Focus on the Narrative...

It's cold in Cape Cod and how the wind howls!  I stepped outside earlier today to go and see if the CVS two doors down from this house was open and had to hold the hat I borrowed from my dad on my head to keep it from getting picked up by the wind.  I was only going to seek out tissues because this head cold has forced me to consume almost every facial tissue that was in this house when we arrived yesterday.

So far, despite having the sicks still, I've had a great time.  Today was a long day of just hanging out in the house and meeting relatives from my mom's side either whom I've never met or wouldn't remember meeting.  Been awful nice to not leave the house all day except for a fruitless trip to an already closed drug store mere steps from the house.  Oh and one slightly longer walk earlier in the day before everyone arrived when it was weirdly warmer.  I think it's helped me get over this cold a little.  Even after taking last Wednesday off, I think I must've relapsed as I have been coughing and coughing and blowing my nose incessantly.

The good thing is my voice has come back up a few notes in pitch and is not squeaky despite the veritable assault of four days of non stop coughing.  The voice over gig is slated for Tuesday at 1pm and I was told in the audition notes "younger, edgier, not voice of god."  You should've heard me Thursday and Friday at work.  People would ask, when I answered the phone, "Tim?" as if I'm the only one whose voice could possibly be that low but acknowledging that something definitely wasn't right.

Yes.  It was me.  Barry White had nothing on me.  But it wouldn't have been appropriate for this read.   Well it might've worked but the point is that's not what they said they want...and after all I have the range...on a good day.  The job is an ad for a new Bourne novel called Bourne Ascendancy.  Kind of an exciting gig, really.  And I really hope I can keep getting gigs like this.  I need stuff to pad my promo demo because I really only have one job and a few solid recordings from coaching sessions that I can include on there now.   The promo demo is something that I've wanted to get rolling for quite a while...really since that first promo gig, "Scarlet," that I did in November 2012.  They've got to be the most fulfilling jobs I do.  Ask anyone who's ever watched network television sitting on the couch next to me.  Whenever a network promo or movie trailer comes on, I mimic the voice style and ham it up.  I love it.

Of course, sounding like those guys is not the only thing that gets jobs.  As my coach and I have discussed in our sessions, it's about sounding believable.  Thinking about the words and not just how my voice sounds.  You can start to obsess over it and then you forget things like properly breathing and a phrase or two could drop out at the end and you have to do a retake and things get slowed down and the director gets impatient and the whole experience can be unpleasant and then they never hire you again.  Okay, that's like, worst case scenario, but you get the idea.  Focus on the script.  Tell the story.

Focus on the script.  Tell the story.  Replace script with narrative and it's good advice for both of my endeavors.  "The Life" score is the same.  If the music is not helping to tell the story and is just there because of some convoluted obsession with canvasing the visuals with aural support, then its effectiveness could be minimal to nil.

Thankfully there's a tiny bit less pressure on the scoring because I can watch the scenes over and over, retreat for a day or so and come back to it and ask myself, "is this still working?"  It's remarkable how I've actually become dissatisfied with my first takes and wanted desperately to go back and fine tune it.  At first, they sounded great (even the director liked them) but now they sound like music playing in the background.  I know that that literally is what it is but you don't want it to sound like music playing in the background.  I'd rather people not notice my music at all until the parts where it's supposed to shine.

At any rate, my first takes now sound childish and elementary, so my second takes sound like gold now that I have a clearer idea of what I want for each scene.  The opening cue is a great example.  I had music playing from the start of the scene and it was basically a structured song with a chord progression and a melody, albeit stripped back.  Just an electric guitar with delay strumming whole note chords and my token backwards guitar melody.   The mood of the music really struck a chord (boy, I really didn't want to use that phrase just then) with the director so we moved forward with it. That cue ended up being on the cut that went to the Boston screening.  But there was something wrong with the audio channels from the dialogue track and when it got burned to DVD some of the character's lines in that scene were completely missing.  So we just had background noise and my music.  So, now all of a sudden, my music is laid bare, flaws in my performances and all.

But what was most compelling was that, on my second listen, I started to realize that a continuous musical idea was not fitting this scene.  The first thing you hear in the opening scene is music.  And once you're hearing it you can't unhear it.  So, all of the other things you're supposed to be noticing about the scene are diminished (especially when the lines of dialogue are missing).

The solution, I figured, was to strip it way back.  I tried an idea with all the audio I had already recorded.  I got rid of the strums on the delayed guitar and didn't even bring in the backwards melody until a few seconds into the scene.  The I let it fade before the main character's dialogue starts.  Then the music, as it was originally orchestrated swells up once the dialogue is done and carries us into the next scene.  This is an oversimplification of what's going on but, let's face it, I've never liked writing about what music sounds like.  Whenever I had to do it in graduate school, all attempts came across as asinine and contrived.  Program notes.  Pssht! Hated that shit.

But, I digress. Essentially, on the first pass, I got the mood right.  But it took a second pass and a mishap at the screening for me to return to it and reevaluate, attempting to also hit the mark with the music's timing and cadence.  It's all about feeling the rhythm of the scene itself and figuring out how to make the music match that rhythm.  Focus on the narrative.  Tell the story.

That's all for tonight guys.  Tomorrow I'm hanging out with my 94 year old Uncle Norman again and my dad's sister, Aunt Suzy before they drop me off in Boston for the bus ride home.  4 hours in a bus and I only have one episode of "True Detective" left.  Wish me luck.

Reflection delayed...

Barreling towards the end of the year and finally finding time to reflect.  It's been a fun trip to NC this time around and I have one last night before I pack up and head back.  And once I'm back, it's not too long before I'm gonna be heading to Nicaragua.  14 days.  So, naturally I'm far to excited and nervous about that to really think too much about things like freelance work.  And even though my plan was to sit down and take a look at the upcoming year's goals during my stay here, I didn't really accomplish any of that.

So naturally I have a lot of things on my mind with regard to that.  I spoke once before about not stressing too much about trying to find work but rather just being ready when the next opportunity comes along.  Now, I kinda think that I should really be finding a balance between these two extremes.  I can look for work and spend time between jobs making sure I'm ready when an opportunity presents itself.  Sitting around and waiting doesn't sound like a good strategy no matter what you're doing.  I would rather be proactive and identify things that I can be doing to help myself out between jobs.  Working on tracks that I can license, writing music for the guitar looping project, trying to find a space and time to rehearse/jam with the drummer (this has not happened yet this year)...also, working on revamping the voice over demos and the marketing plan.  So there's a lot to do there.  A lot to keep me busy.

But I'd really like to talk about goals.  And not just goals for the sake of goals but targeted goals that take into account how over ambitious I was last year with some goals and how on point I was with others.  Which goals did I accomplish and which goals did I fall short of accomplishing?  Which ones did I neglect entirely?

There's a real pressure not to just do what I did last year, even if some of my moves were successful.  So I find myself sitting here reading old blogs and reflecting, as I do.  Another thing that has crossed my mind is that in order to focus on some things, I may have to leave a few things by the wayside.  I can't even wrap my brain around all that right now.  So, I think my first focus in the new year is going to be contacting producers, both voice over and film, to touch base and maybe scare up some work.  That's the big thing that I still don't have a lot of under my belt.  Work.  I mean, my website looks good, if I do say so myself, but I feel like it can never hurt to have more current material on showcase.   I could have had two feature film projects last year but both of them slipped through my fingers.  Not that I'm remorseful for that.  It was a great experience and it taught me that getting heard of is only part of getting the job.  You gotta be on your game and stand out from the crowd.   Which is a tad frustrating because it feels like it's out of your hands to some extent.  You can only do so much.  I mean, really, let's look at this: you can put together a stellar reel but you have to sort of pay attention to what other composers are doing and find ways to stand out from them with your work.  And you can have your hands in a lot of things, to get the attention of a lot of different kinds of producers for a lot of different kinds of projects, but then can you really be stellar at any one thing if you're spreading yourself so thin?  But then do you have to really choose just one area, be it electronic music, orchestral music, or pop?

All this floods my mind when I start to think about this.  And then I start to think about the licensing agency and how they haven't heard anything new from me in months.  The good thing is, there was one last piece of music that I never sent to them because I never finished it.  I liked so many aspects of it but it was missing something and I never really put my finger on it.  I revisited it a few days back and I think I have some ideas.  I may want to try some things I was afraid to before and get some restructuring underway.  I have ideas occurring to me out of the blue that I'm not sure why I didn't have before.  It's a good feeling, at the very least, to have a project I can get started on now without waiting for some job to come along.

