Edward Snowden The Musical

No, I'm not really writing a musical about Edward Snowden, the former CIA cybersecurity worker who is now exiled in Russia for the year, awaiting who knows what kind of a decision about his future. One of my professors thinks the topic of the NSA and government surveillance would even make a great opera. (What kind of arias would I write for it? Or would it be more like Einstein on the Beach?) Actually, much to my own surprise, I'm working on a new short-ish chamber music composition about the NSA, and more specifically people's feelings about government surveillance and our potential loss of a feeling of privacy over our lives. I think it's going to be written for strings and electronics. I thus find it totally appropriate that the government could pick up on the words in this post and potentially raise an eyebrow to my artistic output.

One of my main challenges in wrestling with this topic is it sheer size. The size of the debate of course doesn't just begin with Snowden, but includes Julian Assange, spy scandals in Britian, and goes all the way back to the "good ole' days" where all you could do to spy is wiretap someone's phone line, take pictures of men cheating on their wives, and intercept their postmail. Thankfully the Guardian has put out a fabulous website that helps clarify a lot of the fundamental issues (from all sides) in the Edward Snowden/NSA saga. The website is mostly in normal-people language, thank goodness, but also includes a lot of the de-classified/leaked documents of which are in question.

It's not so much the facts of the matter that interest me but the emotional content. I've never been much of a political person. I hate political debates and would rather see a list of facts of what candidates support and don't support, and I'll weigh my voting options from there. I also don't like feeling conflicted about issues, but that's mostly all I do, being a 110% Libran. I just see a million sides of things. I think, well, I wouldn't want to be spied upon. I would not like companies giving away my personal information (even in its bytes and codes and metadata) without my knowing. I don't even like to talk on the phone on public transport (or maybe that's just courtesy). On the other hand, if there's a chance that crazy people could be prevented from bombing public sites, or attacking innocent bystanders, then I don't know if I'd mind giving up some information. It's not the information people have that's bad, it's what people do with information. I do feel sad that many Americans are often quick to place blame on a single individual for such large-scale complex issues. Those people become scapegoats who usually never end up as vilified as time passes. Many times I feel ashamed that more Americans wouldn't feel like this was even an issue that could affect their lives, or that they even had some small part in the matter.

I've never personally been caught in the middle of a battle over sensitive or secure information. I can hardly keep a secret about what I might be giving you for Christmas. I don't know what I would do if my life could be in jeopardy over things I know. I would feel wrought with Libran conflict! Thus, my work had its germinal idea: a lament.

I'd like the piece to feature wafting voices, transformed into bits of coded data. Maybe there are secret messages embedded in the electronics, sent out into the audience. And the strings would play this lament, likely Medieval inspired, trying to cut through the here and now to something more timeless and universal. Fingers crossed.

Icelandic Lesson: Multiple Meanings

Here's a few things I've learned about everyday Icelandic, in my very basic introductions to speaking and listening to people, that perhaps you should know when visiting. (I could be wrong on some of them, of course, so don't quote me- I start my Icelandic Level 3 class on Monday so I'm eager to get speaking more again, but then again, there's so much they don't teach you in textbooks.)

Hvað Segir þú, also spelled 'Hvað segirðu'; usually sounds more like 'Kvsayatheuh' all blurred together. This can mean so many things but it seems to depend on context. It means literally, 'What say you', or 'How are You', but it can also mean 'What Did You Say/Say That Again', 'Wha?', and my favorite, 'You Don't Say!'.

Bara, the amazing word for 'only' or 'just', but also thrown around like candy, as easily as Americans use 'like' or 'um'. See also: hérna, which conveniently also means 'here', but now means 'like' or 'um'. I think also sko fits into this category.

Takk fyrir síðast. An amazing sentence that doesn't have any similar use in English, but I love using it when appropriate. Literally means, 'Thanks for the last time I saw you!' Great for maintaining friendships and reminding someone what fun it was when you last went bowling/sang songs/got drunk together and made out/bought hot dogs a month ago together.

Ha. Said only with downward inflection. A good tool when you didn't quite hear something and you want it repeated. Has nothing to do with laughter.

Near Inaudible Inward-breathing Já: Yes, but said breathing IN instead of spoken out loud! I didn't hear this for a good two or three weeks but now I hear it from people all the time, like a little too often. I think it's a 'yes' that's more like a 'uh-huh' or a 'yup', than a 'yes, of course/definitely'. But then again there is also jájájájájá (x infinity), which I also love.

Keyrum í gekk. Great phrase for going on a trip, when you're excited to leave. Colloquially translates to: 'let's drive this shit!'

America is Listening

This is too strange- I was listening to an a capella version of Paul Simon's song America (sung by the Vassar Devils, if you were curious) and it was the last song on the CD. As I was about to get up and put in another CD, a car zoomed by outside with its windows down and it was blasting the original of the same song. And it was just ending as well. Now, am I crazy, or is this a weird coincidence? They're popular songs, sure, but certainly there's more common things to be playing. Right? Like 'Toxic'. Or 'Hey Ya'. Or everyone's favorite, 'Beer Barrel Polka'.

Heard in the Bushes

Twice now I've walked by a house on Negley Ave. and I have overheard a mom talking to her very young son, who sounds like he could be three years old. They play in the backyard, which must be tiny, but I can't see anything through the shrubbery. I do see a lot of broken bricks and mortar strewn along the ground, like a wall of a house was recently knocked down.
In any case, the first time I walked by I heard:

"You want to play with the bricks? Those bricks are heavy...Oh, don't put the bricks in the pool!"

But the next time I heard an even-better:

"Did you just pour bleach on these plants? No!!"

BIBLE

Overheard in Pittsburgh: An elderly woman on the 71A bus, Center Ave., wearing a grossly-oversized sweater emblazoned with the acronym 'B-I-B-L-E'.

"I'm from the old school, you know. Mmm-hmm. Where kids treat their parents with respect. None of that bossing their parents around. I've seen some crazy things nowadays. Kids with their pants around their ankles. No, sir! They don't know what they're doing. Probably sinners. Parents are cheatin' around. And don't even think about the gays! Homosexuality is a sin and those mortal sinners will burn in hell for eternity!! And bestiality. It's immoral. We gotta praise Jesus. Burning homosexuals in hellfire. It's an abomination. We gotta put faith in the Lord!! Well, it's my stop. Ride safe, and it was good to see you. Bye now."

(The response from the man sitting next to her as she gets off at her stop?
"Well, she means well, but she goes off on a tangent.")


Elderly women these days. You know, honey, I'm from the new school! Mmm-hmm! Where crazy elderly women treat their fellow bus-riders with respect!