Motivation - a bizarre concept

Before I get to my main point, I just need to express my delight about something. I'm subbing at a friend's church for some of the weeks this summer. One of the church choir ladies offered me rides to and from the church as much as she can - as the church is out of town, I gratefully accepted. As if that wasn't enough, she has gone out of her way to make me feel welcomed, introduced me to many people, and has been delightful beyond description.
The message on my machine tonight sums it all up - she called to let me know that when it gets as hot as it is now, the choir doesn't wear the robes, and that I should make sure to dress for comfort rather than dressing up. I need to make sure to get her flowers and a card to thank her for everything before I finish up at the church.

Now, motivation:
I've found myself falling into the trap of doing only what is necessary - doing the bare minimum. Ok I'll be honest, that's been my way of life since high school to some extent - it seems like I should put some thought into it.

Job Hunt - I had a successful phone canvassing interview, they told me that they will call me when they have an opening because they're fully staffed at the moment. I know that one of my friends who works there is leaving right before I'll be back, so I know that I have a job after my week in Vancouver. I have lost that impending sense of needing to find a job, therefore, I have stopped looking. I am well aware that situations could change such that I would not have a job, but that doesn't seem to be motivating me.

Organist - There is more motivation here than I was expecting. I have been going to the school to practise hymns and pre/postludes thrice weekly. Part of the motivation is that I want to prove to myself that I have actually improved since I was last an organist, but the other side of the motivation could be spite... I am rather bothered that I have put so much effort into trying to get a damned key to the university organ, that my spite toward the process might be manifesting itself in practising on the piano. We'll find out once (if) I actually get a key to the organ. I have a feeling that it is more of the first motivation, but I know that spite could be playing a small but vital part.

Composing - I'm starting to feel that I've had more writers' block than spurts of productivity this last year. I have two projects on the go, which haven't really gone anywhere, and I've just taken on another project. I'm confident that I will get them all done, but the motivation is currently nowhere in sight. I have forced myself to sit down and do work a few times, with mild to moderate success, but I find it baffling.
For the amount that I write about it on here, it's impressive to think of how little I understand my own creative process.

Exercise - I had even forgotten that I need to be motivating myself to do more. I was reminded recently, so I've been doing more walking, but I need to do much more.

Conclusion - It's not like I've been an unmotivated lump who does nothing all day. I've been keeping busy, and I've actually been proactive and done a good deal of thesis research - to the point where I'm feeling quite motivated to just get started on it.

Anyway, I'm setting myself deadlines - I need to have the duet I'm working on finished before I leave for Vancouver. I need to read thesis proposals and write a first draft this week. I will either find, or give myself a reason to go to the school 3 or 4 times this week, and I will walk home each time. Decorating my office - that can be a reason for going to the school. I can move my gnome head and some books there - clear up some space around the apartment.

Ok, I should get well rested for church tomorrow.
Oh, that's the other thing I was going to say!... While I'm doing the bare minimum of quantity, I've noticed the quality of what I'm doing is higher that it ever has been. I am learning the church music well, much better than I was able to back in the day.

Now, goodnight.

Kill me now!

Yuck!
Current weather conditions(The Weather Network) - 29C, Sunny, 62% humidity, feels like 38C!
I just walked home from the university, and all I wanted to do was to jump into the shower, but they're replacing the water heater, so there's nothing but cold water. I'm a little apprehensive, but I think I'm going to take a polar bear shower...
So if I stop blogging, it's probably because I've died of pneumonia.
Oh ya, where the heck is my air conditioner!!!?!?!??!

late spring cleaning

You wouldn't know it from how my apartment currently looks, but I'm really feeling the need to shed clutter lately.

I've wanted to wipe my computer clean for a long time, I think that might have been part of the desire to switch to Mac. The reason I haven't gotten around to the wipe is that I didn't know where my recovery disk and half of my program disks were. After having torn apart my bedroom looking for my disks, thankfully my mother found them in Winnipeg - YAY! Now that I know they're on their way, in a week's time, I will have a fresh, clean computer.
I've narrowed it down to 5 programs that I can't live without for my writing, music notation, and sound editing needs. Once my hard drive is wiped, I will only install those programs, and I will be very picky about what else I install on my computer. I've been going through and deciding which files I need to copy over onto the new system.
I think I'm ready to dump the music... I currently have all my music both in itunes and windows media formats. I think I'll just keep whatever is on my ipod - I think that's most of it anyway.
Part of me would like to just get rid of everything I don't need, but I still hold on to some writings from high school, assignments from U of W and U of M - I don't need them, but I guess the fact that years of memories only take up maybe a megabyte... it doesn't seem so bad to be a pack rat.

On the other hand, I do have more physical stuff than I need. It's getting to be time to throw out some clothes. I'll start by hanging up the clothes that I like and wear. Then I'll evaluate my need for the things that don't have hangers, and then I'll evaluate my need for more hangers...

The problem with staying up late is that when you have to fast for blood work... you don't get to eat until later in the afternoon...
I made an appointment for a full physical this Friday (I can't remember the last time I went to a doctor for just a regular non-diabetes related checkup) so I had my blood taken today.

I think I'm going to implement a lifestyle change where I don't eat within 2 hours (ideally 3) before sleeping. I've heard it's good to do for the metabolism in general, but it also ensures that my sugars are stable before I go to bed. If I eat and take insulin right before going to bed, I'm not able to control or check on them while sleeping.
I recall from my CGM week, that my sugars stayed level during sleep, so I'm not worried about overnight lows - if anything, this will lower their occurrence.

Other News

Due to lack of funding, I'm going to stick with my PC for another .... few years probably. Unfortunately the computer is running slowly. I need to wipe it, but I can't find a bunch of installation disks particularly the WindowsXP one, which might be necessary- I know I have them all in one place.. but I can't find it. It might actually be in Winnipeg. I really want to wipe it clean NOW, but I can't function without these programs... Oy, I'll keep looking.

I'm glad I checked the Manitoba Arts Council website - if I hadn't I would have missed the Student Bursary Program deadline. Not that I'm relying on the money, but another 3 grand would sure be nice!
Another part of me wishes (not really) that I missed it, because whipping together a grant application in a night is not fun, ever. Luckily, I did the same application last year, so I don't have nearly as many questions and/or confusions as last year.

Tomorrow morning is church - I like the hymns from this week better than I did from last week, although I'm not quite as comfortable with the communion service music, but that's why the choir rehearses before the service, YAY!

updates

I went to see the apartment. I liked it, it was very funky. The main problem was lack of windows - the windows all faced the building nextdoor... 2 feet away. The rooms did have a skylight and a fire escape which provided light, but my roommate can't live without natural light windows in his room.
The search continues.

Much earlier this year, my chair broke and since then I have been mumbling about getting a new one. Today on my walk home, there was a pile of things left out with the trash - vacuum, lamp, clothes rack, chair, etc. - obviously being thrown out. I walked on, then returned to take a look; I left again, and half a block later I came back and wheeled the chair home. It was very noisy, but worth it. The chair is a little water logged from having spent the day in the rain, but once it dries out, it will be perfect (and free)!
The search is over.

I had a job interview today. Aside from being waterlogged myself, it went very well and was told that I would get a call when there comes and opening. I am not terribly worried, because it is telephone work, so the turnover is high, but I was really wanting to have a job right away. I will continue handing out resumes and looking for work in the interim.
This search is in limbo.

more positive news:

I'm going to check out an apartment today; from the description, it sounds perfect. 2br with 2 levels, right downtown. My roommate for next year is in Toronto, so I'm going to email him pictures as soon as I can today.

I'm going to Toronto tonight to see the performance of a friend's opera. A few friends are carpooling, so it will be a good social event.

job search updates

I got a call back from a job as a medical delivery driver. We did a telephone interview and I was kicking some serious butt and she was noticeably impressed with my answers. Then she started asking simple official questions. There presented no problems until the last one, 'just a formality' she said.
'Because of the nature of the job, we can only hire people who qualify for our insurance policy, so can you just verify that you are 25 years old?"
DAMNIT!
Part of my wishes that they had put that in the job description, or as the first question of the interview, but the other is happy that I got a call back and did the interview - they definitely made me feel better about the job hunt.

On some friends' advice, I ended up calling someone about a high turnover telephone solicitation job; I have an interview on Saturday. I may be overly cocky, but I have the feeling that I'll just be walking into this job - I interview well, and it's high turnover anyway, I'm sure they'd take anyone willing.
The problem with the job is that it is five four-hour evening shifts a week. It's good because I'll be done by 9:15 pm, so it won't hurt the lack of socializing that is my life, but their calling hours limit the amount of hours I can work, and therefore money I can make.
At this point, I'll take what I can get!

Earlier this year, I let it slip that I'm a thong-knitter. Since then, a few Londoners have requested to see pictures, so yesterday I finally searched out my thong model pictures and posted some of them on facebook. So far, it's been lots of happy, positive feedback, although I haven't heard much from the Londoners.

The job search sucks. I put in a fair bit of effort for the first bit, but then I became bitter and not as willing to go door-to-door, whoring myself out to employers. I haven't stopped altogether; I actually applied at the knitting shop 15 minutes walk from my place. It wouldn't be the best paying, but I think this could be a damn good summer job. Actually, at this point any job would be damn good.

The weather here has been beautiful lately, except for today. Today it was too hot, 28C, feeling like 31C was just too much - it felt like I was back in Orlando. The few days before were sunny and clear and about 13-17 degrees, my happy temperature!

