Beff's semester finishes today, and she is due home after dark tonight. Tomorrow night we take Big Mike out for Chinese buffet

Of course the first thing I thought was -- as soon as I get back from work, I'll take the hacksaw out and cart the pieces to the discard pile. Then the little buzzer ("the judges have flagged that statement for spurious and frankly silly reasoning") went off in my head, informing me that I had to call in professionals to do the job. Especially since when I looked at the pictures I had taken with my phone (I can take pictures with my phone), the size of the trunk seemed a bit -- vast -- and a little bit more than my hacksaw could manage. So I brought various yellow pages's to school and looked up TREE companies, and the selection is a bit vague and vast at the same time. One wonders what sort of aspersions are meant to be cast on OTHER tree companies when one of them advertises "phone calls handled by our own staff!" and another advertises "24 hour service" right next to "we actually return your phone calls". My experience with trying to get a plumber several years ago colored this experience -- as none of the local ones bothered to return calls -- and also my experience with roofers (you probably already guessed that they didn't return phone calls either, but add to that that the one that did provided a quote and promised to come on a particular day to do the work and never showed up and never called to say why).

So I called our friends at the Door & Window for their advice, and they recommended Assabet Tree Service -- the only one right in Maynard. They actually called back while I was teaching theory (I didn't hear it), and sent guys over to look at the thing just before sunset (it's early now). First the guys spun a story about how they trimmed the giant oak tree in the neighbor's yard in the early 70s, and how a previous owner of the house had a bad bicycle accident out front on Great Road and they were the ones that rushed him to the hospital, and one of the guys noted how much ugly rot there was in the trunk of the fallen tree. I noted that I always hated that ailanthus tree -- it once yielded a big branch in a thunderstorm in the summer of 2001 that I had to take a day off from MacDowell to clear out, and that I took great pleasure in killing all of its babies. Looks like it had its revenge. Or maybe all the baby killing caused its innards to rot from self-pity. Who knows?

Anyway, there is a cousin tree that sprouted up in the midst of our cedar trees in the back that I also asked them to remove. I hate paying for the sins of previous owners, but, hey, there you have it. Whether they actually show up today to do the job remains to be seen, but hey, they came right over.

The rest of the posting will be the mundane stuff -- though there were two excellent concerts to report. Saturday night after the driving rain had ended but the wind was still a-kickin', we went to symphony to hear the BSO and Tanglewood chorus do Schoenberg's Moses und Aron. We had "partial view" seats in the second balcony (hey, thirty bucks each) and I got a little sore neck from craning it in the first act, but we switched seats for the second act, and that was better. The performance was marvelous, though the first two scenes were kind of rough around the edges, and the music was great -- except, again, for the first two scenes. Beff remarked that there are lots of great orchestrational ideas that appear ONCE, followed by lots of what Marty B. calls "spinach" -- lots of extra counterpoint -- and lots of times when all the registers are active, which makes for a feeling of tremendousness. One left with the feeling that it was really great music that deserves lots more performances. One also wonders if any humans that ever existed would be able to last through an entire performance if Schoenberg had ever written the third act. Lots of tuba, by the way. That is neither good nor bad.

Sunday afternoon was the annual Irving Fine concert, and this year it also doubled as a celebration of Marty Boykan at 75. It was an interesting pairing, and based on the music performed, Marty is the great composer and Fine was a lightweight. Much of the Fine was, frankly, dreary, and when it wasn't it was extremely light -- as in the Music for Piano suite. By the way, that same Fine piece was on the previous Fine concert, so redundancy was there to be had. As to Marty's music, there was a new motet for singer, viola, cello and clarinet, and it was terrific -- even tonal at times, and a new piano trio that I liked, but not as much as the motet. The students in orchestration class really liked the trio, even asking how the high violin note at the end was produced, and that led to my session on how harmonics work on string instruments, which I demonstrated on a piano string while they all gathered around.

I also really liked Professor Boykan's Shakespeare songs for 3 voices a cappella, which were real nifty in addition to being beautiful. In the program note, Marty appeared to apologize for setting the words "Cock a doodle doo", but hey, it's Shakespeare. Add to this a set of songs for voice and piano which were very good, but -- since I have to have a least favorite, that was the one -- and Boykan pretty much pounded Fine right into the ground. Which is too bad. Especially since I was sitting right in back of a sector of the Fine family. I was also sitting, just like ducks in a row, with Dalit Warshaw, Peter Child, Yu-Hui Chang, and Jim Ricci (the non-Sasquatch version). Afterwards there was a reception where the food compensated for its quality with its quantity.

Beff's time in Maynard was, again, abbreviated, but this time toward the tail end. She made it in late on Thursday evening, and had to exit after breakfast on Sunday in order to do various prep things and lead a sectional rehearsal -- as well as go to an afternoon concert. The previous weekend we were looking at reviews in Mac Addict, and started drooling over a review of the Edirol R-09, and small iPod sized digital recorder -- which got raves. It was reputed to record mp3 and 16/24 bit WAV files, all onto flash memory. Meaning, at last, no DAT tape to get caught in the bowels of the recorder, no special setup with an 838 to get the recorded files on the computer, and a solid state recording mechanism meaning no tape drive noise and -- built-in microphones. How much would YOU pay? I called up Rick Scott at Parsons Audio to ask what he knew about the market for hand-held recording devices of this sort, and he offered to lend me an Edirol and an M-Wave model. So after my dull meeting at Brandeis, I drove there, got the goods, and brought them home.

Sunday morning after breakfast, we compared features, and decided to ask Rick to order us two Edirols. He said he had them in stock, and we decided to come right on by -- after our big walk downtown and our lunch at the Quarterdeck (I got the grilled salmon). They were far cheaper than expected -- and I popped right on over to Staples for some SD cards onto which to record, and SD cards were two-thirds off that day. Yes, the 1 gig was 20 bucks and the 2 gig was 40 bucks not bad considering they are endlessly reusable, and a gig holds 88 minutes of 16-bit stereo sound. So I got a whole mess o' them. I also got a little camera bag to carry it around, but it turns out it's a bit small. Beff got a bigger one online, and we'll see Oscar, we'll see.

And, big relief to all readers, there is nothing new to report on the dental front. Except to report new fillings expected on Thursday.

An internet surf reveals that Jim and Judy's late 20th century American song CD on Bridge is imminent -- catalog number 9199, on the Bridge web page, and slated for November -- and is renamed "Songs and Encores". Much catchier than the original "Late Twentieth Century American Song". And then yesterday I got what is apparently my ONE comp of Michael Lipsey's hand drum CD on Capstone, which has two movements from Snaggle on it -- see Recordings page. Michael's CD is pretty cool, definitely a car CD, even a convertible car CD. Maybe I'll buy a convertible just so I can listen to this CD in it.

Anyway, all else is as it appears. Mondo traveling for performances is coming up -- NYC and Kansas City being among them -- so maybe there will be fewer updates here. The future holds big raking day with Ka-Ching twin CD on Saturday, the evening of which features me as a guest sneaker (or hopefully a geist sneaker). And then they won't laugh.

This weeks pictures include Symphony Hall as seen by my phone, the cats being cute, the cats being cute again, the still-leafy oak tree that was trimmed in the early 70s, Cammy trolling for squirrels (note that the ailanthus is still upright in this picture), a reflection of foliage on my car at the Cumberland Farms gas station, and two more perspectives on the fallen tree.