Anyway, voice over is a whole different beast these days.  I haven't had a job since the summer.  By comparison this year has been a lot more meager.  But I did get my first out of the blue calls for work this year along with the attention of an agent...never mind the fact that she told me I sounded too regional on one of my spots and to watch for that.  I'm not too bummed about either because for one thing, that agent was way too hard to get a hold of for someone I'd like to be working with to find voice over work.  And for another thing, my lack of work in this arena can probably be directly attributed to me filling up my schedule with freelance TV work.  CNN and TruTV were great boons to my financial well being this year and are solely responsible for almost doubling my salary for the greater part of the year and finally, this trip to Nicaragua.

I think it's important, in the midst of all this stuff to remember that I worked hard this year and now I'm going to go and reward myself.  I need this.  Too much work and no play, make Tim something something...

So, I think instead of stressing over all of the above, I'm going to focus on the Nicaragua trip and then get started on all of it when I get back.  I think I'll leave New Year's Resolutions and game plans for the New Year untouched for a few weeks until I come back from Nicaragua with a tan and hopefully no tropical diseases.  At that point, I'll touch base...I may even send pics from the beach.  So stay tuned...

Recharge...

I did something amazing last night that I've not done in years.  I slept.  A lot.  Several hours in a row.  I don't know exactly how many but I will say that I got in bed around 10:30pm, also something I haven't done in years, and I got out of bed around 9:30am the next morning.  Somewhere in the middle, I did wake up, but I refused to get out of bed for at least a half hour, mainly because the bathroom here is up a flight of stairs.  I'm currently at my sister's house in Virginia, hanging with her family.  Basically recharging for a weekend.  And man, am I recharging, or what?  I actually took a nap a few hours ago, one from which I awoke to hear my niece yelling about zombies (she was playing Minecraft across the kitchen from me).  So far, the only other thing I've done today besides eating that was mildly productive was win a game of Magic the Gathering, a game I've never really played, against my brother in law and my oldest nephew.

Yesterday, I took the train to DC from New York and had my cousin pick me up at Union Station.  We spent some time driving around DC and ended up at Jones Point Lighthouse because he wanted to see one of the old DC boundary stones, actually the first to be laid.  It exists under the lighthouse and you actually have to look under the porch in front of the lighthouse to see it.  Check out my photos.   My cousin then took me to Alexandria to meet an old friend for dinner, one I haven't seen in 13 years.  We caught up over gluten free pizza and then she drove me to Potomac Mills where my sister picked me up.

It occurred to me that all day today, I have not even once put shoes on and gone outside.  So a little bit ago, I stepped out on the back porch and looked up at the moon.  I haven't had a day this lazy in a very very long time.

So, I'm going to feel great by the time I get back to NYC.  I'm at a standstill with the workload anyway because I just sent in the finished mixes of the long and short versions of "Another Day in the Life," and am waiting for the director's input.  Plus, the piano theme for the other short film hasn't been touched in weeks because that director hasn't contacted me yet.  I'm also going to be diving back into some voice over things next week.  I put the agent search on hold while I focused on my other projects but next Wednesday, my coach has put together a VO practice session at the studio where I've been doing my coaching.  There should be a couple of other VO talents there and we'll just run through whatever scripts we bring or whatever Sylvia has there.  Should be lots of fun.  I've been needing something like this for a while.  I lost two good auditions in the past week and then got a reminder of a client who was wildly underpaying me last year when the same guy contacted me to do a few scripts for the same amount of money.  I turned him down.

Anyway, I spent the remainder of my evening eating a fabulous meal (gluten free Yorkshire pudding prepared by my brother-in-law), playing with the kids' remote control helicopters and sucking horribly at rock band even though I'm a musician with two degrees.  Tomorrow, my train back to the city doesn't leave until 845pm so I'll have another nice long day with the kids.  I heard something about a hay ride and a pumpkin patch.  Sounds fun!

Hopefully, soon I'll hear some feedback and Amanda's song for "The Life."  Meanwhile, it's back to work work on Monday.  First week back on the regular schedule.  I'm really hoping that the work at TruTV will not dry up anytime soon, because I've made a big life decision to finally travel next year and, following a few signs from the universe, have already picked a yoga retreat in Belize that will happen in April right around my birthday.  It's not terribly cheap and I'm probably picking the first option that has presented itself rather than finding something as affordable as possible, but a yoga retreat and a Central American/Caribbean destination has been on my mind for quite some time.  I've never been further south than the airport in Miami, FL.  So here's to that.  If I stick to my budget over the next few months and if a few small miracles occur, then I can pull this off.

For now, I'm going to get to sleep, early again but NYC has left me with the need to recharge and I plan to take full advantage of that.  Talk soon.

Anticipation, a baby, some mountains and a thunderstorm...

The D, N and R trains are finally not skipping my stop at nights and I began to realize this week how long it's been since I've even been in the Prospect Ave. R station on the Bay Ridge bound side.  I had been taking the F to 7th avenue on my way home from work and walking the 10 blocks south to my apartment.  While it did afford me a little extra time to walk and think, and, on some nights when I didn't feel like the hassle, got me a little more comfortable taking cab rides that would eventually be reimbursed by Time Warner Cable, it also put me dangerously close to Barbes on more than one occasion, which excused a few random stops during which I got to meet some interesting and cool people.

To be fair I only went in once directly after work last week for a drink and it was to kick off a nice 4 day weekend during which I traveled to NC to see family and meet a brand new addition, the nephew I spoke of  a few entries ago.

The mountain house in which we stayed was also quite comfortable and came with an amazing view of the mountain ridges.  We watched a thunderstorm one afternoon while we sat outside on the porch drinking, too. It was pretty spectacular and calming to sit and listen to the rain. 

After two nights, getting to hold my sleepy 2 week old nephew a few times, a few games of ping pong, some Dr. Who and Nintendo DS with the nephews and neice (my sister's kids), I took a ride down to Greensboro in my mom's convertible to see some old friends and paint the town.  Saw my old haunts and caught up with a few friends.  It all ended with me lazing around in the pool at my parents' house with my other sister and her kids and spending too much time in the sun before heading off to the airport.  Couldn't have planned a better trip unless it were longer and involved more relaxing.

Now I'm back to the daily grind, jumping right back in with a day at both jobs (for which the MTA made me 15 minutes late), some work on the trailer for "The Life," and even a phone call to an agent I've been trying to chase down.  There, I said it.  I told myself I wouldn't say anything so as not to jinx it but it's getting close enough I think I can mention it.  I'm also realizing I'm not as superstitious anymore.  If it doesn't happen it won't be because I got my hopes up but because it wasn't the right time.

And now I wait.  But I spoke about waiting a few entries ago.  Sometimes the anticipation can be just as stimulating as the outcome.  And it is an experience in and of itself.  Certain things may not pan out but the important thing is that I've worked hard enough that I'm up at bat for a change and that alone gets me pretty ecstatic.  Yes, I used a baseball analogy.  They're useful sometimes. What can I say?

Anyhow, there are lots of other exciting things that I have varying levels of confidence about coming up, some musical collaborations, some film scoring work and even a few concerts.  2013 has already been a pretty amazing year and I only expect it to get better.  Now I have to find some way to get to sleep amidst all this excitement. 

Oh yeah, I'm a composer...

It feels good to be composing again.  Seemingly, under a month ago I was complaining about doing all this freelance TV work and not having much time to write.  Now, here it is mere weeks later and I've got several music projects lined up, only one of which I knew about in advance.  In fact, the one I did know about developed into several projects in one.

The trailer for "The Life" is being produced right now as we speak and on top of that I'm going to be working on a song for the end credits of the series with singer/songwriter Amanda Brecker.  Extremely excited about that collaboration which came out of the blue earlier this week.

I'm also currently composing a piano theme for a film I'll be scoring, prior to shooting, for a director I worked with last year.  So far the director and I have zeroed in on an overall mood and tonality and a basic melody which I will be fleshing out later this week.  They begin shooting on the 19th of August.

Add to that, a friend connected me with a .org that she works for that is looking for a 7 second bumper for their online learning channel (kinda like the opening to TED Talks).  The News Literacy Project is an educational program that promotes media literacy among high school kids.  So, that project is happening concurrently with the above and I'll likely be working directly with the motion graphics editor this week to find something that will highlight her animation.

