plaster cracking in the living room below.

So, my landlord is sending someone over today to open the ceiling and fix the building structure under the floor. If I can swing it, I may take the chance to add some additional layers for sound isolation. In the meantime, I am out of the control room and off of the floor. I’ve taken the opportunity to get caught up on some much needed housekeeping. I also got the lamp replaced in my TV (for free, even!).

I spent a few hours at Don Keats’ house today. Don was my undergraduate composition teacher at DU. We had coffee, chatted, and admired the incredible view from his house in the foothills.

I’ve always enjoyed spending time with Don. He has had a very interesting life, and I like to hear his stories. I’m normally such a talkative person that I have to remind myself to involve other people in my monologues. With Don, I’m usually content to talk a bit of shop (in this case, the job search and dissertation work) and then listen to him talk about his life.

My mother passed away a few weeks ago. It’s hard to put into words the many ways that this has impacted me. My mother was my biggest fan even though she so rarely understood my music. As an adult, my relationship with my mother deepened. We had many common interests. She wasn’t just family; she was one of my closest friends.