Kona, day 18
Kona, day 18
Highlight of the day; connecting with Chris Nappi, knowing he’s well, and a good conversation about a musical collaboration. We’ll find time to focus efforts on a piece I’d written for him, Anima/Animus. Planning weekly video connections to work on it, develop changes if needed, edit, etc., in advance of the publisher putting it out in the world. Thanks to a program/initiative by my publisher/ACA, we’ll also do a home recording and get him a bit of support to make up for the evaporation of so very many gigs.
This initiative (“The Shelter Recordings“) strives to provide opportunities for sheltered musicians to earn a little money, benefit composers, etc. That same initiative will fund the recording of another piece, the short duet, On Balance, for two violins. A couple in the Detroit area is interested, and I’m thrilled at the prospect of getting to know them a bit.
The lowlight; The past few months have, among other things, helped me refocus on why I do what I do—write, teach, explore the arts, live life outside of academia. I’ve enjoyed a much-needed break from the few stuffed shirt, small-minded, noisy fools willing to file paperwork so that they can call themselves administrators. Today, an email from one such person succeeded in wiping my focus from what matters, readjusting the lens to the idiocy of people with a title, but with little sense of the consequences of their own actions, their words, and their approach to problem-solving. Academia’s a good home for hypocrites, and when they’re identified as such–they’re promoted. A troubling email from a student never bothers me, but leads me to a teachable moment for both myself and the student(s). The b.s. of inept, ineffective, or completely ego-driven colleagues defies any more than the 22 years I’ve already put in.
Tomorrow, I hope to awake with this awful taste gone from my mouth. If, after these months of relief from this crap, I am still feeling this way tomorrow morning, then I’ll take that as a sign to go ahead and start the process of getting myself out of there for good.