All of the above events have me in this strange euphoric state right now.  I can't believe I got so much work all at once.  I'm still working every day of the week, sometimes at both jobs (TruTV and NY1) so finding the time for all these projects is going to be a bit of a challenge.  But that's never stopped me before.  I'm hoping to meet with Amanda this Friday to talk about our collaboration; it sounds like I'll be seeing the first drafts of the animation for the .org by Friday or Monday; and I'm hoping that tonight I can start drafting some musical ideas for "The Life" trailer.

Recording in my living room in the last few hours before my cousin returns from vacation seems like a good idea...even if it will be after midnight.  My downstairs neighbors have never complained even when I would play the piano, which, I'm sure, they would have to be able to hear.  A little acoustic guitar, post midnight, never hurt anyone.

As for the theme for Ben's film, I've got a leg up on it and I just need to start dragging my laptop around with me so I can work on the structure of the piece.  I think I'll actually score this one out using Sibelius, which I realize I haven't used in a good long while because I haven't really had a need to score anything since last summer.  So that should be fun.

Another thing I may need to try and accomplish tonight though is to submit an audition for a voice over job I was invited to audition for at Edge Studio. The deadline is 3pm tomorrow so hopefully I can hammer that out tonight.

And this leads me to my next exciting piece of news, and ya know what? Never mind. I don't want to jinx it. You'll know when I know. It's voice over related, I will say that.

On to a final piece of news: this past weekend my brother and his wife welcomed Donovan Eugene Stewart Daoust into the world. He was born at 8:06 pm Saturday night, just as I was going on stage with Lacy at Jamey's House of Music in Philly. I'm incredibly psyched to visit them in a few weeks and meet the little guy. He's adorable. :)

That'll be a nice little break as well, getting out of town for a slice and then a little nostalgia, likely visiting my old college town and some friends there. Updates to come on the projects as they advance!

Masters, licensing, upcoming concerts and nostalgia...

Just finished in the studio with my man Julian over at On Air Mastering yesterday.  The tracks sound great and I was incredibly eager to push through my copyright registration and send them off to Parma Licensing.  So, naturally, I took care of that right away.

They've received them as of this morning and should be reviewing them soon.  So, now I wait.  I'm truly excited about the opportunities this could open up for me but not without a healthy dose of impatience.  Healthy because it's motivating me to devour this list of other music licensing sites.  The idea being to spread my music out over the internet to get more simultaneous exposure.  After all, my contract with Parma is non-exclusive.

The article, which I can't remember how I stumbled on it...might have been one of the LinkedIn forums that I'm on, has been invaluable and whoever spent the time compiling the information, I thank you.  Now, I'm just trying to parse it all out and figure out which ones are worth my time.  Some do not offer royalties on placements, others require a minimum upload that I can't fulfill at present, while still others have a crappy payout split.  The list isn't necessarily exhaustive but I may just pick two or three good ones for now and delve into their terms and conditions and start making profiles if they're worthwhile.

So, that's keeping me busy.  But so is Lacy's music, which is nice.  We're trying to rehearse much more now because we're gearing up for a few shows.  I'm getting extremely excited about that actually.  Now, we have three shows planned, two of which are the CD release parties.  And I have my Behringer pedal cooperating with Mainstage and my Mainstage concert set up so that I can flip through the sounds for each song as well as turn on and off some of the effects with my foot.   All that remains for me to do is to get Mobius (my software looper) set up so I can start doing some of my own things with looping and layering.  Gah, I love playing live!

The first show is this one, performing at Caffe Vivaldi with the inimitable Tania Stavreva, who is in the process of completing her debut classical album (about which I'm so excited for her!).  That should be a good show.  Lacy and I are playing electric, too, so it'll be different from our open mics.

Next up is the Philly CD release party on the 17th of February at L'etage on Bainbridge and 6th in Philly, followed a few weeks later by the NYC CD release party on the 28th of February at Drom on 6th and Ave A in the E. Village.  Some of the players from the album have signed on to play with the band already so we're almost at a full band for this.  Both of us are really excited to rock out and can't wait to bring the new tracks to life.  Also being featured at both parties will be the premiere of the video for the song "Old Languages," directed by my good friend and colleague Mohammad Maaty.  So, if you can make either show watch out for that.  It's pretty awesome, I must say.

Now that all that's out of the way.  Some thoughts.  Just the other day, I received a piece of mail from my brother that was a rare memento he had dug up from the days of my first high school band, Buggstar (one g, two r's, no spaces).  A hand written history of the band by yours truly.  I read it back to back cover to cover (okay it was about five sheets of notebook paper), and I actually got a tiny bit wistful.  Just reading the way I talked about things back then, life seemed so much simpler.  It was before my dream of having a career in music had ever been tarnished by the harsh realities of the world.  And I talked about it as though it was a sure thing, as though nothing could stop me.  It was great to remember that I thought that way at one time and that somehow despite everything that came in way between now and then, I somehow got to where I am now.

It also made me miss my old band mates, hence the wistfulness.  We had such good times back then.  Throughout my parent's garage in boxes and probably amongst my brother's things are all these notebooks filled with songs and set lists and lyrics, chronicling our entire journey just about.  That was my first experience playing with other musicians.  It really came down to me, my brother and Jeremy, our singer...oh, and the six drummers we went through.  We recorded a bunch of stuff too, which is still around, on demo CDs and cassette tapes.  Cassette Tapes!  Boxes and boxes of cassette tapes.  I used to have a four track recorder that I would use to overdub tracks onto our demo recordings and come up with all kinds of stuff. While it wasn't the height of my composing career, I still like to go back and listen to them sometimes.  The songs were complex for what we basically were: a garage band.  But, nonetheless, I figure, what the hell?  Why not?

Here's one of my favorites from my sound cloud page.  Guitars: Tim Daoust, Vocals, Rhythm Guitar: Jeremy Shaner, Bass: Paul Daoust, Drums: the elusive Russell Foley...where are you kid?

Home...

Safe and sound in Raleigh after a half day long car ride with Lacy and her sister.  We left at around 7:30 this morning, stopped once in Philly to pick up Lacy's sister, once more for a bathroom break and a final time just before Stafford, VA to get lunch.  The only two bouts of traffic happened between D.C. and Fredricksburg and then again after Stafford so we wound up pulling in to my parents' house around 7:30pm.  Half a day later.  My timing was impeccable as dinner was ready as soon as I rolled in, and the kids were just finishing an episode of "Dr. Who."

It's good to be back and with family for a while.  I don't have to head back to NYC until the 27th so that gives me a few days to relax and enjoy my time here, regroup and maybe even start thinking about my approach to next year.  I have also been tasked with cleaning out the garage of my old stuff as my parents are converting the attic where it was all stored into an apartment.  My how things change around here.

I've been totally messing with my own head a little tonight though.  I'm killing time while my laundry finishes (yes, I'm 31 and I'll still do laundry at my parents' house...laugh), and I started to read old blog entries. It was a while before I realized I was gravitating to the 2009 chapters and reminiscing something fierce about those times.  Not sure why but it's really bringing me back to that mindset I was in back then.  It's weird to be here at my folks' house, where I was when I started to dream about this, reading my story and at the same time knowing how it ends, or at least knowing a few chapters ahead.  It's somewhat cathartic actually to look back and see what I was writing about back then and to find my words about my struggle, proof that I was unsure this would work out and how I was just diving in anyway, sink or swim style.  Apparently, I swam and this is almost like getting a chance to go back and tell my past 2009 self that I was on the right track and, though it didn't seem that way at the time, good things were going to happen.  Eventually.

Tomorrow I see the whole entire family and we eat and open presents and eat some more.  I'm hoping to write some more with more reflections about the year and thoughts about where the journey leads next year.  For now, I'm going to get some sleep because I've been up since 7:30am and I'm running on only 5 hours of sleep.  Good night.

Thanksgiving aftermath...

...or, secondary title, I've never had so much food in my fridge from one meal and my kitchen has never smelled so good.  So, all in all, it was a success.  The turkey brine was a great idea.  It left my turkey insanely moist for a bird that just spend almost 3 hours in the oven and the process was pretty simple.  Now, I have a bucket leftover for such tasks should I want to do something like this again in the future.  I probably will.

My gluten free rolls were better the first time around but they still were pretty good today.  Nice and soft, and not too gummy or brittle.  Unlike the stuffing.  I used a loaf of Udi's Gluten Free bread which is my go to for sandwiches but somehow it didn't stand up to being turned into stuffing.  It's crumbly still, though less than other brands, and when the moisture in the chicken broth hit it, it started to disintegrate into a grainy mush.  Not Good Eats, as Alton would say.  It did the job just fine though and was certainly tasty, just not quite the right texture.  I added a red delicious apple for more flavor and used shallots instead of onions.