NOVEMBER 7. Breakfast this morning was the usual rice link sausages, orange juice and coffee. Dinner was an Amy's frozen tomato and four cheese pizza, heated up. Lunch was Trader Joes Kung Po noodles. TEMPERATURE EXTREMES THIS LAST WEEK: 24.8 and 67.5. MUSIC GOING THROUGH MY HEAD AS I TYPE THIS Ein Feste Burg ist Unsre Gott (chorale harmonization time in theory, people). LARGE EXPENSES this last week are none, yet. POINTLESS NOSTALGIC REMINISCENCE: A few vignettes from the year in Rome: Robert Cro and I went to an electronics store on the Lungotevere to buy boomboxes for ourselves, and I was impressed to hear him utter "possiamo", the first person plural of "can we". My boombox became a social center for Tuesday dance parties in my various studios, and the highlight was always when John Kamitsuka danced. In February, an architecture Fellow brought a family friend to visit my studio -- a very tall woman and a guy. I did a little piano blues with the guy, while the woman seemed stuck in perpetual bummed outness. The woman was Famke Janssen, who was in Rome publicizing the latest James Bond movie, and the guy was her publicist. And now Famke is famous. In June, after an AAR concert that was on my birthday on which Soozie sang, we stayed up a long time while Soozie played pool and bonded with my best friend there, a Doctor Rutherford. Now it turns out these many years later that Soozie and Dr. R are a genuine item. THIS WEEK'S COSMIC QUANDARY: Why do slowing up and slowing down mean the same thing? THIS WEEK'S MADE-UP WORD: crantle. THINGS I HAVE GROWN WEARY OF are robo-calls -- political messages left on my answering machine. RECENT GASTRONOMIC OBSESSIONS: are chili olives from Whole Foods. DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK When a bush becomes half a bush. THIS WEEK'S NUMBER BETWEEN 1 AND 10: 2. REVISIONS TO THIS SITE: This page, Performances. NUMBER OF HAIRCUTS I GOT LAST WEEK: 0. DENTIST VISITS THIS SEMESTER SO FAR: 5. FRAGILE THINGS DESTROYED BY THE CATS THIS LAST WEEK is another one of my morning pills. RECOMMENDATION AND PROFESSIONAL LETTERS WRITTEN THIS LAST WEEK: 3 (Rome Prize season was extended this year). DAVY'S BAROMETER FOR THE FUTURE OF MUSIC this week is 12 out of 100. WHAT THE NEXT BIG TREND WOULD BE IF I WERE IN CHARGE: everybody speaks with a Brooklyn accent. PHOTOS IN MY IPHOTO LIBRARY: 9,932. WHAT I PAID FOR GASOLINE THIS WEEK: $2.13. OTHER INANIMATE OBJECTS THAT WOULD BE A BETTER PRESIDENT THAN THE CURRENT ONE a hustle and flow, the hair on my chinny chin chin, purpleness, carpal tunnel syndrome.

It was a fairly active week, and it's only going to get activer and activer. Indeed, there will be no November 14 update, and the November 21 update will be a little late. Perhaps not until Thanksgiving. Oh, lawdy.

But first to dispense with the mundane. Thursday featured me teaching Peter and Derek in my office, a drive west to Dr. Chau's office, and me keeping my mouth open for two hours. Hey, last time I got something to bite on to keep my mouth open, but this time I guess they thought I should go au natural -- in terms of the being of mouth openness. For them what are keeping score -- as I do above -- this was my fifth visit this term, and this time it was upper right time. I got something I wasn't expecting -- dental bonding on my chipped front tooth, which now feels weird, since it's fixed, AND smooth at the bite line. Then, three new fillings to replace the ones that fell out and still had residual epoxy. Eww.

I have to say, though, slowly it's getting better. Slowly.

After the dentist I had to hightail it to Brandeis for a colloquium by Fran Richard of ASCAP, which was really quite good. I was 25 minutes late, but there she was, seated at a chair, going over all the mundane professional stuff that composers need to know, and pulling out lots of great stories. Names got dropped casually in service of stories about performing rights (if you can believe that), and it was all fascinating. Then there was the reception, Fran called me such a good composer, and left. No free dinner, which I wouldn't have gone to anyway due to the strangeness of the feeling of my new bonding.

Tuesday had featured quite a bit of raking on my part, especially as The Maids were supposed to come and clean, and they were very late. They showed up at quarter to five, which was dusk, and to get out of their way, I raked the side yard. And raked. And raked. Then I raked in the back yard. And raked. It had turned out that the tree people didn't come on Tuesday, so I could only rake to the tree line, as it were, but it was good to get it out of the way. What else did I do Tuesday? Lots of grading.

On Wednesday the tree finally got taken care of, leaving a shallow trench where it had fallen, and the tree guys left some ruts with their big truck and wood chipper -- and they didn't quite finish the job before it got dark. The big ailanthus is gone, the other ailunthus was felled but not complete disposed of, and the trunk is not yet ground (grinded?). The guys were still here when I got home from work, one of them asked for a drink, and when I had to admit that I teach music, he got into stories about his guitars, and former girlfriends that took them with them.

Friday was our usual day of togetherness, that wife o' mine and me, and we did our usual errands and shopping. We probably won't accumulate enough Shaw's "turkey points" for a free turkey, but that is okay. The end of the day was long, as it included going to the BMOP concert and the reception thereafter at the Westin Hotel -- so we drove in via the turnpike and parked at the Prudential Center in a vast underground network -- vast enough to make Beff regret the clacky shoes she chose for the occasion. We budgeted extra time, since it was rush hour on a Friday, and were able to get a small meal at Betty's Wok and Noodle, in the space that was Ann's Restaurant during my undergrad years (99 cents for a burger and fries, and now I really feel old), and we made it in plenty of time for the concert.

The program for BMOP was reusable -- as in, the January program and program notes were in it as well as the ones for this concert, and at the staple were the notes for my Winged Contraption. Including quotes from this webpage (me talking about myself, alas -- I have to start charging for people to use them) and from my hastily scrawled notes on the piece. Crap, I used "I decided" three times in the same paragraph. Where's an editor when you really need one? I was astonished, however, to learn that I am "one of the most exuberant and popular personalities on Boston's new music scene". I had no idea. The concert itself, seemed to be the Downward Glissando concert -- if your piece didn't have them, you couldn't join the club. The performances were excellent. We hooked up with the Hyla team for the reception, which was the usual standing around wondering who everybody else there is, with the desperate search for food that turns out to be tiny, and sectioned. In the walk to the reception, Beff continued to regret her shoeware choice. The drive back was effortless, though the exit from the parking garage was in a no man's land that took some effort for us to get out of.

The day of Saturday was Raking Party day, and the JP sector of the Ka-Ching Twins came out for the occasion. We raked all of the way back and the side yard, and Carolyn (ka-ching!) had herself photographed with a piece of ailanthus that is shaped like a lute, and forgot to send it in time for this update. For shame. We then decided to try the new restaurant called Christopher's in Maynard, where Malcom's Steakhouse failed dismally, but they weren't open for lunch -- talk about failing dismally. So instead it was Not Your Average Joe's in Acton, followed by a brief trip to TJ Maxx. Then it was off the the Red Sneakers Concert in Cambridge. Sigh.

And this involved driving to Alewife, walking from Porter Square in the coldness, getting to the concert, listening to a bunch of pieces, seeing a whole bunch of Brandisians (I think we had a quorum -- we could have voted anybody off the concert), and even Ken Ueno. Who was briefly in town, from Rome, for a board meeting and something to do with lectures and presentations in Miami. Don Hagar was also a "Guest Sneaker" (I already used the "Geist Sneaker" joke last week, so I won't use it again this week, except to point out how clever I am for having thought of it). My teeny-weeny piece got a bang-up performance. My favorite piece (not necessarily Beff's) was the second movement of Lansing McLoskey's piece. And then we went back home.

Sunday Beff left early in order to rake the Bangor yard, and I spent most of the day preparing the next three weeks' worth of teaching -- chorale harmonizations, etc. It's amazing how many things have to be codified as "rules" to keep your basic student from just doing dumb stuff. And Monday was a normal teaching day, though since I was introducing percussion in Orchestration, there was lots of stuff to talk about. For the first time I tried doing the Trader Joe's Kung Po noodles as my lunch, and I was successful.

Meanwhile, it's time to solicit house/cat sitters for the two weeks that follow Christmas, so anyone reading this can step up to the plate ... now! Beff 'n' I will be in England, Wales and Scotland, and you won't. Unless you are.