I've been sporting parts of my new wardrobe lately, but I realized, it's been a waste - my contact with people since getting back to London has been minimal. Now that school is out, there are so few students here, and the non-students of London are generally even less fashionable than the wannabe-Toronto fashion sense of the students... Actually, I'm certainly not one to talk, but I'm missing the school year right now, even if only because there is no-one to notice my feeble attempts at being stylish-ish.

A day filled with not-so-exciting news

I'm now an organist again - it reminded me of how difficult playing organ can be, as well as how surprisingly hard I have to work on playing what should be simple 4 part harmony. I went with the organist I'm subbing for to the church today and he walked me through their service formats and general things. I have a key to the church and organ = I really really wish I had a car so I could go and practise there, but it just out of the city and awkward to get to.
Finding an organ to practise on is proving difficult - organists in this town are very possessive of their church organs and none of them in my area are open to letting me practise.

The buses in London are techno-upgrading - the bus I rode today had a ladies electronic voice announcing the next stops. It's a big step forward in the right direction, but there were some problems. Mainly the stop is not announced with sufficient time before the actual next stop - it should follow European practises and announce the next stop AS it is leaving the previous stop. The bus driver was treating things like nothing had changed, but once, a passenger heard the stop they wanted, pulled the string, but it was too late, so they ended up at the next stop. The bus stops are too close together to make it worthwhile, the voice is yelling at you every 10 seconds, literally.

I now have an office - on the basement floor of Talbot College. I'll be sharing with about 2 other people (there are 2 other desks). I know there is at least one other person currently(ish) occupying the office, but there's nothing on the desks to indicate which are taken - I don't want to invade anyone's territory, but I want to start decorating - there's a gnome head that needs to be hung on an office wall! Also, the more books and paperwork I move there, the less I will have cluttering up my bedroom. There are lots of shelves there, so I can store lots of paperwork. It's perfect, I have a place where I can leave books locked up at the school so I don't have to carry them back and forth from home.

Finished my travels for a while.

Yuck, I wrote a long post about my travels, and then the browser froze and it's all gone.

To Summarize

Orlando - good family time, love my sister. Weather was perfect, although too hot for my taste.

Today I need to do so much: laundry, groceries, job search.
My laundry is in the wash cycle, and I just finished editing/updating my non-music resume...It's been a while since I was looking for a non-music job, so it took a fair bit of touching up. I'm going to shower, then put my laundry in the dryer. Then I will drop off resumes between here and the grocery store. I think I have things fairly under control.
I should also spend some more time seeing what jobs are on the internet.

Ok, byebye for now.
If you have any questions about the trip, ask them and I'll post about that. I went to Universal Studios, not Disney, so don't ask about Mickey.

byebye Winnipeg

Zippidy-doo!

My time in Winnipeg went by so quickly and now I'm leaving for Orlando in a few hours - after a week there, I will be back to my life in London, trying to find a job and actually starting to work on my thesis.
But let's not talk about that now, a few highlights from my time in Winnipeg:

Chris's recital last night - amazing; also, hanging out with Chris after his recital was exactly what I needed before leaving town. Thanks Chris for coming out even though you were exhausted and famished.

Puppy-niece - I need to post pictures; she is delightful and so cute. Such a bundle of energy. She was a little much to handle, at times when you didn't want a flailing crazy dog jumping on/around you, but I love her so much. I am such a proud uncle.

Thompson in general - Visiting my sister and brother-in-law was awesome. I wish I could see them more often.

Parents - I'm glad to see them doing so well in their retirement! Sitting in the passenger seat with my mom driving... there is no experience more delightful or nauseating - so much swearing and picking on each other; I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Wine night - hanging out with some of the U of M composers was great, such fun exciting people!

Dance Research - it sounds too academic, all it was was watching, and chit-chatting with some people I've worked with in the past. I got some great insights and advice, plus I got to see a wonderfully moving dance piece that integrated dance, music and text. I'm excited to get home and get to work on my own collaboration.

Mumbly, mumbly, off I go!

Interesting, I'm not sure if my thinking has changed as a result of it - I'll let it simmer for a while, but today I had a wonderful experience. I've been making appointments to meet with some choreographers this week to talk about their experiences with music and whatnot. Today I watched a late-stage rehearsal for a collaborative piece with a live musician and dancers. It was great and enlightening in several ways.

1) I was excited to see the collaborative process at work.
The music was not classical art music, so it wasn't terribly anal about form - timing and many elements seemed to be very free to change based on the practicality. This is something that I have often used in my music, but I'm weary of going too far within the realm of my thesis.
Because choreography doesn't have a set written language, it was very open to change as well - almost improvised in some senses, within established guidelines.
The give and take nature of how they were working was exactly what got me interested in collaboration in the first place.

b) First off, I love the choreographer's movement style! I remember loving it when I played for some of her classes a year or two back - things haven't changed.
Secondly, they did a run of the piece at the end of the rehearsal. It was spectacular. I was amazed with the structure and form of the piece as it revealed itself. It was the wonderful kind of unwinding of a structural ball, where the key elements of characters was presented at the outset and they were elaborated upon throughout and especially in each character's solo.
It was completely moving. On the whole, it provided a strong sense of delight - it literally made me feel warm and happy inside. Throughout, it took me on a journey to a place of discomfort, which made the return of the delight that much more heartwarming. If it were the performance and dark, I would have let tears flow, but they were welling up nonetheless.
I can't remember the last time I was moved that much by an artistic creation, and it reminds me that I don't really think of any one art form as complete. My love of collaboration comes from these experiences, where you can see how one mode of expression enlivens and enriches another.

Long Story Short - I had a good day!
I'm definitely glad I've been persistent in getting these meetings to happen.

All year, I didn't really drink much. I drank sparsely and certainly not to excess - for a moment, I thought I was maturing. Alas, I haven't!
I am getting older though, and I can tell that because this morning was rather unpleasant. My stomach wasn't finished spiting me until tonight at about 6pm, when I had a granola bar.
Anyway, the wedding and social and general socializing yesterday were all delightful.

I went to a dance show tonight - they showed the film for which I wrote the music. It seemed to be much better received by those in attendance than some of my own friends to whom I showed it, haha! Not that I don't value the opinions of my friends, but they are not the ones who might be commissioning me at some point!

While this week shouldn't be as busy as last, there is still a lot to do and my schedule is once again filling up. So far, I am meeting with 2 dance professionals to talk about how they've worked with musicians - quasi research for my thesis next year. It actually is very much research, but it also doubles as a chance for me to get some suggestions and advice for my own career.

Zippidy-doo.
I went to a friebds's wedding tonight. Super fun!
I drank a little, I rode a bike home, to Sals, then they didn't give me a cinnabon bun
good night!

I gots drunkded tonight!
It was not one of my better nights.
I was totally trashed and ran into the old high school band prof who was just starting out his career when I was ending high school. We've always been on good terms, and tonight was good, but I have a feeling I may have made an ass of myself.
I danced, and it was a little skank-a-licious... ok more than a little... most of you know me when I drink....
When I got in tonight, there's a lot of random, possibly wine related spills on my clothes... anyway, time for sleep.
Good Night!

I got in town on Monday and it's already Thursday. Time goes so quickly. Today - Saturday are my really busy days, so I most likely won't have time to blog until after that.
Anyway, there's nothing really major to report - everything is going well.
Ya - this is really a pointless blog entry, so there you have it.

Just like the few days before I went home for Christmas, the time just flew by and I didn't really get anything done. I packed today, pretty much. And I organized all the papers that I had collected over the year.
I have to do some cleaning tomorrow before I leave for most of a month...
This is going to be an exciting/interesting trip.

I will be welcoming a relatively new member into my extended family - Olive, the puppy.
I will be visiting a college friend and a friend of the family / 'aunt' who have terminal cancer.
I will be watching a friend start a new life with her husband, as they celebrate their wedding.
I will be seeing lots of friends and family.
I will be revisiting my old jobs that treated me well in my formative years.
I will be meeting with people to pave the way to my future career.
I will be investing time and money into new clothes / wardrobe.
I will be heading into the Florida sun.

It's quite a varied list. I don't know how to compare them or prepare myself for them. At the same time, I don't think I need to. I will let everything happen and see how it goes.

I know the next few weeks will go by even faster than I am prepared for, so I'll just hop on my plane and brace myself for it.
I'm sure I will be posting during the trip, so stay tuned.

I remember last time my schedule filled up in Winnipeg quickly, but this is ridiculous. I have at least one thing written into my schedule Monday-Sunday: recitals, weddings, work, wine evening.
That's right, I will be working... I told both of my dance studios that I would be back in town for the week, and both of them have taken me up for some subbing - it doesn't even add up to a total of 4 hours, so the money won't be huge, a) it's a good way to keep my job prospects just in case I ever move back to Winnipeg and 2)I kinda miss playing for dance classes... I haven't played piano much this year.

Anyway, I haven't really written in any time for friends in this schedule.. although a lot of it is friend related, but I need to make sure I get my time with close friends.

I sat in a park yesterday for about 45 minutes. It was delightfully sunny and there were people walking dogs - one dog delightfully mauled me. It was the funniest thing. It was really far away, and then it ran towards me... it took at least 10 seconds of full gale running, but the whole time, I could tell it was friendly excited running, not angry. The dog was so playful, it just wanted a hug. The dogs owner was apologetic, but there was no need.
Anyway, I was doing some beginning reading/planning work on some poems I'm setting this summer. It was a good time until I saw a really large bumble bee. It must have been a queen, it was so round and fat. I was scared, so I left.

