May 18 - Unlimited

Stop for supplies at the local big box,

discovering quiet parking near the low-key side entrance, a natural soundscape unadulterated by Muzak, at times absurdly reasonable prices (in other instances, however, surprisingly non-competitive), a zany variety of merchandise (rather limited clothing offerings, however), buying all products at the un-hustle-bustle automotive desk (pricing fairly reasonably-priced tires) --

and home with Kahlua, candles, and Pandora to Harriet.

Before this, begin the May Chronicle section of the July 2011 issue of 21st-Century Music,

proceed in a leisurely fashion to DVC for the last complete day of student teaching by the Theoreticians, including a nice chord cycle composition from David.  Pass off quizzes with Miranda and Mona, lingering in the lab, with Doug and

company, mid-way through the latter activities to create three more movements of All the BBC Sound Files (Op. 192) --

XXVIII. Hospitals
XXIX. Africa Human
XXX. Africa Natural --

and begin another sound-file piece: 100 Sound Effects (Op. 193), with the first movement as Volume I.

Before

the

large-scale shopping is the

hopping

under

a

giant

sky homeward; after are the tasks du jour as

Composing pg 4 Psalm 56 (Op. 187, No. 16) (transcribing King David: XIII from Sibelius to Encore)
Producing the third-movement pdf of Portraits of Three [Flute] Players (Op. 11)
Transferring Uncle Vanya (Op. 91) from PC to Mac
Uploading an 12th clip to the ongoing Camino Real: Block 9 (Op. 110)

May 17 - Drinking to That

Write the press release for the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra's Lost Things Found concert (8pm, June 25, 2011, Old First Church, San Francisco, CA) before heading off to more student teaching at DVC.

Afterwards, its more-or-less straight home under striking skies, re-uniting with Harriet, grading the second round of Music History make-up quizzes,

and heading back again in a

splendorous

spectrum

to the evening class from Philip Glass through Mark Alburger,

looking ahead to Thom Yorke et al,

with yet the third round of test retakes.

Out late with Doug, meeting up with DVC students and others, then return through the deep night, to the improbable of

Composing pg 3 Psalm 56 (Op. 187, No. 16) (transcribing King David: XIII from Sibelius to Encore)
Producing second-movement pdf of Portraits of Three [Flute] Players (Op. 11)
Transferring Diocletian: A Pagan Opera (Op. 90) from PC to Mac
Uploading an 11th clip to the ongoing Camino Real: Block 9 (Op. 110)

May 16 - Partially Scattered

Edit Michael McDonagh's perceptive review of the Philip Glass solo recital (April 30) for the July 2011 issue of 21st-Century Music.

Off under the

sun-pierced clouds to

Diablo Valley College,

for four presentations from the Music Theoreticians (including a wild set of Joe Satriani chord changes -- the default number of chord members being 4 and 5... often 7th chords with add 4... i.e. 13), followed by two tutorials,

touching base with Owen while he's looking at work beyond figured bass (re the successful concert over the weekend), coffee with Doug, and composition of page 2 for Psalm 56 (reformatting King David: XIII from Sibelius to Encore in the process).

Homeward to transfer Le Petite Prince (i.e. The Little Prince) from PC to Mac, and continue writing the press release for the upcoming San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra Lost Things Found show.

Also back-and-fourth with Western Digital (the maker of the My Passport external hard drives) on e-mail a few times -- and from trial-and-error discover that, by switching the cords on the 320 and 500 disks, they both work (at least for now).  Doesn't seem to make sense, but there it is...

Out again, still raining, to San Francisco for Lisa Scola Prosek's monthly salon,

with three-handed (!) piano music by Philip Freihofner (one arm each, and up-close-and-personal on the bench, for Lisa, moi, and Phil -- respectively from low to high), videos of Camino Real: Blocks 7 and 8, plus new selections by

Loren Jones

and

Lisa -- all delightful and well-received.  Lisa comments that the fast cinematic cuts are perhaps the best way to listen to and see the opera.

SF Composers Chamber Orchestra board meeting follows, then home impossibly for another Block 9 clip (10) and beginning pdf of Portraits of Three [Flute] Players (Op. 11).

And currently at 492 MB (48.09%) of the 1024 MB (four days to spare re megabyte usage)...

May 15 - A Semi-Wilderness of the Mind

What is this?  Rain this late in the season?  Not typical, but not beyond possible...  The sun comes out intermittently, anyway, and a good day for staying home and doing the next video clip (9) for the audio-visual version of Camino Real: Block 9 (Op. 110), finishing the pdf of  

Nocturnes for Insomniacs (Op. 10) and uploading same to

The International Music Score Library Project

(learning how to include a thumbnail of the cover), transferring Antigone (Op. 88) from PC to Mac, and beginning the composition of Psalm 56 (part of Op. 187) -- by this time, the sun shining strikingly through the billowing nimbocumuli.

Night, realizing that the two old external hard drives (roughly 250 and 320 GB) can certainly be used in lieu of the now defunct 500 (the light, while on, no longer blinks, and the Mac does not register its presence, so assume it has expired... very grateful that it lasted through the transference to the 1 TB machine yesterday).  Back up all the documents and photos now on the smaller drive, and will do music (also on the 250) and videos (on the other) soon.

Also begin to write up the press release for the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra June 2011 show.