Meanwhile. This Thursday I go to Stony Brook, and so far I haven't the foggiest idea where to go once I get there. I will also stay with the Jay/Marilyn couplet in NYC, as I am delivering to Marilyn a toy piano for future use. And Saturday night at the Tenri Center is the second performance of the aptly named Disparate Measures. If that ain't enough, I then leave for Kansas, via Milwaukee, next Tuesday. My goodness, and goodness had nothing to do with it. Once I get back it will be almost Thanksgiving, and time to think about turkeys, and a convocation of all of Beff's siblings. Yes, I get to watch those mini-dramas unfold yet again. While I am in Kansas, Beff will be in Vermont, helping to empty the condo of stuff, and also bringing books being donated to Norwich University. Gee, you think if they really wanted the books, they'd come and get them themselves, but no -- Beff actually is renting a cargo van in Maynard and driving it there and back. I fully expect some new furniture out of this whole deal. And there's more -- while I'm in Kansas, Geoffy is here for Musica Viva (officially the Group That Doesn't Know How Exuberant and Popular Davy Is), so catsitting is taken care of.

And what else? After Thanksgiving is just a week and a day of classes. At the end of the tunnel, there is heavy.

I have not been keeping track of how many barrels of leaves have been raked and moved, but I estimate 70 to 80, and the mini-yard in the back of the garage still awaits the oak tree to yield the rest of its issue. The big wind storm that knocked down the ailanthus likely blew a few barrels worth of leaves away, then.

Pictures this week are really dull, so I'm instituting a Blast From the Past feature. Which may only last for one update as far as I know. We see the backyard with the tree cleared out and the bush that's now half a bush -- a larger view from the way back yard -- the stump as it exists now -- and the place where we put the raked leaves in the way back yard. Then there is Martler at a garden statue shop in 1988, and a lion at the Piazza di Popolo in Rome that Beff uses as an example of clarinet embouchure.

NOVEMBER 20. Breakfast this morning was coffee from McDonald's. Lunch was a little box of Kung Po noodles from Trader Joe's. Dinner was Chunky Grilled Chicken soup with salad. TEMPERATURE EXTREMES THIS LAST TWO WEEKS: 34.5 and 67.8. MUSIC GOING THROUGH MY HEAD AS I TYPE THIS Absofunkinlutely. LARGE EXPENSES this last week include dinner and Corsendonks with Jay and Marilyn, $149, lunch with Hayes, $40, lunch with Marilyn, $55. POINTLESS NOSTALGIC REMINISCENCE: Back in our Princeton grad student days, Andy Milburn had a Commodore 64 with a voice synthesis program -- pretty primitive by today's standards. We delighted in attaching it to the TV and making it say things in its ... well, robotic ... voice. We played a game with Martler and Alison where we would type things with numbers in them to hear the computer pronounce them: 4nik8, qui9, 6ual, etc. -- and Alison topped us all with 0ber took my jewels (zero-bber took my jewels, think French accent). Eventually we recorded our answering machine message using this thing, which included the robotically spoken phrases "Davy is bouncing on his bed. Martin is doing limey things". Paul Lansky thought it was so funny that he used to call us just to hear the message -- and then he would leave a message saying, "Oh, it's Lansky again. I just called to hear the message. Hee hee." Dunno why he didn't just hang up. THIS WEEK'S COSMIC QUANDARY: How many pins will fit on the head of an angel? THIS WEEK'S MADE-UP WORD: cirren. THINGS I HAVE GROWN WEARY OF are not being with my STUFF. RECENT GASTRONOMIC OBSESSIONS: are celery with Buffalo wing sauce, single size packets of microwave popcorn, Real Pickles, water with powdered citrus twists. DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK Flatness and rolling hills both on Long Island and Kansas. THIS WEEK'S NUMBER BETWEEN 1 AND 10: 19 (I broke the rules). REVISIONS TO THIS SITE: This page, Performances, Recordings. NUMBER OF HAIRCUTS I GOT LAST WEEK: 0. DENTIST VISITS THIS SEMESTER SO FAR: 5. FRAGILE THINGS DESTROYED BY THE CATS THIS LAST WEEK is the back of my computer chair, actually accomplished over about a four year period. RECOMMENDATION AND PROFESSIONAL LETTERS WRITTEN THIS LAST WEEK: 7 (and still no Guggenheim letter requests). DAVY'S BAROMETER FOR THE FUTURE OF MUSIC this week is 65 out of 100. WHAT THE NEXT BIG TREND WOULD BE IF I WERE IN CHARGE: Republican presidents and vice presidents understand the phrase "you lost". PHOTOS IN MY IPHOTO LIBRARY: 9,946. WHAT I PAID FOR GASOLINE THIS WEEK: $2.37 in Stony Brook, $2.34 on the Merritt Parkway, $2.23 at the local Mobile station. OTHER INANIMATE OBJECTS THAT WOULD BE A BETTER PRESIDENT THAN THE CURRENT ONE a personal anecdote, fifteen of the widest cantaloupes in the field, intransigence, the big thing we haven't given a name yet.

The big news, of course, is that as of yesterday afternoon, this year's raking is finished, for all intents and purposes -- though I may go over the apple tree yard a bit later to clean out some accumulated detritus. Yesterday (Sunday) Beff and I spent time hauling away the issue of the neighbor's big oak tree, which is always last to give it up. I did not keep a running tab of barrels raked this year, but I think it stopped around 90. Compare that with 104 last year, and we see the effect of the big windstorm that knocked down the ailanthus.

It is just short of two weeks since I last posted, and here I affirm that I am writing in the first person singular (synchronize your grammars). Two extensive trips happened in the interim, as well as plenty of driving, flying, being driven, listening, etc. In the middle of all that, I was informed that BBC Radio 3 was broadcasting a recording of the American music concert by Lontano from last May, with commentary, and that it would be available in streaming audio on its website for a week thereafter. Well, I was curious, and when I got to the site, I discovered that a bunch of composers were in front of me on the concert, I was an hour and fifteen minutes into the program, and there was no way to scroll or fast forward into it. So one night I just let it play, turned down the sound, and set an alarm. After about an hour, I checked on it, and it was in the middle of some deadly boring Virgil Thomson choruses. Ten minutes later I saw the message "network timed out. Probably congestion". When I clicked OK, the program started again FROM THE BEGINNING. So I didn't get to hear it. I did check the user comments online, though, caught someone asking who these Americans were, a user mysteriously named "Martle" piped in that Rakowski was pretty good, and someone else reported on all the composer websites -- including one saying that "Rakowski's website includes what he ate on November 7. Apparently he likes to share". Oh, those great unwashed. Literally.

Much was going on in the actual classroom teaching, although nothing at all was going on in my Thursday composition lessons -- being that I was away both Thursdays. One is being made up tomorrow, another on Wednesday, and both again during exam week. So there, smarty pants. It was chorale writing in theory, and percussion and harp in orchestration. Meanwhile, as much could be done as could be done about that which was done.

So first, a week ago Thursday I drove to Stony Brook starting at 6:45 in the morning, and arrived around noon. There were four major delays on the Hutchinson Parkway, and then a major tie-up exiting 95 for the Throg's Neck, but everything else was okay. It's a four and a half hour drive that was stretched into a stupidly long one. I followed Perry Goldstein's directions to campus and went to the parking garage where I was directed to park, which was marked FULL. After a bit of help, we made our way to the alternate lot, I did some e-mail, we had lunch with Bob Gibson (so good in the 1967 World Series, dontcha know), and I went to my hotel, paid for by Stony Brook. It was a Holiday Inn Express with a lot of amenities, none of which I had time to do. Swim? Not me. Have a conference? Not me. Go to the bathroom? Definitely me. So I then made it in to hear a rehearsal, got there a little early, and saw Rich Festinger -- also with a piece on the concert, and whom I had to direct to the hall ("that way", I said). I then got to hear my rehearsal, and the players were really good -- I just had to make small comments and explain the thrown bow notation (I forgot to say the first time around what it meant), and the performance was stunningly good -- even though I wanted the finale to go faster. Afterwards at the reception, the players kept asking me what else I wanted that they could do, and I said all I wanted was beer.