I don't leave until Monday, but I'll probably spend the entire weekend cleaning. I haven't cleaned my room at all this term... oopsie. Actually, it's not terrible, I just need to organize the piles of papers. I kind of enjoy organizing things! I need to make sure that my financial paper work is in order, and then I will organize my school papers and file them away.

Ok, time to get started on that!

I changed my return flight from Wpg-London into Wpg-Orlando. I'm going to Disney World! My sister and I are going to hang out in the beautiful Florida sun. My plan is to super-relax and do some writing while she is busy doing her course, then when she's done, we'll party it up!

I also found out I can get a little bit of funding for the Vancouver Summer Program.

I'm almost done this paper! I'm not sure if I'll actually hand it in tomorrow or if I'll take some more time over the weekend. Either way, the end is in sight!

Super Happy!

I know it's probably vain, but seeing all the comments on my blog made me very happy right now!
Thanks to Mai and Jon, my Chinese friends, and Tiffy!
Mai - if you come to London, sure I'll give you a super organ concert adn teach you how to be awesome too, haha, I will also eat well and be healthy - just for you! I'd say I'd do it for myself, but obviously that hasn't been working.
Jon- good thinking on the whoring.. I'll get around to that, I'll have to double check with performers and get permission, but we'll see...
Tiffy - I really hope to see you at some recitals when I'm in town.. are you going to Carrie's?

Other Happy -
I got a greeting card from Fi in the mail, and I couldn't help but smile ridiculously.. It had a penguin giving me a hug!
I have a roommate for next year, and we're going to start looking into a decently cheap apartment downtown! Boo for both of us not getting OGS, but yay to the opportunity it brings us!
I'm finally starting to feel like this paper is coming along. 3 more days and nights to finish it.

Oh my lord, I hurt!

I always think the same thing, but damn it, I never want pizza again in my life.
I don't even like it that much, but my roommate was ordering last night and asked me if I wanted to go in on an order, so I said yes.
It hurts me.
Pizza is incredibly high in carbohydrates, but it takes a long time to be absorbed into the bloodstream. When I eat pizza, I take 2 thirds of my dose before and then the rest a little later. When I get doing things like working on an essay and I wait a little too long to take the second part... then the carbs get absorbed and my sugars jump up high. The other possibility is that if I've taken too much insulin for the amount of carbs in my system, then the sugars drop too low and my body shoots out glucose so the sugars jump up high. I think today was the second one... but either way, I end up feeling like shit. Sometimes I can successfully eat pizza, but not today.
In conclusion, pizza is too complicated a food to eat.

I'm thinking the logistics of this trip to Winnipeg are going to be a bit much. I need to bring my suit for a wedding. I was thinking of bringing two suitcases, but if I'm going to Orlando, then I'll need to bring everything with me to Orlando so I can fly direct home thereafter.

Procrastination has had far too much of it's clutch on me lately. I will switch what I hoped to be today's goal to tomorrow - finish analysis and start writing. I did get a fair bit of analysis done today, but still not finished. Only once I have that done will I be able to understand what my paper will specifically be about.
I leave in a week and a day. So much to get done in this week!
My hair is getting long, and it's driving me a little crazy, but I can't afford the time to get it cut until I'm done my paper. If I don't rip it out, I'll wait til I'm in Winnipeg and get it cut by Phil.... it's been too long!

Boo!
I didn't get my Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Nothing to worry about, it just means that next year I will have the same funding from UWO as I had this year.
In conclusion, I will be in debt after this degree, unless I find some amazing job this summer.
I'm fine with this.

I sent emails yesterday and today to find out if UWO might be able to help me with the cost of the summer program in Vancouver. I got the response - an apologetic no.
In conclusion, I have to rethink it, but I'm pretty sure I will be doing the program anyway - I will just be in debt after the program, unless I find some amazing job this summer.
I'm fine with this.

I got an 'offer that you can't refuse' - basically I can have a trip to Disney World, and all I have to
pay for is my flight. I think I'll be able to work it so that instead of flying home from Winnipeg, I'll go to Orlando, then I'll just have to pay the 40$ change fee, plus the difference of the ticket, and then a flight from Orlando to Toronto - so, I get to go to Disney World for about 500$.
In conclusion, I will be in debt after this trip, unless I find some amazing job this summer.
I'm fine with this.

Happy Post!

I'm a little on edge - really wanting to know if I got the Ontario Graduate Scholarship or not - they were supposed to inform us a few days ago, but then rescheduled the unveiling for friday.
----but that is the end of my negativity------

I found out that I got accepted into one of my summer programs today. It is a full week of improvising in Vancouver during June. Mmm, summer in Vancouver - I'm very excited.
I've sent some emails, in hopes that I will get some funding to make it happen, because registration for the program + flight to Vancouver + hostel + food = expensive , but it will be worth it!

Even if I don't get funding, my finances will even out because I got a job ish. I will be a substitute organist at a church just outside of London for about 9 weeks this summer. It's been a while, but I'm going back to the Anglican Church!
[Those of you who've been reading since the very beginning of this blog... I doubt that there are any... will remember that I used to be an Organ Scholar at an Anglican Church in Winnipeg. That was ages and ages ago.]

Oops, I got distracted from blogging and that was a few hours ago. Now I end this post - still in a bonnie good mood. Hopefully I will have good news from OGS in the next day or so!

A Post for Chris

So, around Christmas break, I bought a new calendar.
This was a huge event for me. For the last about 6 years, my dad has gotten these little free fake-leather pocket calendars to which I had become addicted. My dad is now retired, so he no longer gets these calendars and thus, I had to buy my own.
Chris and I went to a few places looking for our respective perfect pocket planners.
I'm assuming everyone who reads this knows how bad I am with decisions and changing my mind repeatedly.
Partially through the convincing of Chris (motivated by the 'damnit Michael, pick one already' feeling) I picked a rather large hard cover calendar, which was beautifully leather covered. I spent this whole year carrying it with me in my bag, but it has been problematic:
1)I don't use it as often for a few reasons:
a)due to size, I've opted to either remember (ie forget) things rather than taking the book out of my bag.
b)My schedule is nowhere near as busy as it was in previous years, so my calendar is pretty bare anyway.

In the end, I've grown resentful of this calendar.

Today I was on a mission to get a new calendar. I was even willing to just go to hallmark and buy one of those floppy plastic covered crappy ones, but they were sold out.
I went back to Chapters - and as fate would have it, I fell in love.
I bought a small moleskin calendar which has the same format as my old one, though shaped slightly differently.
Bottom line - I am immediately happier with how I organize my life, and therefore, my life!

Nevertheless, I still mourn the loss of my planner from years gone by...
My best memory was that there was a section at the beginning labelled "To Do", on which I always enjoyed writing the names and phone numbers of people I was supposed 'to do'.

So, I'm done with trying to shorten my blog posts - it's just not me! I've found that I've been writing unnecessarily longer emails/correspondence and generally being more anxious. I will continue to try and streamline what I have to say, but I shan't limit myself on my blog!

In other news, I've been listening to podcasts from www.german-podcast.de and I think it's helping to improve my german vocabulary and comprehension!

I'm playing my own piano piece this Thursday - my Alzheimer Variations. I need to re-thank Diane, who premiered the piece at U of M, because there is one particular movement which is much more difficult to perform convincingly than I had thought. She played a very convincing and respectful performance, and I hope that mine is also.
In my practising, I have focused on the technical difficulties and now they are secure, now it's about my interpretation and personal involvement. I'd like to say that I will go all out, but the piece is highly personal, and I'm not sure to what extent I should open myself up while performing this in public. It might be good to have a hardcore emotional experience, quasi-music-therapy while playing this piece in a practise room, but that might not communicate most effectively to an audience. I'll play around with that and then make my decisions in the next few days.

I handed in my marking today, now I'm officially finished teaching for the year. All that remains is this performance - though not related to school directly- and my essay, which I hope to finish in about a week.

Ok, the first two songs on my myspace page are my piano trio and my second term electroacoustic piece.
It looks like everyone has been just rushing over to listen to music... cough cough. I'll assume that, even though no-one shows it, I have a wonderful supportive online community.
The job search has pretty much been a flop, but I will continue, because I need to. As it is, I'll end up finding a job after my Winnipeg trip.
The results of OGS are supposed to be available after today... but I want them now... they probably won't be online anyway.. grr!
I've been doing readings/research into my paper. It's due before the end of the month. I'm learning a lot as I just do the preliminary research - I'm going to do more reading like this during the summer and always.
Sandra and I have agreed on a text, so I'm ready to start on my first summer project, yay! It's going to be a set of miniatures, in some sense inspired by the Kurtag that I'm looking at. Kurtag wrote/writes almost exclusively in small/miniature forms - I hope I can be anywhere near as successful as he has been - in general, as well as with small forms...

I appear to be suffering from a case of impatience:
I want the recording of my autumn songs to be here now.
I want to start my summer soprano song cycle project, but I need the singer's choice of poetry first.
I want people to listen to and comment on my piano trio, but no-one has even visited the website.
I want supper now, but I have to wait for it to cook.
I want to start on my thesis, but I need to finish previous things first, then do some planning.

Speaking of my thesis, I had a good talk with my choreographer which left us both in a state of excitement at some of the possibilities. I think the theme of the work will be the Zodiac Signs. I had thought about it earlier, but 12 was too many movements, but it was pointed out that they divide into categories of the 4 elements - another subject I had thought about, but decided it was too vague. Now, by combining the two, we have a decent subject that will allow us to be suitably vague, but also specific!

