2008 Wrap-Up, Happy New Year

2008 Highlights.

2008 was a pretty good year, all things considered (economic and otherwise). I happily told people that because artists never have any money to begin with, the shock of losing all the stocks we never had seemed less shocking. Here are some of my random moments, in no particular order, all to have happened in 2008.

-Premier of my orchestra piece, and reading by the Pittsburgh Symphony

-Getting my first paid commission for writing music

-Getting strep throat twice (maybe thrice by the end of the year, oh, to be so lucky)

-gay mansion

-Midnight Shoveler's performance with guests
-making music with Wungsten

-meeting composers John Corigliano and John Adams, and percussionist Evelyn Glennie

-Getting hired at Mattress Factory and getting health insurance (and dental!)

-Using my dental insurance to fill cavities

-Boston, Washington DC, Bloomington IN, and Niagara Falls visits

-MIDI interface finally working on my keyboard

-Visiting Fallingwater for the first time

-selling jewelry

-Seeing the Pittsburgh 250th Anniversary fireworks from a rooftop
-um, Barack was elected president, and he uses great typography
-joined Mendelssohn choir and started teaching piano lessons
-concerts: Iron & Wine, Railroad Earth, Now Ensemble, my first professional opera (The Grapes of Wrath)

I'm sure I've forgotten to list plenty of other things, too. I hope those moments won't feel left out.

In 2009 I'd like to travel somewhere far away again. I have a friend in Germany and a friend in Montana, both places I've never been and would love to go (and I once made a vow that I would take shameless advantage of the exotic locations where I knew people). I would also like to get a date. I promise I won't slurp my spaghetti.






(Photos: Top: not me. source unknown. Second from top: me. indiana university museum of art. Second from bottom: a mustache that lasted for five seconds. Bottom: keep it real in, 2009, okay?)

God Child

If you could imagine God as humanoid-like figure (as if Joan Osbourne didn't already do that for us in the '90's) what would he say if he were a child? Not yet fully matured? And if he spoke to some other God–I'm picturing two God-Children in a galactic sandbox–what would be the response?
"You think you're sooo special."
"Well...yes".

Or perhaps:
"Give me back that planet!"
"No! Getcha own! Okay, you can have the Asteroid Belt."

"I'm bored."
"Let's go swimming in the sea I just invented."

Or better, as teenagers:
"I had a great time six billion years ago. Why haven't you called me?"
"I'm sorry, I was busy creating the Heavens. What was your name again?"

Playlist Shuffle, Resolutions

Five songs on shuffle mode from my iTunes...

Orbital, "Funny Break" (from Work 1989-2002)
Erlend Oye, "Like Gold" (from the album Unrest)
Laverne Baker, "Smoke and Drink and Dance the Hoochie Coo" (I don't even know if that's the real title, and the album is unknown too)
Peaches, "Diddle My Skiddle" (from the album Fatherf*cker)
Christopher O'Riley, "Thinking About You" (from the album True Love Waits- O'Riley Plays Radiohead")

Finnish composer Rautavaara's "Vigilia" came on next but it didn't make the first-five cut. Who doesn't love a little sex-electroclash up against lush piano improvisations next to modernist scandinavian choral music? With a little nordic dance break in there somewhere too. Shuffle features make me realize I have so much music I only know on the surface level, and that I should take away everything I currently listen to and replace it with oddities every once and a while just to freshen the ears.

I made three New Years' Resolutions of sorts for 2008, and they all have come true, with qualifiers. Well, they weren't absolute resolutions, more like goals.
1. sell something from having a website. This sort of came true as one of my old college friends emailed me and wanted a collage triptych for her new place in Arizona. It's happening right now!
2. get one paid commission. This sort of came true with the Drama School production for incidental music. Technically it was through Carnegie Mellon, but it was a hired gig nonetheless.
3. sell my jewelry or art at Handmade Arcade. This didn't happen, but I did sell my jewelry at another craft fair, Sweetwater Center for the Arts. So I count it anyway.

Next year my resolutions should include getting married. So when it doesn't happen exactly like that, at least I can qualify it by saying I went out on a good date or two...but we talked about other people's marriages, and how I would rather spend the money on a big party, and besides, it's illegal in most states right now anyway. It's good to qualify.

More jewelry

While I sold a couple pairs of earrings at Sweetwater Center for the Arts, I still have lots of pairs available should anyone want to snag up a pair for holiday gifts...you know your loved ones would look good in some chandelier crystals, or globular clusters, or lime green daggers. Just let me know if you're interested and we'll tawk.

King of Kings, Lord of Lords

I made this quick "poster" for the holiday season, just for grins. It's a total knockoff of Warhol, and I don't have the typeface Din which would look awesome on this, but it only took a few minutes and Jesus looks pretty awesome there in hot pink. If this was an ad for a holiday church service I'd be there with bells on. And by bells I mean bellbottoms. Click image to enlarge.