The gravy also did not thicken as much as I wanted, probably owing to the simple fact that I didn't use enough corn starch to thicken it.  It did gelatinize in the fridge though so that's good.  Maybe it'll be better tomorrow.  Lastly, the sweet potato and turnip mash was amazing and I have so much of it I ended up freezing a huge portion of it, along with a large portion of turkey soup I made after dinner.  The turkey soup, even though I didn't boil the carcass for all that long (maybe an hour and a half), came out excellent and it left my kitchen smelling amazing. That'll be great for the colder weeks to come.

After dinner, we ate a pie that Alexa's mom made.  Pumpkin with a crushed pecan and date crust.  It was so good I'm having to stop myself from eating another slice just because they left me a couple.  It'll be amazing tomorrow.  She had also brought a gluten free quiche that we devoured for brunch when they first arrived.  Crust made out of shredded potato hash. 

I guess all this just goes to show you how a gluten free Thanksgiving is totally possible and not all that hard.  In fact, the harder aspects of today were the typical things that anyone would find difficult doing this for the first time or the thousandth time.  And a lot of that falls under the timing category.

And though it was a challenge, timing everything to be ready at the same time, I managed and it reminds me how much I love planning and executing.  Also how much I love cooking.  I have forgotten that in recent days when I'm confined to cooking quick cooking meals that can reheat well (i.e. one pot dishes and simple chicken dishes, never fish because it never reheats well) and that I can bring to work in separate portions so I only have to cook once or twice a week.  This presents its own challenges and can be fun if I have the enthusiasm and creativity to change it up every once in a while, but some weeks when I'm trying to cram so much into a day between full time work, yoga, and freelancing in voice over and music, it gets tempting to just fall into a pattern and stick with what works.  So I'm almost never trying new things like, say, brining a turkey or baking gluten free rolls.  So, this was great fun.  And I'm thankful that I had the opportunity and the means to pull it off and that I have friends and family to share it with.  That's what it's all about after all. 

And for the record, I'm also thankful that I'm living in this city, still surviving after almost four years, doing what I love and accomplishing, albeit slowly, what I set out to do.  Signing off after a long full day of food and friends.  Early day tomorrow.  Good night. 

Thanksgiving 2012 Best Shots

Thanksgiving blurb...

The bird is out of the brine and hanging out in the refrigerator until it's time to stick it in the oven, the stuffing is cooling on the stove top (looking rather strange owing to the fact that I used gluten free bread and it's kind of falling apart in there...should be extra mushy). I just cut up a cantaloupe in anticipation of the arrival of my guests, who are bringing with them: a gluten free quiche, a gluten free pumpkin pie, some asparagus to roast later on (which I hope I have room for in the fridge when they get here), and hopefully some moral support. 

I'm kidding.  I have a schedule written out starting with the time the oven goes on straight up until the rolls and asparagus go into the oven to bake and roast respectively.  I've been meticulous and thorough (I keep telling myself).  We opted for a late afternoon meal which is different from what I grew up with.  By now, the kitchen is usually incredibly steamy from the oven that's been on since early in the morning when my mom got up to start the meal cooking and we were aiming for a 2pm meal time.  That's why I felt a little nervous sitting around watching TV this morning while I waited.  I've had it in my head that it takes from 6am to 2pm to cook a Thanksgiving meal.  Now that I think about it I'm not sure what my mom was doing that early, except maybe making the stuffing ahead of time and making the dough for the onion rolls.  I think I recall the bird actually going in the oven around 9am or so. 

Either way, I think I've done enough research that this is going to go over quite well.  Before and after pics of the bird? Why not.  Stay tuned. 

Perspective...

I'd like to talk about perspective tonight.  I've been thinking a lot lately about how easy it is to be down on myself for not having accomplished enough, not having arrived at certain milestones I hoped to or expected to have arrived at, or just not being busy enough at any given moment. I try not to get overwhelmed with the sheer number of ambitions I currently have, and struggle constantly with how not to neglect any or all of them. 

I'm just finishing the end of my first work week post vacation and I still don't feel fully acclimated and back on my routine. I even kept up with music work while I was gone, both on the film score and the dance music and did some editing for the videos from the Galapagos Art Space show back in May.  I even almost got another voice over gig and planned ahead enough to bring my equipment and software to Raleigh in case I had to voice something while I was there. (Two thumbs up there because I totally would have pulled it off had they actually offered me the spot). 

I had a good 9 day vacation, the first part of which was spent here in the city, visiting with my folks who drove up here to hang out and meet my girlfriend one day, driving upstate the next day with them to my family reunion in East Greenbush, NY.  After this it was back to Brooklyn for a night then down to Virginia the next morning to see my sister and her family, then the very next day on to NC to laze around my parents' pool and see my other sister.  As if this wasn't enough driving, my folks needed to turn over their rental units in Boone, NC near Appalachian State University so I hitched a ride to see my brother.  After an afternoon enjoying Boone culminating in a fantastic jam session, we drove back to Raleigh the next morning and I spent two more afternoons by the pool right up until I had to fly back on Thursday to NYC.

After such a fun filled and, somehow, simultaneously lazy week, it would be easy to feel overwhelmed getting back to the city.  Funny enough, when I examined what I was most concerned about, it was the one thing that I had neglected (in fact, was forced to neglect in a way): Voice over auditions.  Now, forget for a minute that, on any given day, I'm at the mercy of the automated casting system with the sites that I'm a part of and whether the spots they send me are even a fit for my voice.  Besides there not being that many gigs I would have applied for, I had a lot of other things to do.  Chief among them taking it easy for a few days.  And I most certainly did.

I finally came to it today, though, what would make me feel better about the past week: looking not at what slipped through the cracks but what go picked up, essentially.  Then, taking a step further back, looking at those things I have accomplished so far this year (it's only slightly more than halfway over, after all).  Versus what is yet to be done.  I mean, if you think about it, changing my perspective as such is probably more likely to give me the boost I need to knock out those remaining tasks, than sitting around kicking myself, am I right?

So, let's wrap: in the last week, while I was supposedly vacationing, I finished editing Tania's videos from the Galapagos show, made some more revisions on the Samurai score, before my vacation even started I hammered out a mock-up for the dancer I'm writing for now, and discovered that, should I happen to get a voice gig when I'm in NC visiting my parents, packing my suitcase with a mere 8 extra pounds of stuff (i.e. audio equipment), is all I need to do to ensure that I don't miss any opportunities.

Looking at this entire year so far, what have I done?  I've gotten my first 6 paid voice over gigs, scored four short films and a promo, and had a world premiere of one of my pieces at a world class venue in New York City.

Since, I got back to the city, I also got organized and looked at my expenses and cash flow and realized that after all of the above, I am not operating my business at a loss like last year.  Granted, I'm not making all that much money in the grand scheme of things but, in keeping with the theme of this blog, I choose to focus on the positive. 

Either way, missing out on auditioning for a week is not going to kill me.  And just the simple act of counting up all those accomplishments has lifted my spirits quite a bit. I think I can relax now and enjoy the start of my weekend.  And you all should enjoy the links I'm about to post to the Galapagos show.

http://www.timdaoust.com/2012/08/improvisation-with-tania-stavreva/
http://soundcloud.com/composertim/quivering-filament-of

The Time Management Ninja...

I gotta admit I was almost stumped there on how to squeeze in all the activities I had planned this week.  But my grad school time management skills have not yet failed me.  I figured out a way to go to almost every yoga class I wanted to, make up one of the two make up co-op shifts I owe before my vacation starts, pack for said vacation, stretch my remaining clean clothes until I have time to do laundry on Wednesday, fit in rehearsals with Lacy and two of the three open mics we wanted to do, a meet up with Tania about the video from Galapagos at my place Thursday morning and find some quality time with a friend I've been seeing.  Indeed I might even have time to meet another friend for drinks before she moves to Florida next week and, god willing, train my cat to stop peeing on my couch (bought some Nature's Miracle no spray spray on the way to brunch after church this morning).

And on top of it all, I have time to still work a full time job and juggle two music projects.  Regrettably, voice over is taking a break this week, but that's okay because I got another gig from the guy out in Oregon I've been voicing videos for and have finished that already.  The two music projects are the Samurai film, for which I await instruction on the next round of revisions, and a mockup for a collaboration with Marie-Christine Giordano, the dancer whom I met at the bus stop a few months back who knew Lacy from their days at Martha Graham.