Der Frohliche Hoppelnde Hase

I finally got my hands on the recording of the student composer concert from last month after much impatience. After waiting what I and most others felt was far too long, the recording was put in the library -in the form of a DVD, which makes getting the audio from it much more difficult.
At first, I was able to copy the audio part of one of the chapters onto my flash drive, but I was frustrated to find out that that chapter cut off the last 10 seconds of the piece.... ARGH.
One of my colleagues ended up using his DVD ripping software to make me a copy of the audio so all is well!
Long story short - go here:
http://www.myspace.com/mikeyjpark
it's my myspace page and I've added the file so you can listen to it.
Enjoy, and I'd love to hear feedback!
The piece is called "Der Frohliche Hoppelnde Hase", but don't look it up yet. Listen to the piece without knowing the title, as it has nothing to do with the piece. I will provide the translation in the comment section.

I've been relishing this year in the fact that performances have not required my involvement.. I'm more a part of the audience.
That has changed over the last few days.

For the electro concert, I was a performer, and add to that the fact that it was not piano -not my speciality in terms of performing. I hope the performance was recorded, or else I will never have a true knowledge of how the pieces went.

Andrea's recital - I know it happened tonight, but I wasn't there. I was very involved with the performer and explaining it over the phone, but I was very disconnected from the rehearsals and completely absent from the performance. I won't even get to hear the recording for another couple of weeks at best, most likely not until I am back in Winnipeg. Basically tonight, I was very aware that I really wanted to be there tonight...
If any of my readers were there tonight, please give me feedback - but I don't want ego-buffing, please only post honest reactions to the pieces. I expect the same curtness and judgement that I dish forth on this blog!
Moral - Performances involving you in anyway are never supposed to be easy - now I'm starting to tune into my true reactions to my role in recitals and performances as a composer.

Electro Day

The performance was today. Setup started at 9am, and tear down ended about 10:15pm. Even with technical glitches left and right, from unnoticeable to quasi disastrous, I think I'm rather satisfied with what happened in the end, and I've learnt so much from the experience.

As of last night, I have a website.
http://www.michael-park.com
Right now there is no real content and it's blazingly templaterrific, but I'm going to get around to making it at least somewhat decent during the summer. As I don't have much to put on it anyway, I will be keeping it fairly low key, but very professional - something I can put on business cards as I work my way from student life to the professional world, eventually.

After an in-class electro performances on Friday, I got comments that my Witch piece didn't really have a climax, and some of the text wasn't clear when played back.
I got my singer to record some things yesterday (took all of 7 minutes) and now I have added a layer which will solve all those problems. Basically, my pieces are finished, and I find myself wondering what to do now.
Maybe I'll go to the library and start some research for my paper. I also need to print out a score for a competition I'm entering. Then there's some orchestration and composition work to do.
Excellent, now I'm no longer wondering what to do, I'm avoiding it!

Good updates:
I had fallen out of touch with my choreographer - turns out that things were crazy this term for her as well as the dancers, so rehearsals just didn't really happen. She is still definitely interested. After classes end, I will have a meeting with her and we will discuss plan of attack for next year and the project as a whole.
I will also have a meeting with one of the music profs after classes end so that we can discuss the possibility of a credit improvisation ensemble, and what involvement I could have in it.

I hate decisions, and there's a big one I have to make, that I've put off for long enough. Thesis adviser. The choice is down to 2; one will be my adviser and the other will be my second reader. I've talked to other people and they are both great choices and I could work with either one. I just don't know. Hmmm...

Ok, the other good news I have is that I talked to my roommate and he pointed out that I'm technically only subletting the place from him, so I'm not locked into the lease right up until September. That means that I can look for a place earlier in the summer and not worry about having to find a subletter! Obviously, I'm not going to just up and leave, and he's very flexible about everything so basically we'll just agree on a date when I'll move and then we can both work with that. I'm thinking maybe July ish. That way, I won't be moving at the back-to-school time. Although that necessitates moving to somewhere with air-conditioning.

I'm sorry, I've been long-winded again. I'll stop.

I really feel like rambling, but I'll try to stop myself... maybe spread this into a few short posts.

Tonight, I spent a few hours in the electro lab, and I think I'm pretty much done - the piece from this term is in the final stage, now it's just a matter of practising the coordination and tightening up some things that come across in rehearsal... ie the once that we will perform it tomorrow before the concert on Monday. The piece from last term was a little bit of work as well - I haven't played it in months, and I needed to reintroduce myself to it.

I find this exciting; I am totally on the ball as the term ends.
There still remains a major research paper that I need to get started on, but the date for that is not pressing.

Ok, I'm going to start another short blog entry...

I bought an ipod yesterday: an 8giggle-bite Nano.
Despite the spending guilt, I think I love it already.
As I walked home from school at 2am yesterday, I listened to a Schumann Cello Concerto and some of Richard Strauss's orchestral works.
I have felt guilty for not listening to enough music this year, simply the time to devote to listening has been difficult to find. I realized last night that while walking home, I can devote that time - not with a score, but listening anyway. This will be my motivation both to listen and walk more.

My presentation yesterday went ok, I felt like I did a bit of incoherent rambling, but I'll find out how I did next week. School is still intensely busy, I've found that I've been working on my compositions in my sleep, and my music has been staying with me at all times. I wouldn't quite saw it's creepy, but it will motivate me to finish the works...

Argh, time is so precious lately. Tonight I'm composing for my lesson tomorrow. After that, I work on my presentation that I give on Wednesday. After that class on wed, I will devote myself to my electro piece - for which I have a rehearsal on Wednesday night and an in-class performance on Friday.
There is SO much work to do for the electro piece, but time is booked solid in the lab because I think everyone is in the same situation. If it comes down to it, I'll do some of the work at home - maybe that would be for the best...
From the looks of it, I will be heading to Winnipeg for about 2 weeks starting at the end of April. I am excited because
a) I will get to go to at least some of my friends' graduation recitals.
b)I will be going up to Thompson to visit my niece... and Sister/Brother-in-law.

I've noticed that my posts, while less frequent, are getting longer and longer.
To make up for it, I'll do a short one.
I went to Judy's recital last night. It was spectacular and she had a reception at her house afterwards. Pure Delight!
I have super duper lots of work to get done this weekend, which is why I'm leaving for school now.
Good Day!

An open letter to those who would see the CBC Radio Orchestra dismantled

To whom it may concern,
There are no words apt enough to convey my disappointment in the CBC's decision to dismantle the CBC Radio Orchestra. I sincerely hope that there remain words that might describe the severity of this decision and how it will effect my life, the cultural life of Canada and, as a result, the lives of all Canadians.

In an age where many of my peers - the youth of this country - are stricken with voter apathy, I vote. While I have seen many of my friends move to other countries in order to 'experience life' and broaden their horizons, I have stayed here and, until now, felt satisfied.

I am at a crossroads. I have been to other countries where the Arts are cherished not only by the artists, but by the government and the population at large. I have felt that sense of empowerment, feeling that my road in life as a composer is a valued one - That is certainly not something I have felt here in Canada.

Last year I faced a choice between travelling the world and attending graduate studies here in Canada; somehow I made the decision to stay. In a year's time, I will once again face such a decision and I can assure you that variables such as the fate of the CBC Radio Orchestra will play a major role in how I will make my choice.

I have long understood that if I ever want to teach in a Canadian university, my credentials must be from a North American University. While that limited my options a year ago, I now wonder whether or not it is worthwhile to remain in a country which would dismantle the last remaining broadcasting ensemble in North America.

Please understand, that what may seem like a standard business move - aimed at increasing revenue and decreasing cost - is in fact, much more. The way you treat cultural voices and icons, such as the CBC Radio Orchestra, is a bold statement heard by everyone about how you treat and value the artists within your community.

I will not live in a country which states so clearly that it will not support its musicians . These artists give so much to the countries culture by preserving and developing its artistic heritage. Furthermore, by cutting programs like the CBC National Young Composer's Competition, you are sending me and all young musicians a very clear message - that you neither value the community to which I aspire, nor are you willing to support my creative development.

I once again find myself at a loss for words. I am disappointed in the fact that you would even think of dismantling one of Canada's most important musical traditions, and am disheartened beyond what words can explain to think that this decision was actually made.

I can only hope that one day, I will be able to write a piece of music that might affect people so deeply as this news has affected me. I know that when I do write that piece, it will be in a community that values myself and all artists. Will I be writing it in Canada? I leave that up to you.

The decision to dismantle the CBC Radio Orchestra is not only wrong, but disrespectful. Canadian culture deserves far better. I implore you to act responsibly and reverse this decision immediately.

