Went to bed and woke up a bit depressed.  I was  hoping for a check in the mail for the recent Valentine’s day gig (2 weeks ago). Eileen cautioned me that I should contact them since I haven’t heard from them. So I emailed someone last night. Received a response that a) yes I am getting paid; b) no one seems to have put in for a check for me yet. I don’t even know the amount they are going to pay me. Knowing the local scene it could be as little as $30.00. Or I could even have my signals crossed and have once again played a freebie. I know. I know. It’s my own responsibility.

At any rate,  Eileen and I took Alexander Technique lessons yesterday. I am convinced this is a way of bodily movement that could improve quality of life.(see link # 10 below) The trouble is it really needs to be pursued with some regularity. Yesterday was my second lesson. I want Eileen to have another as well. At $45-$55 dollars a lesson (the prices vary due to which institution is hosting our teacher and also he gave Eileen $5 off since I asked if he did family discounts), it’s out of our price range for weekly lessons.

We had a lovely meal at Bombay Cuisine in East Town Grand Rapids.

I am in sore need of some time off. I haven’t had a Sunday off since way before Xmas. I more obsessed than ever with my work.  Eileen consented to helping me legally photocopy and assemble 8 anthems yesterday after we got back from Grand Rapids. I was down anyway so I thought I wouldn’t put the work off for another day. Thank you, Eileen.

I woke up thinking in the middle of the night that I should use this upcoming vacation as a composing/study vacation. I am planning to haul my silly electric piano around with us. We will begin by spending the night near South Bend Indiana so that we can attend Gail Walton’s funeral on Tuesday morning. [link to my Feb 25th post about her death].After that we’ll probably hole up in a motel near Ann Arbor for a couple of days. It would be  a good time for me to do some study on fugal writing as well as general composing.

I’m pretty sure I need to work on this. I can remember my counterpoint teacher Dr. Parks teasing me that I never really learned how to write a good fugue. Education. It just keeps on giving.

Anyway, I’m probably just in a foul mood.

I woke up and found several articles online that look good. Haven’t read a one of these yet. But here they are for what it’s worth:

1.”Weaponizing Mozart: How Britain is Using Music as a Form of Social Control” by Brendan O’Neill [link to reason.com article]

2. “It’s money that matters: A new book says economic inequality is the social division we should be worrying about” by Jenna Russell [link to boston.com article]

3. “In Defense of a Common Culture: Back to the fray with E.D. Hirsch” by Alan Wolfe [link to christianitytoday.com article]

4. “Ten rules for writing fiction” by many writers including Elmore Leonard, Margaret Atwood, Roddy Doyle & Jonathan Franzen [link to guardian.co.uk article]

5.  Andrew Sullivan’s Chart of the Day:

realitychex.com or CW (Constant Weader) response:

“CW: Now, look at the two bars I colored green: about 35% of conservatives want to decrease or eliminate “welfare,” but only about 10% want to cut “aid to the poor.” What’s the difference between “welfare” & “aid to the poor”? Sullivan: “Welfare means aid to the black poor, surely? And aid to the poor means white, right?”

6. Decoding Limbaugh posted by Hendrik Hertzberg [link to newyorker.com post]

7. “Mid-70s Giorgio Moroder synth video: awesomest thing of all time”  [link to video embedded on boingboing.com]

8. “Coffee Party activists say their civic brew’s a tastier choice than Tea Party’s” by Dan Zak [link to washingtonpost.com article]

9. “Operating Instructions for Human Beings” by Robert Rickover [link to mentalgamecoaching.com article]

10. “Living with stress” unattributed  [link to alextechedin.co.uk article]