That's a fun project and it'll be a nice change from all the film work I've done lately.   So far we've sat down at her studio, bounced around ideas and came up with a palette of sounds which I'm currently trying to creatively string together into something coherent.  Little by little.  It's coming along well and I'm really psyched for this project.  I love working with dancers but I also love a project where I can come in early on in the process.  More on this later.

I have an exciting week with Lacy coming up too.  We're reconnecting with the open mic scene while she simultaneously scouts locations for some potential gigs.  On Wednesday night at 7pm we hit Bar 82 in the E. Village and on Thursday we will try out a new one: Lucky Jack's on the LES.  I'm psyched for both especially the new one.  Later that night we will go see her friend Tom Tallitsch, a jazz musician she's worked with, at The Garage in the W. Village.

And all this is made more exciting by the fact, that after this Tuesday, I don't have to be back at work until the 3rd of August, a full 9 days off!  My folks will be in town Friday and we will likely do a leisurely day in Brooklyn, potentially Botanical Gardens or something else outside…perhaps even the Intrepid museum, which I discovered I can get into free with my NY1 badge.  Saturday we will head upstate for the Cousins by the Dozens family reunion.  Then Sunday we drive to Virginia to see my sister's family, Monday it's to NC to see my other sister's family and laze around by the pool.  Then Tuesday, I go see my brother in the mountains of NC, with a potential jam session still on the docket the last time I spoke with mon frère.  Then, it's back to NC for at least one more full day of lazing by the pool.  I know.  It sounds like a lot of travel.  But the pay off is I get to see everyone.  But I am going to get sick of cars.  I'll probably blog later on this week and as I'm traveling.  For now, I'm going to sleep though because this crazy week I have planned starts tomorrow morning at 8am!

Bus ride #3, and gaining experience...

Bus trip #3 in as many weeks.  Going to VA via DC to see my sister and her family.  We have tickets to see Willie Nelson tonight so that should be fun.  It'll be great to see the kids again too.

Been on my laptop since I got on this bus an hour and a half ago, remarkably productive despite only about 5 hours of broken sleep.  It'll catch up to me soon.  Since there's still most of the ride ahead of me I'll probably sleep once I finish this blog.

Thinking about gaining experience this morning and honing sensibility and how valuable that really is.  I can read only so much about the craft of film scoring but actually practicing these things I learn is really the only way to get good at it and develop the sensibility one needs to excel at it.  Think about how certain things sound good as music for its own sake, but when you put these things against a moving image it may not necessarily work.  The things that make the music work against the image are often subjective but also universal and then at the same time hard to pinpoint with mere words.

I've been thinking about a certain part of this film in particular, a sequence involving a fight, an escape and a secondary struggle and then submission.  My first take of music for this scene was very song-like, rhythmic and repetitive and had developed to a certain point in the melody where it needed to be, but had done so far too early.  These are the kinds of things one must consider.  Not just mood, instrumentation or tempo but levels of intensity, buildup and decay I am working with must match the action precisely.  I can't get there too soon or take too long to get there otherwise the music will seem separate and transmit superficiality.  That's exactly what was happening with this particular scene.  I had made it seem a tad superficial because the music, while I had nailed the mood and tempo needed for the scene, was apart from the scene and seemed to be doing its own thing.  

Incidentally, this kind of sensibility, being in tune with what works and what the director wants, is fairly crucial.  A lot of musicians can write a pretty melody or capture a mood but to be able to do so at the same intensity and rate as what's on screen takes a lot of care and patience.  A lot of patience.  The first take may never work perfectly.

That said, getting better at needing fewer takes is apparently the name of the game now and is what I am hopefully going to take away from this experience to apply to the next job.  No news on what that is yet but will keep you up to date.  For now, I sleep.

Gluten Free for almost two years...

2:38am.  Tired.  Will soon be rubbing sleep out of eyes.

Spent a nice weekend in NC and didn't even think to blog about any of it until now.  Trips to see the family and friends back in NC are becoming scarcer and more significant.  We managed to coordinate (for the second time in a row) getting everyone out there (I mean all 15 of us, from my parents and siblings to significant others and kids) and despite the cacophony of having that many people in one place, the whole weekend was pretty relaxing.  And I ate.  A lot.  And laughed a lot and played with the kids a lot.  I even had to pack a whole extra bag full of presents and leftover food which prompted me to take a cab ride from the airport…something I rarely do.  But it was much needed what with the weight of everything I was carrying.  Thankfully, I'm at a point where taking a cab in the city is second nature and I know how to avoid getting screwed over.  The cab ride was well worth it, too, because it got me home with time to spare before work.   Yes, straight into overnight after my vacation…that's just how I roll.  

Today (meaning yesterday at the point when this is posting), instead of diving back into work on all the projects I have going on, I sat around the apartment for most of the day getting situated and organizing my thoughts.  Also fixing random things.  The cylinder in the front door lock in my apartment had come loose and I had to take it apart to tighten it up.  Plus a piece of one of my presents (a rather nice mandolin slicer from my brother-in-law Jim) fell off and broke in my bag during the flight so I super-glued that back together as well.   

All in time to make it to another Celiac meetup in the Village.  A maker of gluten free rolls was having a launch party for her new line of bread rolls called Free Bread.  So there was free bread there (plus rolls for purchase).   And they were having buy one get one on all gluten free beer…which was pretty much Redbridge but that was cool.  I brought a friend with who was not Celiac but she didn't mind.  The venue was 116 Macdougal, a cool basement level bar with stone walls and a sense of history about it that I have yet to look into.   There was also a jazz band entertaining us called The Pendulum Swings.  5 horns, bass, drums and keys and one rather eccentric lead singer.    

After the meetup, my friend and I tried to go to Pala Pizza on Allen Street for some more gluten free goodies but found that it was closed this week only for renovations.  So, we hopped a cab over to Risotteria to satiate that gluten free need of mine.  Risotteria is always a winner as far as I'm concerned.  I'm pretty sure tonight was the first time I got to try their pizza, though, as every other time I've gone there I've been compelled to eat the risotto as it's something you can't get anywhere else.  The pizza was damn good though.  Expensive but good.  

It's one of those things though that you just kind of come to expect.  Everything is going to be expensive when it's not in high demand.  All specialty flours and gourmet ingredients.  It costs more to make sure it's gluten free and not cross contaminated.  I'm going on two years since I was diagnosed and despite all this, the expensive food, the difficult social situations and the constant worry that I'm going to end up eating the wrong thing or that I'm unknowingly ingesting something I shouldn't be, I'm feeling pretty confident about it all.   It's not hard to go for days without the worry of getting gluten-ed.  I have my routines, I have my go to foods when I'm in a pinch and I have nothing with me.  And I can handle social situations, especially where drinking is involved, rather easily now.  

The trick to a lot of this is that the information is out there, the advice as well.  It's just a matter of having the right attitude to not despair and say, "I'm going to figure out how to adjust to this."  It took months of not feeling better, going back on gluten and then getting rediagnosed this past March for me to come to that but there it is.   I basically went through all the stages of denial back in 2010 (granted, I did so a little out of order with acceptance coming first with the relief of knowing what was wrong, followed by grief at the loss of all my favorite foods and beverages, but then denial and anger setting in when I started to feel worse and ultimately bargaining starting when I decided that maybe it wouldn't be a big deal if I just ate sprouted grain bread instead of crumbly gluten free bread).  So, this past March when I heard the bad news from my new doctor, I felt bad for half a day but then I talked myself out of the despair.  I thought, "I'm going to approach this totally different this time."  It was my instinct that going through all those stages again was not going to help me at all.  I had a choice of how I was going to look at the diagnosis.  A curse?  Or just my lot.  There are a whole host of other auto immune disorders that are far worse and a dietary change is not the hardest thing in the world to cope with.  I wasn't going to go listing all the things I'd have to go without when I could think of what I can eat and how to be proactive in finding the best ways to acquire those things as inexpensively as possible.  And just get on with living my life.  

And that's that.  Another thing that helps?  Actually going to these Celiac meetups and meeting people who have the same thing I do.  It's about solidarity.   Hopefully, I'll be going to a lot more of them soon.   

    

Cousins...

I don't have any pictures yet but the visit with Cousin Kelley and her husband Brice was pretty fun.  Of course, yours truly had to work through most of it but I did get to spend a little time playing tour guide, mostly this afternoon.  

