Always getting the day off to a great start with Jackson

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Yesterday I gave a presentation on some of my music to the young composers at UMass/Amherst. A few undergrads, a few grad students, and two faculty. One of those faculty was Sal Macchia, my first composition teacher, and someone who was an enormous influence. As I came to realize while speaking to these folks, UMass was really a huge influence for me, with many kind, supportive, and gifted faculty and colleagues there to nurture, encourage, and teach me important lessons of all types.

The session went fine, I think...

Yesterday was just beautiful; sparkling and crisp. Gerald, my neighbor here in Greenville, has a new bike and, as a rider for many decades, now wants to use this bike as much as weather permits. So I get lots of invitations to join him and his School of Arts compadres for rides. Yesterday there were six of us, and we rode out to “little” Washington, NC, strolled the waterfront, and returned. A great afternoon ride and social spell.

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The balance to this afternoon of sunshine was the arrival of news that a dear teacher/mentor has passed. Marty Boykan was a long time prof at Brandeis, and a visiting prof at Columbia during my second year there. I worked with him that year, and he was a truly unique person/musician/influence...

I was a bit surprised at the sense of relief I felt yesterday in receiving the first vaccine.

At the Greenville Convention Center, the logistics were pretty amazing, actually. From entering the parking lot until turning back on the road, including post-vaccine observation time, the entire process ran less than 30 minutes. At no point did anything feel rushed, and at every point along the way, everyone involved was smiling, pleasant, and engaging. From those directing things in the parking lot to the nurse administering the shot, I must have been assisted in some way by 20-25 people, and they were all so welcoming and helpful.

Today’s side-effects seem limited to some ache at the injection site, perhaps a bit of ache in my neck. Nothing stopping me from any normal activities.

Last night:

And this morning

A fun call from Jackson this morning, which ended with he and Joe reading Jackson’s current favorite book, There’s a Monster in Your Book. I think this book is a bit of genius, taking interactivity to a more fun place than pressing buttons. The premise is exactly what it sounds like, there’s a monster in the book, and so the reader shakes the book, turns it around, leans it to one side, blows on it, etc., to get the monster out. Eventually, letting the monster stay in the book and go to sleep, quietly closing the back cover. And the glee on Jackson’s face as he did these actions–and on Joe’s face seeing the fun Jackson’s having…priceless.

In other news...

A little clip–nothing to see, just listen–of this morning in Greenville.

The past week has presented a real challenge at work; the part of work that is most divorced from engaging students, the part of the job that involves dealing with people other than students.

It’s certainly not unusual to hear that there are people in administrative positions who are neither qualified to execute their jobs, nor have the awareness to realize how to improve, or to learn the necessary skills. We can all note that some haven’t the sense to be aware of issues, the smarts to understand problems, the vision or imagination to solve problems, or the integrity to work with others in an honest and constructive fashion...

The many faces of Jackson, over the course of an hour+ video call this morning. I just couldn’t choose one among the dozen shots…

And in addition to starting off the day with such a lovely, fun call from Joe and Jackson, it’s nearly 70 degrees today!

Today’s date holds some significance for me, and perhaps for a few others. Thirty-five years ago was the day I first lost someone in my immediate family, in this case my dad. He was 62, had retired just a few weeks prior, and was with mom and a brother in Florida, setting up their condo for the years ahead. Mom lived another ~25 years in that space, and made the most of her years.

I was 25 when dad died, having moved to CA for grad school, married the year before and, to use current parlance, in the early stages of ‘adulting.’ Definitely learning by mistake, but definitely learning, I was looking forward to getting to know my folks and siblings as a ‘grown-up’. In time, of course, that’s happened–with all but dad.

As an adult I’ve come to know the dad I knew growing up, rather ...

A few spring-like days in store for us this week. Today low 60s, tomorrow high 60s. We’re heading back to G’ville for a few appointments tomorrow morning, and I think I’ll squeeze in a ride, since it’s so lovely out.

Nothing remarkable to note; all good, work fine, feeling well. Simply appreciating the beauty around us here. (And doing some flood insurance research for updating…).

The weekend was full; ECU audition day (all remote, of course) on Saturday morning, then the afternoon was an extended Zoom-interview with Chris Grymes of Open G Records. We’d had a podcast-chat a few years back, but he wanted to do another in prep for the ‘release’ of recordings of four of my pieces next month. I’m sure the recordings will be good, as the sessions were great, the draft edits I heard were super, and the audio wizard who’s putting these together is just incredible. So while I’m not feeling that any delivery-date is guaranteed, I’m told that I’ll have the finals in hand by March 8, with an official ‘release’ on March 15. That will involve the art & liner notes, availability on different outlets, etc.

Beyond that, jus...