The day after, in the morning, I checked out and drove into Manhattan, parking near the apartment of Jay and Marilyn, in the 112th Street garage. I had to deliver a Schoenhut toy piano (Model 6637MB) to Marilyn, and she was going to be in her office at NYU all day, so I had packed light -- all I had was the toy piano and a few clothes in a backpack. I cabbed my way to Marilyn's building, and she had said to call her cell phone when I got in. Naturally, it was off, since I got there about 45 minutes early. So I stood at the door to the building with the toy piano on the sidewalk, fielding comments and questions from innocent passersby ("Gift"? "Boy or girl?" "Does she know she's getting it?" "Can you PLAY that?"). Soon Marilyn let me in, we set up the toy piano, and went to the Bowery Bar for lunch. I paid. We both ate. I then spent some time at bookstores and Tower Records before hopping back uptown with Marilyn for dinner with her and Jay. And dine we did. As is usual, we broke out the Corsendonk at the Abbey Pub, and unfortunately they no longer have the "every fourth one free" policy.

The next day I had lunch with Hayes in Chelsea, played with his cats, saw Susan, and went back uptown, picked up Jay, and we both went to a vegetarian restaurant near the Tenri Center for dinner. It was good. The show itself was even better -- the Tenri Center being small, I had a seat very close to the players -- I was cleaning rosin out of my nose at intermission from the viola's bow, and I got to see harp pedaling action up close for the first time. There were a whole bunch of friends and former students there (some of them both) like Jim and Judy (with whom I sat), Spencer Schedler, Rick Carrick, and "Not" Adam Marks. My performance was yet mo' betta, and the Gibson and Festinger pieces sounded quite good this close. Sophie, the pianist, informed that my piece would be on her recital after Thanksgiving, and I solicited a recording from that, too -- not as if I have recordings yet from either performance. She also gave me Rich G's Christmas album, which I treated as an earring for a little while. Jay and Marilyn and I cabbed it back uptown, we stopped for a beer, and went to bed. Next morning I drove off to Maynard before the predicted rainstorm hit.

All that while Beff was at a computer music conference in Utica, New York, and met some of our favorites -- Brian Bevelander, for starters -- and she also just barely beat the approaching rainstorm. Which eventually gave us stormy rain. So for the half day that we actually got to see each other that weekend, we had a fire in the fireplace, and I made salmon burgers from patties I got at Whole Foods. Yes!

The Tuesday that followed was the day for Kansas. I set the alarm for 3:30, since I was being picked up at 4:15 for a 6:35 flight. Geoffy had gotten in late the night before, since he was in town for Musica Viva concerts again, but we did not interface at all. I got up at 3:30, and at about 3:40 as I was in the shower, the phone rang. I hopped out and dripped all over everything, but did not answer it in time. I heard on the answering machine, "This is Orbitz. Your six .... thirty-five ... flight to ... Kansas City .... is on time". They had to CALL me? At such an ungodly hour? With a houseguest trying to get some sleep? Crap, Orbitz is off my list for future bookings. Anyway, I made it to Kansas City on the very nice Midwest Airlines (leather seats! No first class! Cookies!) with a stop in Milwaukee (an "airport that makes up for its lack of amenities with its lack of charm"), and Mary Fukushima was right there to pick me up (I gave her my energy bar from the plane). I had wondered about Midwest's schedule -- since all FOUR of my flights backed away from the gate about ten minutes before the scheduled departure time -- but nobody complained, and all the flights were full except the last one back to Boston. Anyway, Mary took me through the flatness and expanse of the midwest to the Cambridge of Kansas, that liberal bastion Lawrence, and to the home of Dave and Gunda Hiebert -- avid music department supporters, and with beautiful Asian sculptures and structures in and around their house, and a bed on which I got some really sound sleep. At this point I met Mike (Kirkendoll) and Nathanael (May), the pianists, for the first time. I had already met Mary, playing the flute and piccolo part -- for she was the one driving. Duh.

And I was set up to do a thinly-spread residency -- from watching rehearsals and concerts to much dining at the expense of others (it averaged four meals a day), to doing a composer masterclass to talking in an orchestration class. One thing that was a little hard to get used to at first was NOT being in a place where "composer" and "band composer" are two different things (that, and when passing strangers and your eyes meet, they smile at you or even say hi). And one thing that was NOT hard to get used to was having excellent performers to play my piece, at least a time zone away from New York.

Anyway, I got taken to the 75th Street Brewery for lunch by Jim Barnes because I expressed a hankerin' for buffalo wings -- and emerged with just a hint of Southern accent. I then got to hear a rehearsal, and the piece already sounded quite good -- I mostly just made comments about balance and a few things about phrasing. I was sorry that the pianists had to go to so much trouble to deal with the inside the piano stuff -- but unlike other non-New Yorkers, they didn't complain. Not even once. The Guinness book of sports records was used to prop the sostenuto pedal up for Nathanael, and it was the job of the page turner to kick it away when it was no longer needed. I'm sure there's a joke there, but I'd rather make fun of Berlioz.

Hanging out was also David Fedele -- now the flute teacher there -- who recorded Sesso e Violenza during his New York days, and who returned for the encore performance by the Columbia Sinfonietta a year and a half ago (I have pictures), and it was good to reconnect. And make fun of his early 90s promo photo evident in the department. David made lots of appearances, and it was always cool to see him. We did dinner at Indo's with Forrest Pierce, the new junior composer there -- who seems to be making things run really well, at least in terms of the new music ensemble (it is called "Helios" -- or sunflower, as in, Kansas, the Sunflower State) and ... well, standards -- and he is what they call vertically advantaged. After some sort of show, we made a brief appearance at the Free State Brewery, since Gregg had recommended it, and I had an amber. And it was good, brother. Meanwhile, Mary gave me a Kansas Jayhawks big spongy glove and a Kansas Jayhawks frisbee -- I was never to be seen without the glove.

The next day there was lunch at the student union with the piano faculty, who were there explicitly to be shown my etudes. And show them I did, using a Combo-Pak of all 74 (it was agreed that that was a bit many all at once), and there was more rehearsing. The Crumb Music for a Summer Evening was on the show, and beautifully done, though I was falling asleep during it and remembering why I never really got interested in his music during my undergraduate years (it was said he wrote the same piece over and over, and I couldn't find many grounds for disagreement). That said, it had lots of beautiful stuff -- though the slide whistle duet played into the pianos was almost comically dumb -- and the ending came off beautifully.

The concert itself had been scheduled at the same time the KU basketball team -- ranked #3 nationally -- was playing Oral Roberts University, and as it turned out, while the new music was being done, KU got its but soundly kicked (or kickly sounded), and that probably made it easier to get into bars that night. The concert started with a Rzewski piece that was very fun and not at all deep or pretentious, and followed with the Crumb, which sounded even better. After intermission came me, and boy did things click -- listening to the recording, I am actually quite astonished at her nice piccolo sound, which she kept trying to say she didn't have much of, and her control of the harmonics in the final section. David Fedele said the piece was better than Sesso e Violenza, but of course it is only half as long. So I didn't have to try as hard. The concert ended with a Messiaen Oiseaux Exotiques, and it came off very, very well, and finally seemed to be as funny as Messiaen intended. Poor Mike was in every piece, and he had to cram on this piece before the concert. And Mary was the piccolist in the group, and I noticed from my poor vantage point that Mary was the only one in the group whose head moved and bobbed with the musical gestures -- as if she was really playing the music. And Mike either learned the part really well, or faked it incredibly. Afterwards, much of the group went to Old Chicago restaurant, which had lots of beers on tap. And I had some.

And by the way, you can click on the red links above to hear the performance and see the score. This offer holds only for a week.

Then was the business of earning my keep. I spoke to a general music gathering on Thursday morning, introduced by Forrest, and played a bunch of stuff. And I did masterclass in the afternoon, which had a few priceless moments -- first, Beff called me and my cell phone was on, so it played her special ringtone: Beff saying "Davy? Davy? Davy? Davy?" Actually, usually only Mary heard it, and I didn't -- including later, at the Hieberts' house. I tried to get a sense of each composer before I looked at his music; one was introduced as being an organist who was composing, and I tried my utmost to connect: "I took one organ lesson when I was in high school, and I bought the special shoes. Needless to say, I got a lot more use out of them later than I did for playing the organ." The response: "For wrestling?"