Yesterday, we managed to get up to the Highline Park together during my break, after they spent most of the morning and afternoon in Central Park and then midtown checking out window displays.  When I left work later that night, we all met at 5 Napkin Burger, one of the best burger joints in NYC in my humble opinion.  I discovered that they have gluten free buns there too so I was psyched to safely devour a nice greasy burger, smothered in aioli mayonnaise, caramelized onions and gruyere cheese.   Unfortunately, later in the evening I accidentally broke my gluten free streak by inadvertently sipping Katrina's beer at Heartland Brewery while she was in the bathroom.  Oops!  I laughed it off.  Shit happens!

Today, after they went to the MET we all converged on Carnegie to see the American Symphony Orchestra.  Katrina was working the concert so she got us all free tickets.  Orchestra seats with a clear view of the pianist's hands!  We didn't stay to hear Liszt's Faust Symphony but we did enjoy a piano concerto by Busoni.  Both pieces were around an hour long so we opted not to stay past intermission so they could pack in some more sight seeing.

I knew that Brice was keen on getting some decent pizza in and seeing the World Trade Center.  So, I figured I would take them to the Village and see about either Risotteria if we had time or Joe's if we didn't.  At 6:30 they needed to be at the Minskoff Theater for The Lion King.  Which got me thinking…dinner first? Or should we head straight on to Chambers Street?  Despite not having eaten since breakfast they chose WTC first.

It was the perfect time of day to be down there, too, with the sunlight fading and illuminating the glass of the buildings a pinkish-orange hue.  After circling the site, passing Zucotti park which was mostly empty save for some police officers and barriers and one guy shouting about Tylenol, we wound down to Greenwich street trying to get a closer look at the Memorial Site.  Right next to this mural, was a man engaging all the passersby with anecdotes and historical facts about the site and the attacks, showing them his photo album from the WTC site.  He was a wealth of info so we listened in for a bit until he mentioned the Sphere, a sculpture that used to sit in the plaza of the old World Trade Center that was salvaged after the attacks.  The sculpture now sits in Battery Park, a short walk away from where we were.  I suggested we go see it and we managed to arrive in Battery Park city, a few blocks south, just as the sun was setting over the harbor.  So that was nice timing.  After viewing the sculpture and then snapping a few pictures at the water's edge, we headed back to the Village, hoping to have time to sit down and eat some pizza at Risotteria before they had to head up to midtown for their show.

Luckily, Risotteria was able to seat us right away and we had plenty of time to enjoy our meal.  We even had time to snag Brice a cannoli at Rocco's Pastry shop on Bleeker Street.  On top of that, while standing outside scanning for a cab they got to experience a little slice of New York when a police car turned a corner in front of us, trying to break through the traffic on Bleeker.  Getting on the loudspeaker, the officer instructed the car in front of him to pull to the right so he could slide through in the bike lane.  When the driver of the car instead opted to try and pull up on the curb on the left side of the street, the officer said, "Okay, pal, maybe in your country!"

So we got a good laugh about that.  Then, I took them over to Carmine Street to give a little lesson in hailing a cab and sent them on their way to the musical.  And of course, I went home and tried to sleep it all off before the overnight…where I now sit typing this blog entry.  

Tonight, I'm going to be working on a theme for George's pilot episode of "The Life."  More on that as it unfolds.  There's no real deadline for this but I'm working on a driving rock song to accompany the mood of that series he's hoping to develop.  On top of that, I'm working on an accordion driven piece for Mohammad's film reel, talking with my new friend Steve, the cinematographer from Sides of the Track about scoring his film reel and potentially collaborating with Chad, a co worker of mine who is the D.P. for "The Life" on some small side projects.  So, there's a lot of opportunity coming up in the next few weeks to months.  Tania and I will be performing again on the 26th of this month at the Cornelia Street Cafe in the Village and I'll be sure to let you all know about that.  So long for now!  Gotta get to work!

Conquered by the Adirondacks...

Okay, first of all, my left leg really hurts right now.  I'm debating going to the doctor about it.  Backpacking did not help it at all, obviously, but it feels way worse.  Worse enough that I'm taking Ibuprofen right now, something I haven't done in years.

The camping trip was a lot of fun though.  Even if we did get cut short and even if I did come off the mountain feeling pretty crappy.  We drove up to Lake George, NY from Albany, stopping briefly to get a few things at an Eastern Mountain Supply store, and lunch, in Saratoga Springs.  Here's a link to the hike that we did.  The Tongue Mountain Range.  I said it was fun but the following description is going to make me sound practically sadistic. 

We were supposed to hike up to the first lean-to about 3 miles in, camp and then do part of the loop, possibly camping further in and making it back to the car early Sunday morning.  We revised this plan when we saw the lean-to was free and decided we'd take what we needed in our day packs leaving the larger ones behind in the lean-to, so that we could make good time around the loop on Saturday and camp in the same spot Saturday night so we'd be near the car.

Then, of course, that plan got blown out too.  We knew as we watched the sun set from a clearing near the lean-to, a rain cloud slowly creeping up, that the weather was going to figure pretty prominently in our plans for the next day.

We couldn't start a fire because everything was too damp, though we tried for an hour or so.  An earlier attempt to use stove fuel to get something going proved futile even if it did almost singe my eyebrows.  (This, immediately after J. Scott said to me, as I was trying to light the fire a bit too cautiously, "I didn't put that much on there." Famous last words.)  Our decision to cut things short, though we made it the next morning upon seeing the rain finally start in earnest, was actually somewhat influenced by this inability to ignite anything.  The camping stove was leaking fuel too, so between that and our lack of campfire, hot food wasn't an option.

We slept pretty soundly in that old lean-to but shortly after we woke and saw the rain starting and felt the cold chill in the air, the lean-to began to leak, first above my head and then above J. Scott's.  A futile attempt was made to repair the camping stove but peanut butter sandwiches ended up being the breakfast of choice.  We then agreed on a plan to hike back to the car, drop our packs and take a smaller pack each, filled with snacks and water, back up the mountain to explore the shorter Dear Leap out-and-back trail.  This took us to a nice vista of the lake and the town of Hulett's Landing on the far shore.  The wind was so heavy that even from our height we could see white caps in the lake.

Dreaming of diner coffee and steak and eggs, we hiked back up the steep incline and back to the car.  Both pairs of socks I was wearing were thoroughly soaked when we arrived at the car because my boots are no longer water-proof apparently.  When I sat down in the car, I felt like I had fever and my bones were chilled.  It was a bizarre sensation, but I guess it was I was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a nylon wind-breaker over it and the hike had simultaneously heated me up and chilled my extremities.  Though I had wrapped my knee before attempting the hike, it throbbed something awful, too.

No matter.  We had called my aunt before setting out to inform her of our predicament.  She offered to have us over so we could get out of the rain and put us up for the night.  Before heading down there, though, we found a little street side diner where I got my much sought after steak and eggs and was able to charge my phone and call my aunt to talk logistics.  We took our time getting down there and made sure we showed up with food and drinks...never mind that it took a wild goose chase around the towns of Coxsackie and Athens and several back roads in between to find a grocery store that was actually across the street from our first stopping point in Coxsackie; the liquor store.  I'm a terrible navigator and was not able to redeem myself the whole weekend.

Anyway, as a result of my plan and my aunt's hospitality, I had a nice relaxing evening as opposed to trying to sleep out in the rain again.  She made us a dinner of ham and cabbage with potatoes (just the thing on a cold evening) and J. Scott and I watched the Florida Gators game until my aunt returned from her defensive driving course.  That night I slept like a rock.  Forget that the Adirondacks beat us.  We were comfortable.   

This evening I still feel pretty sick though and my leg is not happy at all so I'm taking the night off work to recover.  Hopefully, I can stay off my leg for a day and give it some time to actually get better.  Because this Wednesday, I have plans to go to the Statue of Liberty with a friend.  And I'm pretty sure there's no elevator there.

Coming back home to Brooklyn was interesting.  The contractors worked in my apartment at a break-neck pace this weekend and did sort of a sloppy job.  The new sheet rock is stained through brown from the dampness of the bricks and it doesn't even look as though they did anything but make it worse, at least aesthetically.  If I don't hear from my landlord tomorrow about our demands as per the rent for this month and our security deposit, he'll be hearing from me.  With any luck, we'll be looking at new apartments by the end of the week and not this:

Messed up Kitchen

The prospects for this week are starting to look worse than that other week I was complaining about a few entries ago when nothing would go right.  This time, I have a bum leg, I'm getting a cavity filled on Tuesday, I'm still in a crappy apartment and I could go on but I won't.  I found a four-leaf clover today while waiting for the bus in Albany and couldn't help but hope that my luck might change soon.  We'll see.