Sincerely,
Michael Park

Hello World

I'm feeling pretty good. Logically, I shouldn't, but who says logic has any place in the real world?
I had class this morning at 9:30, then I did some quick library research and found exactly what I needed, although now I need a translation of Ukrainian Folk Songs. Damned presentation/research project!! Every new bit of information I find ends up uncovering something new that I need to find out. Nevertheless, I quite like it.
Then I came home and did a little work on that project, watched a little tv, ate a little supper and then eventually went back to school for the evening.... hmm that timing doesn't work out -
Oh ya, I went to a cafe for lunch-ish working.
[In case you haven't caught on, this post will be a little bit 3am inspired randomness]
This morning, I saw an ad for an apartment downtown. I've been calling for prices over the last few weeks - basically any for rent sign I see. I've been a little discouraged, but today I am excited. I think I found the place I want to live. I've fallen in love with one of the streets on which I walk when I go downtown, they haven't been advertising rentals or who I could contact about that sort of thing. Today I ended up finding the missing link and found out that one of the apartments I've been waiting to see advertising has very decently priced bachelor apartments. I guess I should wait to see the inside, but I've already decided that if one is available for September, that's where I will live. At the same time, I'm a little antsy to wait until July. I'm not going to stay in London all summer next year, so I might sublet this lease instead of subletting the end of next year's. Oy, it's all up in the air, but oh well.
Ok, back to this evening - wait, I hadn't gotten there yet.
I met with my electro-singer and we recorded a bunch of stuff tonight for my piece. She is the same singer who is also singing Andrea's song cycle, except when she sings that, she is not my electro-singer.
The recording went quite well. The process by which I'm writing this piece is odd, mostly because the time frame is short and I can't expect to just throw it at the singer a few days before we perform... her own recital is the same day as this performance! (You're probably saying "What a trooper", and you'd be right!) Having not started until late evening, we finished recording at midnightish. When I checked the bus schedule, it confirmed that I was too late for the last bus to downtown. I pondered the idea of just staying all night and then taking a morning bus home. I continued my own work basically editing what I recorded and putting it into my Max patch. I finished after 2am, and it was 2:15 by the time I got packed up and was out of the building. I was home before 3. There were some entertainingly stumbly people walking the opposite direction - ok, there was one, but he was entertaining enough.
I really wanted a frosty, but there was a lineup of like a billion (6ish) punks, so I just continued home. I almost got skunked! It was unnerving. We were both a little startled, but for everyone's benefit, neither of us seeped liquid,spray, or anything else from our bottoms.
Ok, so when I was at the cafe today, there were a couple of cops sitting at a nearby table. I'm not even sure if it irked me or not, but I left my table for approximately 18-23 seconds to blow my nose in the bathroom and when I got back, one of them told me that I should be careful leaving my valuables unattended. Maybe I should feel bad about taking them for granted. Maybe if they hadn't have been police officers, I would have asked the people in the room to watch my things for a moment, but pooey on him.
I'm actually more resentful not that people are so dishonest, but that people are so distrusting of those around them. It's true, if my shit got stolen, I would be singing a different tune, but why should I be so suspicious of everyone around me? The cafe was filled with nose-in-book students and middle aged women, ok and a few ditsy Western girls (but there's no escaping them in London, Ontario).
I've been to Europe a few times, so bigger North American cities, I've spent a fair bit of time in downtown Winnipeg and I've never had anything stolen from me - and I'm not willing to accept that it is dumb luck, or simply a matter of time before it happens to me. I think I am a good judge of character. It is certainly not that I am not suspicious; I know when and when not to leave a table unattended for a short period of time- SHORT. People who leave their laptop on a desk and wander off to talk to friends in a different section of the library - they are the ones who should be getting those warnings.
The version of this super-suspicion people seem to have that irked me was when I was scorned for leaving my laptop in the electro lab at school during a recital. The lab is always locked, you have to go through two combination-entry-pad doors. The only people who ever go in there are 6 students and 2 profs who have class in there. It is more likely that my laptop would have been lifted by someone in the recital hall. Either way, neither of these situations are logically fathomable.
Ok, now I'm tired, I will go to sleep now and stop blathering away. I dare say, this was on the verge of .... ranty...!

Wow, I've pretty much wasted the long part of this weekend. I don't even know how; I had such good intentions and the apartment to myself. I seem to be less productive when my roommate is out of town. Maybe I should rethink living on my own - having productive people around me is a good influence.
The highlight of this weekend was doing an interview with a composer for a course presentation. She was delightful and very helpful. It was almost like she was too articulate. I was anticipating her taking more time to answer, thus giving me more time to write down the gist of it. It was also that I was asking fairly specific questions. Long story short, it went very well and she affirmed that I was on the right track with how I am looking at/ analyzing her piece.
I asked her also some questions about being a pianist/composer. While I hadn't thought of it before, it appears I was looking for specific ideas, but I didn't get them. We come from very different places I guess. She is an incredibly gifted and accomplished Carnegie hall playing concert pianist in addition to being a talented composer - I am not.

On the 24'th it will be once year since my grad recital. I listened to parts of the recording today. Despite what some may think, it's obvious that I was not in a position to decide between a career as a performing pianist and as a composer. The reality of the situation is that My talent for composition brought itself out at the same time as I was realizing that I didn't have the aptitude for decent piano chops. All of this, I am fine with. The unfortunate thing is that, as much as I claimed that I would give both streams equal focus last year, I did not. Neither got the focus they deserved, and it was especially obvious that piano was not in any shape to be less than 100% of my life's devotion. It was not with fresh ears that I was listening today. I listened objectively and came to that conclusion.

Even with that said, I'm seriously looking into an improvisation workshop this summer that would have me back at the piano. It would also have me in Vancouver, I'm very interested. I'm just trying to find out to what extent it is a jazz improvisation thing. The website isn't completely clear, it could also be applicable to classical, either way, it could be good. I'm also going to apply to some composition focused programs, but I think I've missed most deadlines. Oopsie...

I had fallen in love with the comic Toothpaste for Dinner earlier this year and I've slowly made my way through all of the daily comics since 2002.... Now, I've caught up and I will only be able to read one a day. Anyway, I've read them all, and I highly recommend giving it a shot.

I've been working at the school more and more as time goes by. Tonight, I was reminded of just how productive it can be to work at a piano. I keep see-sawing on that issues, whether I should work at a piano or not - well, it's working for me currently, so I'll keep at it. I know things are getting near the end, but it seems that I have everything under control. I've done some good work on my presentation for Contemporary, and that's not for 2 weeks. I want to finish the ground work so I can just review what I did before presenting, I'm not intending to continue working on it right up until I present. I'll finish it so I can pick the topic for my paper as well as focus on the other things due by end of term.
I know that electro will be a last-minute hardcore workfest, and I've found out that my singer works the same way as I do, so she's fine with leaving things until last minute-ish. Obviously not totally last minute, but it's good to know I don't need to overly stress about it.
We've been informed that there will not be a second reading for our Orchestration class, which means I won't have to do parts for my orchestration, but I'm disappointed that it's not going to happen. I was also hoping to get a short composition read if it was going to happen, but I guess that's a no go.

Oy, it's 2am. Luckily only maybe have class tomorrow. It's either tomorrow or Friday and I'll find out which one tomorrow morning ish. This will be a good weekend for writing lots of music. I have an interview booked with the composer whose work I am doing my presentation on. I'm very excited to talk to her!

It hasn't really bothered me all year, but now I'm feeling like I'm missing out on stuff back home.
Many of my friends from music school are having their grad recitals around this time. I would love to be there both to hear them and support them, but it's just not going to happen.

Also, yesterday my sister got a puppy! It flew in from Texas, so my parents had the opportunity to play with it during its layover in Winnipeg. I know they live in Thompson, so it's not like I would be seeing it all the time even if I was in Winnipeg, but at least I would have some chances. I realized the other day that the soonest I might see the puppy is during the summer - then it will be bigger than little cutesy puppy size already, but at least it will still be little playful puppy sized. If I'm not able to make it up there in summer, I won't see it until Christmas, and it will be full grown by then, though still energetic with puppy vitality.
Anyway, I got to see the puppy with my brother in law on their webcam yesterday evening, so I'm happy about that, but I really wanted to be there to hug it and hold it like the baby Jesus. For those of you who have never experienced Michael with animals - all animals who can be held, love to be held like the baby Jesus and have Christmas and/or other Jesus themed songs sung to them. ie "Rock-a-bye Jesus, in the tree top...".

On the other hand, I've made some new friends here who are also having some spectacular recitals and there are lots of good things going on here. I have lots of work to do which is keeping me busy. 2 weeks until I give a presentation for one of my classes, 3 weeks until the electroacoustic concert ( wow that's not much time.. EEK) and then a paper due shortly thereafter for my contemporary composers class. I guess also on that 3 week timeline are my orchestration work and a new composition in general. In other words, there's lots to do in the next few weeks.
It's crunch time!

Ok, the plan for today is to make and eat a big lunch and then go to the school and do lots of work. I need to make it into the electro lab and get some work done before my next class. Other people needing the lab have started to sign up for time, so I need to make sure I sign up for a couple slots to ensure that I can get my work done.

The Student Composers Concert was last night.
It was wonderful. Every piece had something of value and the performances were of a high calibre, especially considering that the ensembles don't get graded. I was very impressed with everything.
I don't like the seating in that hall, it hurts my ass, but other than that, it was a very enjoyable evening.
Having heard many of the pieces at the dress rehearsal, I can also say that there was a significant improvement in every group made over this last week.
My piece was very well received by everyone I talked to, and my prof pulled me aside afterwards for some very reassuring words.
Most of the composers along with friends and some of the performers went out for drinks at the grad club afterwards. By the end, it had thinned out to 6 of us, I could finally hear the conversation as the music died down a bit, and we had a wonderful conversation about this that and the other.
I can't wait to get the recording and give it another more objective listen. I will also make the recording available on Facebook once I get a hold of it.

Now that piece has finished it's initial lifespan. It's eaten up a lot of this year, and I'm proud of it, but I will be happy to put it away for a while. Now it's on to the other work that lies ahead. This will be a productive weekend, I intend to get a lot of writing done!

