Autumn in Kansas City

Not much different going on here. Still waiting for someone to heroically swoop in and get Logic Pro 7 to work with my keyboard. Meanwhile, I started a string quartet, but ran into some contrapuntal problems, got frustrated, got bored, and quit. I guess I could move on to the other movements and come back to the first later…

I have decided I need to simplify and prioritize if I am to keep my sanity. Instead of keeping a list of everything I’d like to do, I need to cut out everything that isn’t really important and just let go. Between rehabilitating my martial arts abilities and building my composition portfolio, there just isn’t time to do everything I want to do. That also—most unfortunately—means video games will also need to take a backseat. Maybe I can schedule a “game night” for myself… but I seriously need to crank out some tunes. Of course, when half my equipment won’t work…

Seriously, though, it’s time to be a little more judicious about how I spend my free time. I need to focus on the two reasons I’m here in Kansas City, or else there’s little point in being here.

”Become who you were born to be.”

I was hanging out with Brad last weekend, and we talked about… well, everything. But one thing we discussed was the composer’s trap of isolation. I don’t have any opportunities for performances or scoring projects yet, but I need to at least work on some hypothetically publishable works in the mean time. I just don’t want a year to go by and hear from my former colleagues that they are all more productive and prolific than I have been. I spent an embarrassing amount of time in front of the TV this past week…and I don’t even get any stations! From now on, I should be working on multiple composition projects at once.

I am also frustrated by my lack of convenient access to wireless internet. Even Panera stopped working for me. And why haven’t I started work yet?! And why won’t Logic work?!

Abrupt change of topic… return to subject implied by the title…

So Autumn is here. While I’m in a bit of a rut, it’s nice to have the first autumn ever as a graduate. October is going to be sweet. No midterms, no New Music and Arts Festival… ohhh yeah. I can actually observe the leaves change, instead of spending all day every day with my nose to the grindstone. I submit to you my preferred Autumnal listening list:

Bottle Rocket
The Royal Tenenbaums
A Boy Named Charlie Brown
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Fellowship of the Ring
Dragonheart
Merlin
Plunkett and Macleane
Signs
Blood (an obscure PC game)
Chrono Trigger
Anything Vivaldi
Anything Ben Folds
Anything Lunasa

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to carve any pumpkins this year. I’m getting ahead of myself, but I wonder if I can find some people to go to a corn maze next month…