Rain and wind...

I'm sure everyone in NYC is starting to freak out. Meanwhile, NC is clearing up. We spent the day watching relatively tame winds and rain from the porch and grazing on food around the house. The power went off around noon and we soon found out it was due to a tree which had fallen on some power lines that feed my parents' street. Surprisingly I wasn't half as stir crazy as I thought I would be in a house with 15 people and no power. No, we're pretty well adapted around here. Anticipating at least a dip in the power, my mother had most of the food for the day prepared before it cut out. Lunch was her famous corn and cheese chowder and dinner was mostly cold salads with steak that was to be grilled (my dad wheeled the grill over to the garage door to get out of the rain). The only thing that was a bust was the bean dish that we usually do in the crock pot. The whipped cream icing for my niece and my dad's birthday cake almost didn't happen but my brother-in-law the chef ended up whipping that up by hand because he's the man. We even broke out the Sterno for some coffee after dessert.

I needed to charge my phone at one point because, admittedly, checking Facebook ran my phone battery down. My dad has a 400 watt converter in his car hooked up to the cigarette lighter adapter so we went out there to escape the kids for a while and charge my phone up. This led my dad and I to take an excursion in his car to see the very tree responsible for our situation. Later on we took a walk back up that way to get closer than we could in a car. The police had blocked the road while the workers removed the tree and got the power lines back up and running. Even with them working all afternoon, the power didn't actually come back on until around 8pm. By then, even with the fading daylight we were already all in the pool because the rain had finally stopped. It's a mark of how well we fared without power that seeing the porch light click on while we were out there didn't even register with me.

Now, I sit blogging at the kitchen table, talking to my brother, drinking a gluten free beer and listening to Ra Ra Riot on Grooveshark, fully ensconced in my electrified life again. So, as I sit with my comforts and the thought of a full sunny day to swim in the pool tomorrow I say "Good luck NYC!" It's going to be a real shit storm for you guys. Have fun! And of course, be safe! Here's a video of the wind outside my parents' house:

Airport blues already...

This was typed earlier today in the airport:

This does not bode well. I've been here since 10am and my plane keeps getting further delayed. First it was late getting here. Now, the plane needs maintenance, and apparently, two hours worth. This bird better be flightworthy by the time I get on it. And all this time I keep thinking about how Sunday is going to be so much worse. Or maybe not. At least Sunday, I'll know ahead of time about delays and cancellations. I can plan ahead and not even bother to come to the airport. Only thing is, if I have to miss another day of work because of this storm, I'll have to use a personal day I was intending to use for a camping trip I was going to take with a friend in late September. That might get blown out or moved to sometime in the middle of the week when I don't have to use personal days to get the time off.

Going on four hours in this god-forsaken airport but this is till nowhere near the longest I have spent in an airport. That title goes to a stint that I spent at this very same airport on the way back from Paris in 2002. The scene: I was returning from a month long study abroad trip in Angers, France with 5 of my classmates, anticipating a layover that we were all prepared for. It was probably the reason our flight was so cheap. We were to land at New York's JFK airport at 8pm and then take a cab to LaGuardia to await an 8am flight the next morning. On paper this didn't seem so bad as we thought, incorrectly, that we'd be able to leave the airport, get a hotel and spend some time partying in the city as a final highlight to our trip. The reality of the situation was that by the time we got to LaGuardia, it was 10pm and there was nothing open, no way of checking our luggage until the morning or checking in for that matter. If we'd tried we maybe could have gotten a hotel room for the night near the airport but for what? To wake up at 5am to make sure we made our flight on time? No, we decided collectively to spend the night in the terminal (this very same terminal in which I sit only out in the lobby). We slept in shifts and some of us started hallucinating. But back then, it was fun. Despite the jet lag (considering we had been awake since 7am Paris time) and all that goes along with that, we just powered through. Funny how a few hours in an airport when you don't know when you're getting out of there can seem so much worse than a situation where you know what you're in for.

In the middle of typing that story, I got talking to a woman who was also waiting to fly back to Raleigh, swapping stories and speculating as to when we would actually get out of there and what the best course of action would be. She became my airport friend pretty fast. It came out in conversation that she is actually the owner of the Guglhupf Bakery in Durham, a place that I've been to a handful of times and have always enjoyed. So that was kind of cool. It helps at a time like this to have a friend to go through it all with. Someone to bond with over the shared discomfort and aggravation of airport delays. It's also good to have someone to drink with. She was very outgoing and had already made friends with two French guys who were also flying to Raleigh. At one point, when trying to explain to them what was going on with our flights, she turned to me and jokingly asked how my French was. So I was on the hook and had to try my best to help out. I stuttered out a few phrases but ultimately the jist of what was going on ended up being communicated in simplified English phrases.

So anyway, we were all collectively losing faith in the maintenance crew working on our plane (and I'm starting to wonder when they're going to just swap planes out instead of trying to fix a plane that obviously has a real problem with it). My new friend then proposed that we see about switching flights, a thought that had occurred to me as well. So we started to ask the woman at the desk if there was another flight to Raleigh we could switch to. There was. But not until 3:20. At this point, I think it was around 1pm. So 3:20 was not seeming so bad. At least it was a solid time we could somewhat count on. They were literally announcing every half hour that it would be another hour until our plane was fixed. So, I swapped my ticket out. But it was only a matter of time before the word came down that they were, in fact, swapping our plane out with one that had just landed. So then they were saying the original flight was going to leave before the 3:20 flight. We decided to switch back to that flight because there was one fundamental difference between the 3:20 flight and the flight we were originally on: The 3:20 flight hadn't even arrived yet. The new plane they swapped us to was at least on the ground at LaGuardia and pulling into our terminal.

Once we had all that settled, my new friend and I went and had a drink and I scarfed a burger while she periodically checked back at the gate to see what our status was. We later found out the 3:20 was delayed getting to LaGuardia and when I finally did arrive in Raleigh, on the original flight, my airport friend heard from her friend that our flight was the last one in to Raleigh-Durham airport before they shut down the airport. So the 3:20 flight wouldn't have even made it out of NYC! What luck!

Getting into Raleigh and hearing all this news about airports closing and seeing the dark clouds on the horizon was pretty crazy. But not even the fact that a light drizzle had started to fall kept me from jumping straight into the pool when I got here. Now, I'm sitting typing this blog watching HD TV and hanging out with the family. So glad to be here right now. While I was waiting at the airport I got an automated phone call from US Airways informing me that my flight back Sunday was cancelled. I called right away to get another fight but was already hearing that every flight into NYC on Sunday was cancelled. I managed to book a flight back on Monday afternoon so hopefully, that will be the least eventful travel day of this crazy ass weekend. Meanwhile, it means that I get a full sunny day of swimming in the pool after all. Sunday should be nice.

Train logic....

Often on a train ride home I find I have multiple options as to what route I take. The number of routes I could possibly take numbers in the double digits and it usually depends on which train comes first. During rush hour anyway, any route will take about thirty to forty minutes. In cases where it's late at night and the number of stops, whether the train is stopping at local stops and whether or not it's actually running on its regular route, all come in to play, often it makes sense almost immediately which one is the best way to go. But sometimes I find myself debating what could get me home faster, if I actually have the time to engage in such ridiculous analytical exercises. Picture it: I'm on the F and the train is stopped at the Jay Street/Metro Tech stop in Downtown Brooklyn for a seemingly indefinite period of time (probably more like 3 minutes). Here, I could forego the waiting, get up and switch to the R up the stairs and down the hall. Or, I could stay on the train until 4th Avenue/9th Street and switch to the R there. I'm debating whether I'll end up waiting for the train longer at Jay Street or at 9th Street and then I'm wondering if the R train is even stopping at Jay Street (it is the weekend, though probably not late enough on a Friday night for the service changes to be in effect). If I get up and check, I risk missing both trains and having to wait for the next F. If I stay on the F until 9th Street, then I'm at least walking distance from home should the R train fail me entirely or if I end up missing the connection and don't feel like waiting longer. A unique aspect of the R train stop at 4th Avenue/9th Street is that it takes me the same amount of time to walk home as it does to wait for another train when I've just missed one late at night. Just about. So, I end up staying on the train at Jay Street and getting off at 9th Street for the R train. And wouldn't you know it? I just miss the R train at 9th Street. Maybe I could have caught that same R train if I had gotten off at Jay Street? Or maybe I would have just missed it there too and had to wait the same 10 minutes.