That night I was taken to Chinese by Jim Barnes, picked up a little bit more of Southern accent, got deposited at another concert with another performance of the Messiaen, after which Mike and Mary and I went to another dinner and drinks -- I got some good beer on draft, and some textured guacamole (not whack-a-mole). This place closed at 10, and many of the players from the concert wanted to continue, so another venue was used, pool was played (not by me), and Mike and I ended up by ourselves just talking, while margaritas did their dirty work on the bloodstreams of others. Friday I went to the orchestration class, said some things and played some things, went to an open lunch, hung out in Lawrence with Forrest (book stores and Free State Brewery yet again), got taken to dinner at a Mexican place by the Composers Guild (I got the sizzling fajita), caught the end of a flute recital Mike was accompanying, and then went to Mike 'n' Mary's place on the outskirts for some wine. Where we played the game "don't spill your wine while their big dog Kona jumps all over you" -- all of us seem to have won that one. The wine was really good -- I had frankly gotten tired of beer. Briefly.

And Saturday Mike and Mary picked me up at the Hieberts, Mike drove me to the airport, and I had an utterly eventless flight home, with another layover in Milwaukee, which I spent entirely on the plane. I got driven back by AAA, part of the the Mass Pike was closed because of Big Dig crappola, and Beff and I walked to the Quarterdeck for dinner -- I had the clam roll, as usual. Speaking of seafood, I was informed that in Kansas, catfish is considered seafood. Hmm. Where to categorize that?

Meanwhile, on THAT weekend, Beff had driven to Vermont in a rented cargo van with her bro' Bob to get some stuff out of her dad's condo, take some donated books to Norwich University, and bring a few little pieces of furniture back (including a partially spent jar of honey -- okay, that's not furniture, but you get the point). On Sunday morning we dropped the van off, did a Thanksgiving shop, and did the raking thing, and Beff left for Maine, since she promised to watch a dress rehearsal of the concert band (guess what -- they were doing a piece by KU's own Jim Barnes) and I spent most of the afternoon preparing Monday's teaching (lots of Xeroxing, making up a quiz, etc.)

And today, Monday, was a type of day I hate -- drive to school in the dark, and return in the dark. I didn't even raise the shades. And here I am now, and I admit, I am listening repeatedly to the recording of the Kansas performance because a) it was great and b) I have it. I can only say ONE of those things about the Stony Brook performances.

Among other more mundane things -- the Capstone CDs of Michael Lipsey's hand drum CD arrived, as well as a box at the artist rate of Jim and Judy's new CD on Bridge. Both are now available, see links in Recordings. Both are fantafunkingtastic.

Coming up: the Wiemann siblings, possibly all of them, for Thanksgiving. And lots of grading of chorales. Based on my random sampling, I calculated that if all the assigned ones came in, I have 13 hours of grading over Thanksgiving break. Saturday, Maynard door and window takes a look at the pantry in preparation for converting it into a half bath. Tomorrow morning it's dentist time again (number six). Beff gets back either late tomorrow night or during the morning on Wednesday. And then, aw, geez, just a week and a day of classes left. Cool.

As to this week's pictures -- all were taken from my cell phone except the first, taken on Carolyn's (ka-ching!) camera -- it's Carolyn playing the piece of stump as a guitar. Then we have Marilyn Nonken at the Bowery Bar, two shots of the Free State Brewery, Mary Fukushima after being taught how to suck chips to her face, and a bottle chandelier at the place of too many margaritas. Check the red "Uccelli" links above for score and recording of the Kansas experience. For the Stony Brook experience, stand there very still. And for a very, very long time.

NOVEMBER 28. Breakfast this morning was rice link sausages, orange juice, and coffee. TEMPERATURE EXTREMES THIS LAST WEEK: 24.3 and 63.0. MUSIC GOING THROUGH MY HEAD AS I TYPE THIS The Ravel Duo for violin and cello. LARGE EXPENSES this last week include a dentist, bill finally -- $900 and change. POINTLESS NOSTALGIC REMINISCENCE: Back in our Princeton grad student days, Andy Milburn had a Commodore 64 with a voice synthesis program -- pretty primitive by today's standards. We delighted in attaching it to the TV and making it say things in its ... well, robotic ... voice. We played a game with Martler and Alison where we would type things with numbers in them to hear the computer pronounce them: 4nik8, qui9, 6ual, etc. -- and Alison topped us all with 0ber took my jewels (zero-bber took my jewels, think French accent). Eventually we recorded our answering machine message using this thing, which included the robotically spoken phrases "Davy is bouncing on his bed. Martin is doing limey things". Paul Lansky thought it was so funny that he used to call us just to hear the message -- and then he would leave a message saying, "Oh, it's Lansky again. I just called to hear the message. Hee hee." Dunno why he didn't just hang up. THIS WEEK'S COSMIC QUANDARY: Is there such thing as a dry heave-ho? THIS WEEK'S MADE-UP WORD: slib. THINGS I HAVE GROWN WEARY OF are bad uses of 6-4 chords. RECENT GASTRONOMIC OBSESSIONS: are turkey (duh), including turkey added to Thai Hot and Sour soup. DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK Hot air balloon liftoffs at the Minuteman Airport. THIS WEEK'S NUMBER BETWEEN 1 AND 10: 3.12. REVISIONS TO THIS SITE: This page, Performances, Home, Teaching. NUMBER OF HAIRCUTS I GOT LAST WEEK: 0. DENTIST VISITS THIS SEMESTER SO FAR: 6. FRAGILE THINGS DESTROYED BY THE CATS THIS LAST WEEK is more of the back of my computer chair, but not over a four-year period -- since the cats are only two and a half. RECOMMENDATION AND PROFESSIONAL LETTERS WRITTEN THIS LAST WEEK: 8 (most of which were of the "emergency" sort). DAVY'S BAROMETER FOR THE FUTURE OF MUSIC this week is 49 out of 100. WHAT THE NEXT BIG TREND WOULD BE IF I WERE IN CHARGE: School's out for the summer. School's out forever. PHOTOS IN MY IPHOTO LIBRARY: 9,932 (the number is smaller because I eliminated some duplicates). WHAT I PAID FOR GASOLINE THIS WEEK: $2.19. OTHER INANIMATE OBJECTS THAT WOULD BE A BETTER PRESIDENT THAN THE CURRENT ONE a sea of red ink, the red that the town has been painted, the red red robin that isn't bob bob bobbin', a red tide.

I lied. About the raking. Making a call into what Beth calls my "obsessive" nature, I made a few trips out into the yards, rake and barrel in hands, and raked up about another two barrels worth crappy crap crap leaves. I had noted that the yards of others were barer than ours, and there were a few mroe leaves that blew around in various places -- that we don't even use anyway. But I diddit.

There was also another pretty short dentist visit on Tuesday morning. I had been scheduled for 8:20, and negotiated the heavy rush hour traffic to get there in plenty of time. I got situated on a dentist chair at 8:20, and at 8:40 the dentist, in living color, made it over to me with an assistant. Previously, the hygienist and assistants had worn maroon uniforms, but today's matched color was light gray. I hope they didn't go to all that fuss just to impress me. So all the doctor did this time was probe the gums and call out numbers, duly noted by the assistant. So I felt a light probe, and the doctor said "2". Another probe, "3". Another probe, "2". Another probe, "1". It was explained that this was a visit to see how the gums are healing after the deep scaling. I asked -- with a mouth in my hand -- "Whi' iv be'oh -- wuh oh fwee?" The dentist responded, not mimicking my temporary speech defect (and not removing her hand from my mouth), that "1" is best. Toward the way back, I heard a few 5's, but the dentist ominously remarked, "wisdom tooth. It's coming out anyway". I was glad that wasn't followed by "Right NOW". In any case, in the back left bottom, the dentist scraped off a bit of new plaque, set a February cleaning appointment, and said to brush better there, and said not to brush too hard on the gums because they would wear away -- what a cheerful thought. Post Scriptum: when I did brush thoroughly in that deep recess, I got the gag reflex. Hmm, no wonder. Speaking of gag reflexes, I haven't listened to Duran Duran in a while. Next visit: next Wednesday the 6th.

Meanwhile, Big Mike of ka-ching fame got a nice letter from the registrar which I scanned and put on the bottom of the "Teaching" page. It is well worth your while to read it.