Blogging seems to be getting pushed to the back burner lately, and I can't foresee any change in that for a while.
I think that I will have a handle on everything that I need to get done this year, although it will be busy.
Something I forgot to factor into the equation was recitals - there are a lot of them going on and I would like to go to more than I can. Nevertheless, I'm finding it easier to say no to them because of one key factor...
They don't do recital receptions here!!! No dainties, no beverages, no finger sandwiches... I remember basically spending every evening of recital season at the school - practising before, after and sometimes during the recitals and then socializing and eating thereafter; it was economical and delicious. It also made recitals into a social event, which is what Manitoba is known for.
Honestly, that doesn't really have any bearing on my decisions to go or not to recitals; it's just a little thing I miss about Manitoba.

I've been doing some phoning around about apartments, and it's not looking promising for a bachelor or 1-bedroom, but I know I'm looking too early. I need to just ignore this until I'm done school.

I sent an email to a prof and it's looking promising that there will be an improv ensemble next year. Once classes are over, I will meet with her and discuss what involvement I might have with the group. Best case scenario would be if I got to be a TA for the class instead of teaching sight singing.

Enough of that, back to work for me!

The weekend came and went.
I'm not really any less sick, but I'm feeling better about it because I'm used to it. The illness has settled into its runny nose/throat and general constant thirst phase - where it will stay for a while...

The dress rehearsal for this Friday's concert was on Sunday - it went fairly well and I feel very good about how my piece will sound at the concert. I'm very excited about the concert and I'm sure we'll go out for drinks afterwards which will be delightful!

Sunday was also daylights saving time. I dislike this whole process. I forgot about it upon waking until my roommate reminded me, and then again upon sleeping - realizing that I had stayed up an hour later than I thought...

I need to get some groceries tomorrow. I'm not in dire need of food, I could live at least a month on what I have, but I don't have any fresh vegetables/fruit/cheese. Also, we are dangerously close to running out of toilet paper, so a trip to the grocery store will be a good thing to do tomorrow. I need to try to spend very little at the store, this month, I need to tighten the budget significantly in order to make up for previous overspending... oopsie.

In terms of finances, this year hasn't been a complete failure... If I don't get a summer job, I won't quite make it through the summer, but that's silly, a job is certainly in the plans. In addition to paying rent/bills in summer, I need to save up for the following year. Anyway, to avoid any extra stress, I'm sending in the rest of the paperwork for student loans that I was hoping to avoid by thinking I didn't need the money.
The mixture of living on my own for the first time in my life + not working during the school year for the first time since having started work = Not the best financial outlook.
As it stands, I will be working next year, back to ballet accompaniment. More than likely, I will be moving and paying more in rent, so that should at least even things out, probably still profiting. I'm guaranteed the same funding from school, and if I get the OGS, that's even more.
Oi, I shouldn't talk so much about money, but that's the way it is. I'm glad for student loans not because I need it desperately, rather I know it is there for as much as I need. Even this year, I won't be taking as much as they are offering. Maybe I should and put it in savings, so as to not need as much next year, but I like to think of it as accurately depicting how much I needed during my time out here.

In terms of moving, I'm thinking of moving into the ghetto of London, then it will be cheap enough for me to have a place of my own, like a bachelor or 1 bedroom. Anyway, more about that as it comes!

A quick update for the millions of people out there worrying about me -
I'm feeling somewhat better. A bit of a lateral movement - I'm no longer fluey, just coldy, I guess that's what it is. My nose is runny, I'm thirsty and my voice is a little hoarse.

I dislike the whole process of my body emitting snot from my nasal cavities, especially when it happens so often that the nose starts burning from kleenex.

I have electro tomorrow, I wish I would have done more, but being sick prevented me from spending more time in the lab, and other people are also starting to spend more and more time there working on their own projects. Nevertheless, I got a nice chunk of stuff done to show how and what I'm going to do for my second piece. I took a survey of what I need to get done before the end of term and I think it will be manageable - intense, yet manageable.
Or maybe not, ah, who knows.

real sick...ick!

First off, bonus points to anyone who can identify where that title comes from...

As the title implies, I have some kind of stomach flu or something, I'm really hoping it's only one of those short lived ones, as I'm feeling no-where near as bad as I did last night. Let's just say that if the flu manifested itself in a more creative way, Mozart might have been jealous of the ease with which music spewed forth from me last night.
The worst part was that I felt the inevitability coming for the entire wait for bus, bus ride and subsequent walk home, totalling slightly under an hour.
This morning, I was convinced that I would go to class, case closed. I showered and even made my way to the bus stop. As I stood there, both shivering and sweating, my stomach queased- as if to dare me to try and make it through a 3-hour seminar class. I backed down from the dare and climbed back into bed.

Anyway, I shan't continue with such unpleasant matters.

I've been feeling better since waking up this afternoon. I decided since I wasn't in the mood to force myself to do something productive, I listened to an entire opera - score in hand.
Peter Grimes - It was wonderful! My intention with taking it out was to see how Britten writes for a large voice, as I will be doing the same in the summer. My impression with the soprano who sang Ellen in this recording was that she didn't have a terribly large voice, but then again, what the Fach do I know?!? (haha, sorry, terrible terrible pun)
I also asked my prof what considerations one should have when writing for large voice, and did some reading on Fachs online, but the general idea I'm getting is that there doesn't need to be a difference in how you approach it, rather just an awareness that the voice has more presence and therefore, can still be heard over thicker textures (orchestra).
I'm glad that I didn't only listen to the arias focusing on Ellen, the Opera was spectacular. I loved the economy of Britten's music. Themes and musical fragments reappear, creating a sense that the opera is a whole; everything is related. I also loved that it was in English. I understood the dramatic action throughout, but I think I missed out on any kind of moral statement. It seemed that the story/opera should have made one, but it wasn't openly apparent to me.

In general, I have been doing badly with listening lately. Earlier in the year, I was filling up all my spare time with listening to recordings from the library, score in hand - I seem to have faltered from that good habit. I will try to get back into that habit, but I'm not sure how much free time for listening I will be having before the end of term. Nevertheless, summer will be all about working and listening and writing.

Tomorrow morning, my piano trio is rehearsing and I need to go listen. Therefore, I need to be healthy. Fortunately, that's only a one-hour commitment in the morning; if needed, I can just come home to bed right afterwards.

While I had been feeling that I'd accomplished nothing over break, it was good to talk to some of the other comp students tonight and have it put into perspective - I'd certainly not done any less than my colleagues; if anything, I've done a little more. Anyway, the moral of this story is that I don't have to feel bad about only recently developing some sort of direction with my second piece.
As this piece won't be performed this year, there isn't as much pressure, it's purely a learning tool, which I need to use for preparation for my thesis next year... which will be my next and final composition of this degree....WOW! Quite a bit of a jump...

For electro, there is a lot of work I will need to do for my second piece. The performance date is at the beginning of April, so it has to be written and learnt by the performer by then...!

I'm rehearsing with my erhuist tomorrow. I'm excited.

The student composers' concert is in just over a week, and the dress rehearsal is on Sunday. I will hear it for the first time on thursday. I feel confident that they will do a good job, I'm very excited to hear it!
Ok, that's enough rambling for today.

I'm home...

The bus trip home was less than perfect - one bus leaving late and an accident holding us up somewhere in Ontario for at least half an hour meant I got into Toronto 20 minutes after the bus depot closed for the night... there were no more buses home to London.
At 1am, I took a chance and apologetically called my most favourite person in all of Torontonia - Charmeee!! Anyway, I got a good night's sleep and made it home early this afternoon.

Aside from travel concerns, the trip was just what I needed.
-It re-affirmed my love/desire/craving for big city life.
-Apparently, I don't dislike Toronto nearly as much as I thought I did.
-I got to do a lot of socializing and spent some really good quality time with some friends and family of whom I don't see nearly enough.

I got a teeny little bit of work done, but I will be making this shorter than I'd like because I neeeeeeed to get much done during the remainder of this weekend.
Mainly:
1) Orchestration for Monday - 2 short Schoenberg pieces.
B) Learn Erhu accompaniment solidly.
3) Compose something for my Lesson. I've decided that in preparation for my thesis, I will write a few short pieces - first as piano pieces, but with orchestration in mind while I am working on them as piano pieces, eventually orchestrating them fully.
d) Life-ish stuff - laundry, groceries, letters to mail, cleaning, financial organization etc.

Reactions to my trip:
My friends in Toronto and Montreal seem to be doing quite well - I'm jealous of their living conditions, but either living in an amazing city like Montreal, or paying ridiculous rent in TO will do that...
I've been struggling to maintain the motivation to keep walking from school and for errands here in London, but in a big city, you need far less of such motivation.

Oy, I've spent too much time here already, so much to get done.

Today, I've been doing a mix of packing and cleaning. Damn, there's a lot of cleaning to be done!
I am generally a stereotypical composer/musician in terms of my organizational method - stacks and piles of papers and things everywhere, while being strangely aware of where everything is amidst the apparent disorganization. In a word, I'm justifiably messy
I finally realized that while my suitcase was too tall to fit under the my bedframe, I could simply life the frame and the suitcase now fits comfortably under my bed. I've learnt that an accordian takes up twice as much space when it is stored out of its case.
These fits of cleaning/organizing don't happen too often, so I just figured I'd mention it. I've also been compiling printed out googlemaps of where my Montreal friends live in relation to the bus depot/university so I will not be too lost when I get there. As it stands, I'm completely organized for the Montreal segment of the trip, but there are people in Toronto that I want to see tomorrow - and the problem lies with not having contact with one of them, and not being sure of when and where I will be seeing them.
I will nail down those details tonight. Also, I need to transfer readings, PDFs, and sound files of some of the things I've been working on, just in case I get inspired while there.
At some point, I actually thought I would have been able to spend this evening catching up on work.... Nope, apparently there's too much to do in preparation for a trip.
Oooh, LAUNDRY NIGHT!
I probably will, but just in case I don't blog again before or during my trip, happy reading week everyone!