So you see, to some degree, such speculative calculating is seemingly useless especially when you factor in the amount of time it actually saves. It's usually zero time though it might be 5 to 10 minutes. Maybe I find it fun because while it may not save time it certainly kills time and on the off chance that it does save me time it gives me a boost of confidence like I have beaten the system that screws me over so regularly. It is also good to know these things when considering whether or not to even bother with trying an alternate route that isn't dictated by which train arrives first. After all, in this case, the distance in number of stops between Jay Street and 9th Street is the same on the R train as it is on the F train (at least it will be when they open up Smith/9th Sts again).

And then I deal with ironies like the fact that the route that is shortest for me from home to work, in terms of number of stops, requires that I take 3 trains, while the route that takes the fewest train connections nears the most possible stops it could take me to get to work.

Either way, whether thinking like this can make my dealings with the MTA more efficient or not, it certainly does make good practice at time management in every other aspect of my life. I use the same kind of logic in the name of productivity when deciding what to work on while at home and what to save for while I'm on the train or at work in my downtime. It doesn't make much sense to answer emails at home or blog at home when I have work to accomplish that I could only do with the equipment I have here at home. I can't exactly bring my MIDI keyboard to work so I can compose on my break. Nor can I practice piano or write songs on the guitar (or do laundry for that matter). I can, however, mix things on my laptop, write blog entries and answer emails from my phone or laptop while at work or in transit.

That's not what I'm doing now. No, I'm actually blogging at home after a thundery, rainy commute home and debating, as always, what to start working on next. I have to play piano at church on Sunday, so I'll practice a little bit and I feel like I may be able to accomplish some VO stuff tonight but ultimately, I'm just planning for the week. I'm planning on starting to take a look at a few pieces that I've left unfinished and seeing what sparks the most inspiration to decide what I'll work on next there. I'm still waiting for a friend to find me lyrics for the choral piece, so there's almost no reason to start work on it yet. I'm excited because, beyond all that, on Thursday, I'm shooting down to Philly for half a day to record some guitar tracks for Lacy's new album. After that, I fly to NC for a little visit to the family. When I get back is when I'll really get to dive into my new projects. For now, I think I'd better get to practicing...

The concert...

Rhythmic Movement was a great success! Tania's concert received a pretty big turnout considering the size of the venue. We even spotted a few reviewers in the crowd! In addition, I had the premier of my work, "Moon, Tides, Cycles" and I couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome. Actually, that's not true. I could have been way more pleased but after a certain point you just have to accept outcomes and embrace them.

The performance itself went over really well and the piece was very well received. But the venue had limitations. Nevermind a few misunderstandings with the main sound guy (who wasn't even there that night), when we arrived for our sound check we met Ted who was much more accommodating. However, I was to find out that a crucial aspect of my piece was going to be impossible to achieve. The panning. Yes, even though I told the sound guys that I was giving them stereo outs from my laptop, I forgot to mention that I would need to be able to pan my mix left and right. There was nothing to be done in a pinch though. The house system was set up to sub both stereo channels to one output. The speakers were just a cluster over the stage pointed out in three directions at the seating area. So, no panning for me, and thus a crucial part of the piece was not heard. Well, no one knew the difference but me anyway. And when it comes down to it, it's not wholly essential for the piece to come across. And I still did the panning while on stage mixing because he told us that the recording could have two distinct channels of stereo. So, at least we'll be able to hear the whole piece at some point.

Leading up to the performance, I felt that familiar thrill of nerves (yes, I know I was just twiddling knobs up there but there's a performance element even in that!) and had to meditate to not let it overwhelm me. I then realized that it had to be compounded by the amount of caffeine I inadvertently ingested throughout the day (cup of green tea, two cups of mate and a ginseng black and green tea that had mate in it as well!). The nice part about performing though is that all this energy gets to be channeled into something you're creating. And the release of it all is the best part of the act. If you've ever performed you know what I'm talking about.

The most exciting part of the evening for me, aside from actually performing, was spotting the reviewers out in the crowd. I saw at least two gentleman sitting by themselves and writing on their programs in the dark and I figured them immediately for press.

The response afterward was nice, too. I met so many people who enjoyed my piece and heard some very nice compliments. One of my co workers, actually, the gentleman who introduced me to Tania and effectively made this collaboration possible, Asa was there with his wife as well (he showed me some photos he took of us today at work). And both of my parents came as well. They had been spending the weekend up in Athens, NY with my aunt and just took the train down Tuesday evening to Grand Central, where I met them. I spent some time up there as well over the weekend and I never got around to blogging about it!

After I met my parents at Grand Central, we took our time getting back to 25th Street in Brooklyn, stopping at my favorite GF pizza joint in the Flatiron district (an area I'd be spending a lot of time in over the next few days) and went and ate in Madison Square Park. Then we stopped by one of my favorite bars in Cobble Hill, Local 61. We tucked in relatively early because we had designs on getting up early and biking. I dragged my bike through the turnstiles and carted it all the way to Whitehall Street while Mom and dad rented bikes in Battery Park city at Bike and Roll. Mom wanted to get from Battery Park all the way to the George Washington Bridge and we just about did it. I think we turned around at 165th Street and rode back down to 44th Street near the USS Intrepid where we could drop their bikes off. From there I walked my bike back to 8th Avenue and 34th Street to get the A train back to Brooklyn.

All in all, it was a great experience and one I intend to repeat soon with a biking buddy. There are parts of the greenway on the west side that are absolutely gorgeous. There's a causeway at around the 70s and 80s that takes you out over the Hudson River a little ways. Beyond that there's a lane of cherry trees and a fairly wooded stretch. We reached a spot around the 150s where we had a clear view of the bridge (which is actually around 178th Street) and stopped for a series of pictures.

Instant Upload

Additionally, in this album is a shot of our reward which waited for us at 4th Avenue Pub, and me, all suited up back in the Flatiron District before the show last night. There are also a few pictures of the Irish Hunger Memorial that we stumbled on while trying to snake through all the downtown bike lane detours in place from all the construction. You'll even see a pic or two of the new world trade tower.

Yeah, I figured out what I could delete to get a little more storage space on my SD card for my phone so I was actually taking pictures yesterday!

There'll be more on the aftermath of the concert pretty soon as I hear about it. Meanwhile, I have a deadline now with the film score and next Wednesday is mine and Lacy's show at Bar 82.

Gearing up for concerts...

Some of the best moments being a composer are when you hear one of your pieces performed by someone else. It's the moment when the piece starts to live. Before, it's just an idea you've been tossing around in your head and then one day you wrote it down but until it's actually articulated, it's like it's just a theory. Then, it's suddenly an actual valid work of art just by simply having its notes plunked out in a practice room.

Tania and I went to Queens today to go through Moon, Tides, Cycles in one of the practice rooms where she teaches lessons. We really only got to go through the piece one time before I had to head back into the city for work. We were just going over certain improvised parts and interpreting some of my ridiculous notation. It was nice though to hear it realized by a performer not myself. It's also a joy to work with a performer who doesn't complain about a piece being difficult or that there's meter changes in it. (I would get this a lot in graduate school!) She shouldn't have any problem with the piece at all and we're going to get in a couple of rehearsals with the electronics and everything soon. I'm so pysched. We're getting pretty close to the date of the concert and there's still so much to work out just logistic wise. Who's going to tape it, are we going to get it recorded by the people at Metropolitan Room, how are we going to get the word out to the press etc. They're unfortunately not giving us any comp tickets at the venue and there's a freaking two drink minimum...but I hope that won't dissuade any of you from joining us. It really is going to be a unique concert.

Plus, my parents are bringing up my tuxedo for me to wear...I have no idea why I didn't have it with me before now. Guess I just didn't foresee a time when I would wear it when I left NC. There are two in existence and one is from high school while the other is from college. I had to skype with my mom so I could show her which one to bring.

Anyway, Lacy and I had a long rehearsal today and no open mic because we're preparing for the eventuality of a full 40 minute or more set. Spent the first half of the rehearsal working on the logistics of performing with our laptops and the last half doing all the acoustic stuff. Meanwhile, I'm dozing off with my guitar in my hand because for the last year and a half, every Sunday, I take a nap. So, despite getting 10 hours of sleep last night, at 4pm sharp, my body says, "Take a NAP!" The rehearsal went great though despite my lethargy but I've seriously gotta find something else to pay the bills that doesn't require me to basically give myself jet lag every week.

That having been said, I must get back to work.