So after the dentist visit was a trip to Whole Foods, which is on the way to Brandeis -- assuming I take that route -- where I had scheduled a makeup lesson with Derek. He was there teaching an ear training section, and of course, despite my two reminder e-mails, he had forgotten. We had the lesson anyway, with an outdated Finale file he had on his keychain flash drive (say that five times fast). Slosberg was very nearly deserted -- a nice feeling -- and I made it home in the light -- a rare occurrence -- and filed the groceries. I had gotten the food for the Thanksgiving feast, and the refrigerator was a-burstin' by the time I was done.

Wednesday was a day of lessons only -- neither of my classes met, as everyone was gone for the holiday -- including another makeup lesson, this time with Peter B, who remembered, despite my reminder e-mail. I realized that both HIS names have five letters, so he is duly included on my home page. And for the first time this semester, I got out of bed early WHILE BEFF WAS HERE and told her I'd be back after my teaching. She seemed confused -- or still asleep.

Late Wednesday afternoon Beff's sister Ann arrived for the holiday carrying about two cars worth of food and drink. Most of it was redundant with what we had, but there were stuffed clams, which when heated tasted exactly like turkey stuffing, and other vagaries. Many carbohydrates were consumed, and many episodes of The West Wing were viewed.

Thanksgiving itself was as to be expected. Yet another big rainstorm was just winding up -- it ended up dropping a lot of what I like to call "precipitation" on us Thursday night -- and Beff and her sister took an umbrella-full walk in the morning. Meanwhile, I prepared my usual Thanksgiving snackies of celery stuffed with (light) cream cheese, olives of various kinds, and pickle wedges. Plus a bunch of pickled garlic that had probably expired. Then Beff did her usual Thanksgiving ritual of making the stuffing, I stuffed the turkey, and ASKED FOR MORE. So Beff had to don the priestess of stuffing uniform once more, say her usual chants, summon the microwave, etcetera. The bird (our affectionate term for the "turkey") went in at 11:08.

Meanwhile, we were expecting other Wiemann siblings, specifically Bob and Jim, and it was unclear to me, and possibly to others, where Matt was. The time of arrival for Bob and Jim was up in the air, as Jim was ... oh my, I've actually stumbled on a topic so boring I can't even bring myself to type it. Okay, then. So I basted the turkey (or "bird" as we now call it) every half hour, snacked, we did crackers and cheese, and the siblage arrived just as the turkey was being taken out of the oven. Meanwhile, Ann peeled enough potatoes to feed the entire third world, and I boiled a fraction of them for eventual garlic mash. Which I made, and it was good, brother. Ann had warned that Bob's appetite for potatoes pretty much matches that of your basic small nation, and that prediction turned out to be true, as I witnessed a full plate emptied, then filled, utterly, again with what I like to call "nothing but potatoes". Like Dan Quayle, I remembered the "e".

After the siblings left, it was West Wing time again, including -- no surprise -- the turkey pardoning episode. Friday was a day of trips for Ann and Beff, while I stayed at home and graded theory homework (there was that much) until about 3. THEY saw the deCordova Museum, and enjoyed the sculpture park, as it was a nice mild day. I did a wee bit o' raking, obsessively. Then there were chicken skewers from Whole Foods, and West Wing episodes.

Meanwhile, Ann noticed that she could piggyback onto someone else's Linksys wireless network. I got jealous, because none of my computers -- even the ones with wireless cards -- could detect that network. Apple, whathafu' is wrong with you?

Saturday was another pretty nice day, and we decided on a small drive before Ann had to leave. We drove to the Stow "nature viewing area" -- as did lots of other people -- and took the path into the woods and out. We then chose to look at the Minuteman Airport in Stow -- which has a cafe, after all -- and there we came upon a pair of hot air balloons being filled. We hung around to watch them fill to the utmost and take off -- all the while, teensy planes took off three in a row. And tried for some pictures, see below. I also made movies, but boy were they boring. Dinner was leftovers. Sunday lunch was canned That hot and sour soup with leftover turkey added -- and then was the moment of freedom. We TOSSED all the other leftovers. After our usual big circle walk.

Beff left for Maine after lunch, and I spent the rest of the day grading yet more theory homework -- my penance for being away in New York and Kansas. Yesterday was a typical teaching day, though it was gorgeous out yet again, and I had the orchestration class outdoors. The topic was strategies in writing for orchestra, and it was okay to play them the Haydn 104 finale on my little iPod boombox battery-operated setup. But the Mahler Urlicht was way too soft and subtle -- it looked almost like a mosh pit as they all leaned in to try to hear it over the distant din of leaf blowers. Then it was the Waldstein in Theory, and I have been racking my brain for metaphors to explain about disrupted formal balance and weird tonal moves. I discarded the small intestine metaphor right away -- too twisty.

Meanwhile, e-mail arrived informing us that Amy D and I will go live on WGBH radio on February 26 to promote Amy's Boston Conservatory recital on the 27th. Amy said I'd wear my face on my t-shirt, and I said I'd bring a stamp with Amy's face on it. The response was that a riotous hour was expected. And my piano quintet had its third performance last night in Stony Brook, dontcha know.

And today I go to BJ's for more stuff that we always have to have lots of. Upcoming: Mindy Wagner does a colloquium on Thursday and she's staying here overnight afterwards (Beff arrives at night, and I told her that when she arrived we'd either be asleep or giggling a lot). Friday Beff has a deep scaling at the dentist, and so does Cammy at the vet, as it turns out. Yes, we are hiring the vet to brush a cat's teeth. What will they think of next? Monday is my last day of classes, Tuesday is my makeup lessons day, Wednesday is another dentist appointment, Thursday is office hours and a meeting, and Friday -- oh, what is Friday? Must to check schedule. It can't actually be free, can it? I guess I'll take my car in for its inspection and a brake job, then. Fascinating.

Okay now -- long hiatus here as the Maids arrived to clean, and I went to BJ's and Trader Joe's where I got fire logs, batteries, toilet paper, cat litter, and lots of really cool stuff. Including tomatoes of many colors. Meanwhile, I can add hot and sour soup -- today's lunch -- to the list of meals. Trader Joe's now uses cheaper paper bags than they used to, and one of them ripped as I was taking it out of the car. Oh, the bad will caused by saving money on stuff where you shouldn't scrimp.

Today's pictures return to the "recent and classic" mode. We have the turkey ready to go into the oven, my snack layout, Beff at the nature viewing area, a plane taking off at the Minuteman Airport, and two pictures of hot air balloons there. The CLASSIC picture is of Beff and me taken by Martler -- it's 1989 in Portland, and note that our feet aren't touching the ground.

DECEMBER 5. Breakfast this morning was the lowfat muffin from the Shapiro Center cafe, and coffee. Lunch was Buffalo wings from Neighborhood Pizzeria, and salad. Dinner is not yet. TEMPERATURE EXTREMES THIS LAST WEEK: 22.6 and 67.1. MUSIC GOING THROUGH MY HEAD AS I TYPE THIS My own "Disparate Measures", as it plays on iTunes as I type this. LARGE EXPENSES this last week include donations to various musical organizations of $250 each, the Christmas gift of $50 to the paper delivery person, mailing bags and stuff at Staples, amount unknown, things bought in mass quantities at BJs, $209, various at the Bolton market, $88. POINTLESS NOSTALGIC REMINISCENCE: In grad school at Princeton, there was a "pro seminar" which varied in topic wildly depending on who "taught" it. Sometimes it was long BS sessions, sometimes there were guest lecturers (John Rahn comes to mind), but always there were readings of student work by paid New York players. My first year there, when Spies ran it, a player got $50 plus travel ($7 roundtrip) for coming in from New York to do 2-1/2 hours of readings. This was when I heard my bagatelles, Mathew Rosenblum's two cello piece, Joe Dubiel's nearly endless solo violin piece, and various others. My second year, Paul Lansky upped the pay to $60 per performer. My third year, Spies came back and restored the $50 fee. THIS WEEK'S COSMIC QUANDARY: Where does dust come from? I hear tell a lot of it is skin flecks, but really -- then why is there so much in the attic? THIS WEEK'S MADE-UP WORD: orce. THINGS I HAVE GROWN WEARY OF are requests for extensions, etc.. RECENT GASTRONOMIC OBSESSIONS: are dill barrel pickles, olives, and celery. DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK This year's Anchor Christmas Ale. A whole lot like last week's Anchor Christmas Ale. THIS WEEK'S NUMBER BETWEEN 1 AND 10: 7. REVISIONS TO THIS SITE: This page. NUMBER OF HAIRCUTS I GOT LAST WEEK: 0. DENTIST VISITS THIS SEMESTER SO FAR: 6. FRAGILE THINGS DESTROYED BY THE CATS THIS LAST WEEK is nothing. RECOMMENDATION AND PROFESSIONAL LETTERS WRITTEN THIS LAST WEEK: 4, and all of them couldn't wait. DAVY'S BAROMETER FOR THE FUTURE OF MUSIC this week is 66 out of 100. WHAT THE NEXT BIG TREND WOULD BE IF I WERE IN CHARGE: Half of the "f" words in English now begin "pf". PHOTOS IN MY IPHOTO LIBRARY: 9,957. WHAT I PAID FOR GASOLINE THIS WEEK: $2.23. OTHER INANIMATE OBJECTS THAT WOULD BE A BETTER PRESIDENT THAN THE CURRENT ONE the way to San Jose, what today is, where I put my hair dryer, when the next train arrives.