I have a feeling that that short bout of knitting will be the last for a while... Tomorrow is the last day before reading week; once we return to classes thereafter, it will be high-gear to the end of the year. I don't really want to think about that, so I won't.

Tonight there was a fairly informal performance of the student composers. I showed the film which I worked on earlier this year, and while technical difficulties prevented me from being able to show it on the projector, my laptop screen sufficed and I got some very positive feedback. Nevertheless, it was something completely different that gave me a gentle little ego-rub tonight.
While talking over beverages after the concert, it became clear that one of the profs had mentioned one of my pieces in his lecture as an example of successful treatment of an extramusical idea. The piece was my Alzheimer's Variations. It's always nice for someone to acknowledge that a piece of yours is successful, but for a prof to do that in front of a class, thats something special. Also, it's not like I wrote this piece for an assignment for him, or even while studying with him.. in fact the only time he would have seen this piece was in my audition portfolio. I wondered for a long time whether this piece was truly successful, or if it just rested on the title, but I think I'm now willing to accept that it is a success on its own merit.

So, reading week is starting soon. I am so unorganized, I need to figure out when I am actually leaving for Montreal. There's also a fair bit to get done over reading week... but without deadlines fast approaching, I'm setting myself free into the land of the French, haha! Anyway, even just being in a different city will make doing homework fun, if it comes to that... All of my friends in Montreal are university grad students, so I'll be around the university, and I'm sure I'll see a piano if I'm anywhere near the school of music.

Hello everyone, I'd like to introduce you to two of my newest friends.

I think I will name the pig Pigette in honour of my old friend Piggy. I'm not sure what I will name the penguin.
I didn't give them eyes; I'm not sure if I should buy some bobbly eyes, or just sew some eye-type thing on them... They're a little ragged because I only have a paring knife with which to cut the loose strings. I stuffed them with plastic bags. If I had gone with the fibrefill stuffing, they would be a lot smoother and softer, but I had so many damned plastic bags filling the cupboards - I figure this would be a good way to solve that problem.

It's been a long time since I had time to knit, so I made sure to spend some time doing my favourite pastime this weekend . These stuffed animals are a great project because they take relatively little time (a few hours, or an evening) and you have something very concrete to show what you've done. Bigger projects seem to take forever.

These are also a little more involved in terms of the pattern. You do something a little different each row, so you don't get stuck in a routine. That is both good and bad - when I work on scarves or thongs, or things that I don't need to think about too much, I can do something else, like talk or watch a movie, but because you're not as actively involved, it's easy to forget where you are in the pattern, or what you're doing. With these toys, I found it difficult to do while watching t.v.
This was the first time I brought out my knitting box since the trip out here... it reminded me that I had started a blanket, or something on the drive up, so now I'm going to continue it. There's something about knitting a big project in winter which just makes you feel warm and cozy.

Hmm, I guess that's it. It was a good weekend. I went to Toronto yesterday to see my friend's Opera shorts performed. It was very enjoyable and I'm glad to have actually made it to Toronto. Good times all around.

Last night was two events:

Accompanying - I played for my double bass friend. It went quite well. There was a rocky start at our first rehearsal, which was in the same hour as our first playing for his prof. The prof was quite apprehensive, suffice it to say, he was very happy with how things improved in a few days time.

Side note, I picked up some more accompanying work. I will be playing for a visiting Erhuist. The Erhu is the Chinese violin type instrument; it is a wonderful instrument and I'm excited to get to play for it!

I was most impressed with the Opera last night. From the very first notes, I was impressed with even the calibre of the orchestra. [Side note, a fairly large orchestra can fit in the pit, so I know that there will be no practical problems with that for my dance piece thesis.]
The calibre of singing was varied, but generally very high. My friend Judy was singing one of the leads - it was wonderful to hear her singing so beautifully!
Generally, the opera itself is delightful in a dark kind of way.
If I had to point out a weakness, it would be the acting element of the show. It's not a true opera, because lots of the dialogue was spoken, and it showed that the Opera specialists are just not used to delivering dialogue unless they are singing it. Nevertheless, I thought some of the smaller role characters did a spectacular job at bringing out the 'characters' even in non-spoken/sung aspects.
In the end, any weaknesses were overshadowed by the strength of the cast/musicians. I'm very glad to have gone.
For student-opera, I can't really compare this to anything, because I've only seen students doing opera either in the chorus of professional stuff, or in excerpts. While I might say that some scenes could have been tighter (in comparison to the calibre of some scenes I've seen), I have a great respect for the work that everyone did to bring a whole opera to the stage, and to life.

Tonight, I'm going to the school to work on Electroacoustic stuff. I've been putting it on the back burner for a while now, and it's time to get on top of it. I have a lot to get done tonight, I hope I can get to all of it.

Tomorrow, we're leaving early to get to Toronto in time to meet a friend for lunch before going to the Tapestry New Opera Works show.

OOh OOh
Newsflash!
I'm back to knitting.
I seem to have more time now that the piano trio is done. While I may not actually have as much time as I think, I've been taking that time to knit. I'll put pics up later, but I knit a pig that I shall name Pigette, and I'm knitting a Penguin! They are both stuffed toys, the pig turned out quite well. I am stuffing them with plastic bags, because we have acquired SO many of them, and this seems as good a use as any for them.

Yesterday evening, I handed my piece over to the ensemble and walked them through it and answered any questions they had. It was well received and got some good feedback, even from just a first glance. They are going to start to work on their own parts and then work on it as an ensemble over reading week and I will hear the first reading after reading week.

Now is the exciting time of the year, where I've finished my work and I start to get some feedback from the performers, and I get to hear the works actually performed.

This weekend will be full of opera - Street Scene (UWO Opera) on Friday and then Tapestry New Opera Works in Toronto on Sunday.

I need to get myself organized for Reading Week. I know I want to go to Toronto and Montreal and visit with people, but I need to find out how long I'll be in each place and where I can stay and whatnot.

I slept until 1pm today; it felt great! No big plans for today, and I'm going to ignore school a bit today. I should go out and get my mom something for her birthday coming up. Yes, that will be my plan.

Ballet piano is over for another while. The day was quite long - just after 8am until about 4:45ish, most of that sitting on a wooden chair which slanted backwards = bad for back in general, and super bad for any kind of decent piano posture. Nevertheless, I'm not terribly achy.
It was nice to be treated about on par with the examiner - we were both caffeinated and watered at breaks, fed at lunch and generally pampered.
Everything went well. There were no major catastrophes - at least none that I was responsible for. A few little girls seemed to have completely forgotten just about everything they were supposed to do for the exam, but that just happens sometimes (and from my view, it's delightfully cute and/or hilarious).
The most important part for me, is that I can now afford my plans for reading week (Toronto and Montreal)!

Oooh, in exactly 24 hours, I will be handing over and presenting my piece to my Piano Trio ensemble and answering any questions they might have so that I can officially release the reigns. I got a nice chunk of the work done yesterday and I will still get a lot done tonight. I will ignore the fact that this was supposed to be done for Friday, and I'll just feel good about my progress and accomplishment.

I'm not excited about having to, yet again, wake up early tomorrow to teach. That will be a 4 day stint of early mornings (Thurs-Mon), almost like I was in the working world... completely unacceptable! Luckily, I have no plans for Tuesday other than a whole lot of sleeping, haha!

Tomorrow is my Sister's One Year wedding anniversary, which means that one year ago, I was on a plane from Winnipeg to Las Vegas. I would love to go back... it was a spectacular little vacation.

And there I end my tales of pianism and jollity for the night.

Productive day in many a way:

Rehearsal this morning went well. I dislike the morning, and I was a few minutes late because I stopped to get a timmy ho cappuccino; as I predicted, they were running behind anyway.
We covered the remaining 2 grades of students today - this music was easier and while I was sightreading everything today, I concluded that there was nothing that I couldn't play well enough or fake my way through if need be.
Nevertheless, after my lesson today, I practised piano like I haven't practised in ages... wait - I haven't practised in ages! Anyway, a few hours of metronome practising and I think I'm good to go. I basically had to make a judgement call on my professionalism. My call was to not spend every waking hour of today at a piano - the result is that I spent enough time to learn things to about 80% - the remaining 20%, I will supply tomorrow!
That number is pretty made up, I don't know how I got it - the ones I was most worried about, I tried to learn as close to the tempo marking as possible. There is one piece that just isn't possible to learn accurately with the time an resources given: I practised it so I could play it PERFECTLY at maybe two-thirds tempo. With that as a basis to which I kept going back, I was also practising it up to full tempo using some tricks of the trade - aka faking it. I think I've finally gotten over some of my modesty (whether that be a good thing or bad) and realized that some of the things that I do - improvising, recomposing music at sight (usually to make it more playable) are skills that most other pianists can't or don't do. I'm still not convinced that others CAN'T do improv, but I'm accepting that it is one of my highly marketable skills and I need to treat it like that. I still embrace my altruistic goals of getting the whole classical world to improvise, but ya, I need to take advantage of my skills when I can.

Anyway, the exams are EARLY tomorrow, I have to be there for 8:15ish. Yuck. They run until the late afternoon!! = Long day.

My lesson today was good. He gave me a few more suggestions, therefore there's lots of work still remaining before Monday when I take the piece to the players. Tomorrow evening will be intense with finalizing the piece. Monday, I will have time to final edit, make sure formatting is perfect, then take it to get bound and printed and all that fun.