Most of the action this week was during the weekend when Beff was around and stuff could be done. There was the teaching stuff, the occasional grading stuff, and the usual trickle-becomes-a-flood of overdue assignments. There was a bit of Bach to talk about on Wednesday, and some summing up to do on Monday. For orchestration, two pizzas were procured (my suggestion of pepperoni or sausage for one of them -- pig products -- was nixed) along with drinks. Today is the last day of classes for the semester and I would normally stay home, but I did makeup lessons for the time I was in Kansas (in toto), and that took me until the middle of the afternoon. Now I am officially finished for the semester, though there are plenty of office hours still to give, a PhD oral to sit in on (b---h b---h), and by Monday lots of orchestration portfolios to look at (b---h). And lunch with Elaine Wong on Monday!

Meanwhile, tomorrow becomes dentist visit number 7 of the semester, and it's a 2-hour job concentrating on the lower left, and possibly finally a Nygah. I realized that in Kansas there was no mouth weirdness whatsoever, but that it returned when I did, so there's something with the bed or the pillow or the grinding that must be figured out. In any case, it will be the last dentist visit of the semester, hallelujah. There's always next semester. The dentist visit also gives me another ironclad excuse not to do the Messiah sing tomorrow afternoon. Especially as there are no ka-chings involved with it this time.

By far the event of the week was a magnificent colloquium given by Mindy Wagner on Thursday afternoon. I had known Mindy slightly from an American Academy of Arts and Letters event (we both got Academy Awards), a NYNME performance (we sat together and said perfunctory things), and really got to know her at the MacDowell Colony in June, 01. We actually became giggle twins -- especially when the phrase "fish face" was used. You hadda be there. So Mindy drove up from New Jersey, and I left the door of my house unlocked (you can do that here). I did my Thursday teaching and eschewed a department lunch in order to be home when she got it -- and when I arrived she was already here. In fact, she had even answered the phone when Beff called (she got a retroactive raise and it all went into her last paycheck).

So Mindy and I, in the very warm, took the circle walk around the area, and then went to Brandeis with all her stuff. Her colloquium was quite well attended (we asked her to repeat her guitar piece), went over well, and -- Eric Chasalow got us into the TUSCAN GRILL!!! for the post-colloquium dinner. And it was Mindy and the four of the composition faculty enjoying Brandeis's hospitality there. I had the seared salmon, in case you cared. Then, being as middle-aged as we are, we retired early after a brief gigglefest at home, and Beff got in after that. In the morning, Mindy got toast and coffee, got to hang with both Beff and me for a while before she had to drive back, and then it was back to the normalness of our humdrum lives.

So our big adventure of the weekend was a long drive that included a bit of shopping, on Saturday. It included a stop at Bolton Farms for various food and giftie things, a long walk through the Oxbow Wildlife Refuge, a drive to Staples for some mailing bags, etc., and a return home for various walkies. It had been very warm until Friday -- a rainy day that also got to the upper 60s (I believe the temp on Thursday was a record for Boston), and that was a day for BEFF to go to the dentist. As to that, we pretty much have the same stories (hygienist does the scaling, dentist comes over and does some more); in my case, I had Beff follow me in the car to the dentist, after which I got some good stuff at Whole Foods. And duh, brought it back.

Sunday was my day of grading and watching the Patriots struggle (again!) against a vastly inferior team and preparing what to say in class on Monday. Though in the morning -- it had gotten quite cold, actually -- Beff and I decided on some sort of walk (Harley Bridge, etc.) and then she had to up and drive to Maine for rehearsal, etc.

On Monday after teaching I actually went into Cambridge ON THE TRAIN to meet Gil Rose. And happened to travel with Peter M, who got on a bike in Porter Square. I didn't. I met Gil at the Casablanca, he had some wine, I had some beer, olives, and burger, and we talked about various BMOP-related things that applied directly to me. For those of you playing along at home, the performance of my piano concerto is next November 2, and the complete, uncut Ballet Mecanique is on the show as the second half. Meanwhile, the recording session for Winged Contraption is at 8:30 on January 21 -- the performance being the finale of the January 20 concert. Guess who's getting a room at the Midtown Motor Inn on the 20th? What else do you need to know? We're budgeting 5 hours to record the piano concerto.

And then I got the 6:45 train home instead of the expected 7:55, meaning I could record the episode of "Closer" that Beff was interested in. And I got my commission/residency check from U Kansas PLUS finally a recording of my two performances of my piano quintet in Stony Brook and New York. GETTING THE TAPE is always a big production around here, especially since there were two performances of a three-movement piece with which to deal. That meant capturing the audio, editing out the applause and pauses and normalizing the recording levels (the Stony Brook performance came to me very soft), putting AIFFs into the "Davy CD tracks" folder, converting them to mp3s and uploading them to my webspace, updating my secret index, and e-mailing various people that they are there. Wow.

So the two performances of the quintet ("Disparate Measures") sound very different. In Stony Brook it was a much better piano, and the recording is more blended but more distant; in New York it was a small grand and the microphones are quite close to the strings, so the balance is different, but I like the presence and scratchiness of the string sound. If the dear reader would like he/she may compare them (see red links on left) and express to me a preference. For the uninitiated listener, the first movement is called "Flight" (it's sort of inspired by the awkward and then gorgeous flying motion of a Great Blue Heron that nested near my Yaddo studio), the second is "Adagio" and the third is "Vapor Lock". I don't know where "Vapor Lock" came from, but nobody asked me about it so I didn't have to make up shit. And yes, that's a quote from the Brahms Lullaby in the third movement.

Hmm. Great Blue Heron and Birds of Bogliasco. Looks like it was my summer of birds. I don't mind.

I also started thinking about a piece for Collage and Judy Bettina -- there is no firm commitment yet, nor firm ensemble, but I started poring through some volumes of poetry by Phillis Levin, and may have enough for a substantial piece. With so much contrast it will part your hair. Right down the middle.

There, now that wasn't so hard, was it? For those playing along at home, this is Stacy's 37th birthday (I called her from work at 10 her time and she was practically asleep). And there's not much else to report. So listen to the SB and NYC performances of "Disparate Measures", and if you have a preference, be prepared to write a 1,000 word essay on why.

This week's pictures include two of Mindy after the colloquium, first with Marty Boykan and second with Josh Gordon; then we have Yu-Hui posing with the Kansas Jayhawks glove given me by Mary Fukushima; then a picture toward our house Sunday morning as we took our walk; then the Oxbow River in the refuge, and a sycamore tree with its peeling bark. Bitchin.

Classes have been over for a week, but it hardly seems it. My firm deadline for all materials was yesterday at 5, and of course not everything is in yet. Drastic measures will be called for: next semester each student will be asked to sign a statement attesting that they know on which date all class materials are due, and that they will accept a zero for all assignments not completed by that date. It's come to this, folks. There's something here about the needs of the few, but I don't know how it applies.