I am looking forward to this weekend being over.

Also, the chair I sit in at the studio is uncomfortable - I am going to have back pain tomorrow, I know it!

Thanks to my new diabetic friend reader, K2!
I don't blog nearly enough about my diabetes, so now I have a reason to include some of that on here.
I think my diabetes control has been getting consistently better over the past few years and currently it is pretty darned good. At the same time, stress and general disorganization are reeking occasional havoc. I woke up this morning and my sugar was relatively high, it didn't feel like I had an overnight low, and I was struck with the possible realization that I didn't take my long acting the night before. My sugars should have been higher if I went all night without insulin, but I don't know. Generally, I was unsure as to whether I should take the long acting right away... which I ended up doing. Knowing there was a slight chance I might have double dosed, I made different choices all day, tested more regularly and well- it was an odd day. In the end, I'm sure I didn't take it last night.
This all serves as a reminder to not be stressed and disorganized. Missing my long acting insulin is a bummer, cause the math is difficult to figure out - however many hours late you are... that becomes the overlap where the next day, you will have double your dose. I'm sure I could figure a way to juggle doses so I wouldn't have any extra drug, but that would take over a week... the solution is to run my sugars high tonight, I can calculate just how high or what food will cover the extra 12 units of insulin which will be in my blood overnight.

Rehearsal number one went alright today. My playing was QUITE as bad as I was expecting. As I expected, the teacher didn't seem worried about my playing at all, so that's a good thing. Nevertheless, there are 3 or 4 of the exercises that I absolutely have to just plain practice before the exam on Sunday.
Tomorrow morning, I have rehearsals for the other exams - yuck to 9am on a Saturday morning... Damn Ballet!!!! For the last 4 years, ballet has been the demon that ruins my Saturday mornings.
Tomorrow afternoon, I also have a final lesson with my prof for the Piano Trio - hopefully I will get the final blessing on the piece.

I had been thinking of going to Quebec for Carnival next weekend, but then I would have to miss out on both the Opera at Western and a friend's Short Opera premiere in Toronto. I will stay here and enjoy both of those events, save myself some money, and try and do some low key relaxing and socializing.
The following weekend is the start of Reading Week, and I'll be going to Toronto/Montreal during that time, so I won't be missing out on the travel.
AND with this work I'm doing this weekend, I might actually be able to afford some random fun for reading week!

Updates left and right

The little son-of-a-bitch is gone. Good riddance I say. I love dogs, but for the life of me, I can not justify that creature's existence as a dog. It remained afraid of me until my roommate took him home in his little dog carrying bag.
Tomorrow is Friday, the due date for my Piano Trio. On my prof's advisory, I got a short extension until Monday. I could be ready for tomorrow, but he wanted to see me again. This means I will have time this weekend to make it look good and pay attention to finalizing details - those things I might have glossed over if I needed to submit it by tomorrow.

I am working this weekend - I got work as a last minute accompanist for some Royal Academy of Dance exams this Sunday. It is probably not in my best interest to do this - 14 hours over the weekend will surely get in the way of the Piano Trio and school work, but not enough to have a negative effect on my school work. The reason it's not in my best interest is because it comes to about 80 pages of music which I will be damn close to sight-reading. Even if I had nothing else to do, that's a little much to try and polish over a weekend. RAD music is BAD - terrible music. I think it was written by random dance pianists. The music is weak, lacking compositional craft. Written in odd keys with awkward hand positions and whatnot - the kind of music on needs to practise = great for long time dance accompanists who are in need of something to involve themselves in their trade, but in the end - not good for the musicality of the dancers or the pianist.
Anyway, for each of the three exam sets I will be accompanying, I will get a few hours of rehearsal with the dancers = time to play through the pieces and make notes of which I need to practise before the exam. One thing I've learnt from accompanying dance is - while I will hear my mistakes and imperfections, the teacher and dancers will hear the musicality that live accompaniment brings. Still, I will be spending far too much time playing the piano this weekend.
I am also going to accompany my Double Bass playing friend for a concerto movement. Also fairly bad music- written by a bassist to display the instrument, not the musicality, but oh well. It's very Romantic and fun to play, so it works out!

I was planning on being done the trio and wasting away the weekend, but my how the tables have turned....

In response to Jon,
Thank you for your regular commentary. Perhaps I shouldn't paint such a picture of myself as a lazy unproductive jackass, jackass.
I think my comments are generally slanted with a bit of modesty, but they also give insight into my own creative process. Some people need to lock themselves away with their compositions and they are incredibly productive during that time. That is generally the type of student that profs are used to dealing with, from what I gather. As for myself, I point out the lack of productivity, because that is the most apparent comparison that I can make between myself and others around me. As it happens, the creative process has been running constantly, and it's a series of dry spells between the times that I can pull together that which develops itself sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously, in my head.
Tonight is one of those moments - and perfectly timed. My lesson is tomorrow, so I am pulling everything together tonight as it is finally making sense.
I was starting to get worried that I might not have a completed piece in time, but now I am confident that I will.

In regards to the dog, I forgot to mention the breed....
hold on to your panties....
it's a "Chinese Crested Powder Puff"
that's right, easily the most pathetic name for a breed ever!
I've concluded that it is also the most pathetic dog ever. It cowers constantly at noises it hears, and mostly me. Basically, it doesn't seem like the dog had been properly socialized and therefore has issues with dominance. Anyway, I'm losing patience quickly and quite frankly, I find myself reacting more emotionally than I should to the fact that it fears me.
Animals have odd affects on people, even those who don't overtly desire the acceptance of others, can be hurt by the lack of acceptance by a stupid little son-of-a-bitch!

My lesson is tomorrow, lessons are productive, therefore I will report back tomorrow about how PRODUCTIVE and NOTLAZY I will have been.... Happy Jon?!?

I have a puppy!

My roommate's parents are on vacation, so we get to look after their dog for a little while.
It's tiny... like not even the size of a house cat. Super scrawny and the most timid dog I've ever met, but that's ok, it's a dog!
It's only been here an hour, so it needs to get used to it's new surroundings anyway, but it will be nice to have around the apartment.
In conclusion, it's 10pm Sunday night and I did not get enough work done this weekend.
I'll work as much as I can up to about midnight, but I need to get sleep tonight especially after what happened on Friday...
Oh wait, I never mentioned - crazy - how could I not have mentioned it!
I slept in Friday morning - until 9:20-something. The problem was that I was teaching at 9:30, and I need to leave 30 minutes before I need to be at the school. I didn't waste a second, I called a cab and brushed my teeth and threw on some clothes, gathered my stuff in just enough time to see the cab outside my window. I was 10 minutes late for class, and I felt terrible about it.
This will sound bad, but it actually worked in my favour: Luckily, It was a test on that day, so the students were coming spaced out and not on time anyway. All of the students showed up and did their tests - I was worried about the odd chance that a student showed up in the first 10 minutes and then left before I got there, but luckily everything worked out.
I think I did get caught up on sleep this weekend, but it generally sucks staying up until 2am when I need to wake up for 7:30ish; it's just under my 6 hour comfort zone of sleep.
Ok, back to work!

Damnit, I'm TRYING to be super productive this weekend, but failing miserably.
The only project I have to work on is my piano trio. For the last few weeks, I've been able to go between projects and have a sense of being productive on something at any time. There seemed to be a natural flow to things.
That flow has slowed to a puddle.
I'm getting some stuff done, but I was hoping/needing the creative stuff to just be flowing out of me this weekend. Anyway, the good thing about staring at my sketches and the computer screen for hours without actually producing anything new is that I'm getting to know my own work quite well. I'm starting to see how it is all going to fit together. I'm not terribly worried because this is how it usually happens - I take an inordinate amount of time to piece things together internally and then I am able to sort that out in the real world (well, as real as the computer or manuscript is). The problem is that I can't rely on that time having elapsed early enough for me to get all my work done, so I'll just force myself to do what I can so that it will get finished by the weekend. My lesson is on Tuesday, but I do want to have some sense of finality going in there. My goal is to have it in some form of completion by tomorrow night so that I can just work on the finesse of the piece.

I am excited to think ahead to ... well anything other than this weekend. Next weekend, I will be done all of my immediately pressing projects - it's been a LONG time since I haven't had some kind of deadline looming over me... probably since November.
Also, the weekend after next weekend, I am going to Quebec for Carnival! I've been feeling stupid/lazy/uncultured lately - thinking about the fact that I live 2 hours from Toronto, yet I still haven't gone. This area of the country has a lot of opportunities available, so I need to take advantage of them. I think I'm also going with some grad student friends to see the TSO playing Mahler next weekend.

When I was deciding on grad schools, I convinced myself that it would be more advantageous to live somewhere(London) close to a big big city with lots of culture(Toronto) than to live in a moderately big city with moderate culture(Edmonton). I think I was wrong. The arts and cultural influence has to be right around you. I'm going to start forcing myself to go to Toronto more because, let's face it, London is not good for my artistic soul. School is great and I'm learning a lot and I love it, but there's also all of that stuff that people learn outside of class.
In conclusion, wherever I go after this degree, that choice will be driven by the desire to live within a strong artistic community.
I hope I don't sound too negative, the other side of that is my plan to make the most out of London. Once my piano trio is done, I will have time to start working with the choreographer on some kind of project for the end of this term as a precursor/ research into my thesis project for next year. I am also going to put efforts into starting that improvised music group at Western.

Ok, too much time typing on the computer... back to work!