I also did all my makeup lessons and other various things at the 'Deis, and had extra office hours. Of which some students availed themselves. And Wednesday was chapter 7 in adventures in dentistry. This was a very long one, as there were two fillings followed by the preparation of a crown (I had asked for the tiara, but they were out. Plus, they looked at me funny). It was the sort of thing that you keep thinking is over, but it isn't (sort of like the chamber works of Dvorak). I even got to bite into something that felt like wet modeling clay and hold it in my mouth, droolful, for ten minutes. And after all that, I found out I had a "temporary" crown and that a porcelain one was to be custom fabricated at the ... uh, crown factory? And that it would be installed next Tuesday the 19th. Meanwhile, the temporary one was described as "sort of plastic", I was advised not to chew too hard on that side, and to not floss normally there. Hmm, great advice. The not chewing thing is easy, since it HURTS to chew on the temporary crown. But enough about teeth. Unless you wish to know that a porcelain crown costs $1150, not much less than a root canal.

Today is my sister Jane's birthday. She turns 55. Wow.

This was an unusual week in that I DIDN'T look outside and see more little piles of leaves that needed raking for me to rush outside and take care of. Instead, I did some deep thinking. And when I saw what I had done, I went to the bathroom.

Beff got in late Thursday night and had her second dentist appointment on Friday morning. I meanwhile had anticipated waiting for Derek J to come over and do some tabloid printing, but he had to put it off until today. So after Beff got back from the dentist, we drove to the library, returned some stuff, got some stuff, and walked around downtown. It was a bitterly cold and windy day (I was heard to remark, "it's a bitterly cold and windy day, isn't it?"), so we did as little walking in the outside as we could. Beff was looking for what she calls "trinkets" for the Christmas packages that go to relatives, as well as other various vestiti (clothes), so we did the Outdoor Store. And I renewed a prescription at CVS, mailed some packages at the post office, and we stopped by Maynard Door and Window to give Zoe the dog some bones, as usual -- see Zoe movie below. After that (while the prescription was being filled), we lunched at the Quarterdeck, where life was beautiful all the time. I got the clam roll, not because I wanted to be unoriginal, but because I wanted a clam roll. Then it was back into the cold and back home.

A Christmas present from both of us to both of us arrived, meantime -- a digital picture frame, which is apparently now all the rage. Beff chose a nice one, the 6.5 inch Phillips one. What you do is load your favorite pictures on a digital card (this one reads 4 formats) and it has an LED display to slideshow them, or show just one, or whatever you want. The battery doesn't last all that long (a 2-1/2 hour charge seems to give you 2 hours of display), but it's very cool --- especially if your feet are as deeply immersed in geekdom as mine are. Meanwhile, Beff specified exactly which handbag she wanted to replace her cheap TJ Maxx model, and I got that for her -- it arrived yesterday. I don't know where in geekdom that leaves me, but I will, Oscar, I will.

Friday's dinner was delicious chicken sandwiches, which accompanied the local (our living room) showing of Intolerable Cruelty. Beff was curious because she saw the first two thirds of it IN THE DENTIST CHAIR and wanted to see how it ended. It was funny indeed, but we both expected another silly twist at the end -- being a Coen Brothers movie and all that -- but it was conventional.

Saturday began with a discussion of the need for yet more trinkets, specifically toy-like-lookin' USB flash drives for our nephew like those spyed on gifts.com. So we decided on an early-as-possible departure for Target, which we thought might have them. We were wrong. But I did get two nice new sweaters, we got some cat and dog stuff, and other various and sundry items, and moved on to CompUSA -- which also didn't have them. So Beff up and got them online. Meanwhile, I took a trip to Staples to see if they had them, and to FYE (formerly Strawberries) in Acton. Where I got some CD-Rs (the last brand I trust -- Fuji Film with the boxes) and an iTunes gift card for Beff. Lunch was Trader Joe's shrimp tempura.

Later on Saturday we got our usual Lions Club Christmas tree from the parking lot at Shaw's and brought it home, along with some very nice groceries indeed. We got a shorter one than usual because the last two got so tipsy we had to tie them to the wall to keep them from falling over -- plus, the stereo is now in the place where we've usually put them, so it's now more in the middle of the living room than toward the window. I actually got out the hacksaw and trimmed some of the bush in front of the window so that passersby could see a bit of the tree. So we installed the tree and Beff decorated it. It is now there. As a tree. Decorated by Beff. And I am watering it daily. And of course, the cats love anything that seems naturelike brought into the house. So with a roaring fire, a decorated tree, and a digital frame doing a slideshow of 305 pictures, we were set. For Christmas music we had -- Earth, Wind and Fire? Yep.

Sunday Beff made another of her early exits, after we did a walk into town for more possible trinkets. I worried out loud that nothing but the Paper Store would be open, and I was right. But trinkets we got. And walking we did. My only obsessive outdoor thing -- now that the weather was much warmer -- was picking up fallen pine cones in the back yard. They filled a big shopping bag, so there.

On Monday I started preparing scores to send to colony applications for this summer -- which involved the copy machine in the guest room, which finally after a year and a half ran out of toner. Lucky me, I bought extra toner when I bought the machine, so I was able to do the whole job and WOW, making scores is tedious. I followed that performance with a long day at Brandeis, first with a composition lesson, then with my yearly Elaine Wong lunch (we ate at a trendy and expensive place in Newton Center), three hours of office hours, and a committee meeting that went until about 8. When I got home, it was naturally dark, and the cats were antsy, a-lookin' for treats. Which they got. When I got home, I found out it was package day: Beff's handbag arrived, my Bose Xmas present arrived, and a note saying FedEx tried to deliver a book from Tom Kunding (architect I met at MacDowell) tried to be delivered, and they'd be back. That and I got the CD of the THIRD performance of Disparate Measures, to which I listened -- the finale is finally at the tempo I wanted, but there's some weird ensemble stuff in the middle that I don't think I can fix. Nonetheless, it's another very fine performance. Since no one compared the two performances put up here last week, they are ... gone!

So today I go through all the final grading -- except for those that don't realize seven iterations of the deadline are enough -- and host Derek for his big printing. Wednesday is a PhD oral and I'll probably see Sam and Laurie and Georgia afterwards. Thursday is yet another meeting. And late on Friday, Beff is back. That pretty much sums it up. So on the left, see the little dog Zoe from Maynard Door and Window catch the ball I throw (academy award, here we come).

This week's pictures include Cammy looking out the dining room window (apparently at a bush), the digital frame displaying Amy D in China, actual tolerable pictures of me 'n' Beff at the Quarterdeck, Zoe on my leg looking for a bone, the Christmas tree hiding the raging fire in back of it, Cammy and Sunny a-checkin' out the tree, the full moon early in the week, and two old scanned pictures of Beff and siblings.

DECEMBER 19. Last night's dinner was 93% lean burgers and salad. Breakfast this morning was rice link sausages with cheese, potato pancakes, orange juice, and coffee. Lunch today was a small Brick Oven pizza. TEMPERATURE EXTREMES THIS LAST WEEK: 29.8 and 56.1. MUSIC GOING THROUGH MY HEAD AS I TYPE THIS The song "Zwielicht" by Schumann -- as I think I may quote it in the piece I am working on now. LARGE EXPENSES this last week include a new office chair, $105 at Staples. POINTLESS NOSTALGIC REMINISCENCE: In eighth grade, we had a new gym teacher known as "Mr. Pequignot", or Mr. P -- Mr. Gilbert, who had done the job so many years before, bought a farm and retired from teaching; this was also the second year that all eight grades went to the new elementary school instead of the regional schools in buildings that were a hundred years old. Mr. P decided to put together a soccer team. I did not go out for it, but after the first practice, he persuaded me to do it -- I was the starting left winger. Do not ask me why. In our very first game -- played in back of the old Barlow Street School, against St. Albans Town, we got the kickoff, which went to the right inside, and then to me. I tried to make a long, long kick to get the ball in front of the goal for one of other guys. I kicked as hard as I could, and then got decked by the other team's right winger. As I got up, I saw the ball going into the goal. We won that game 1-0. THIS WEEK'S COSMIC QUANDARY: How many people eat, or say, rutabagas every day? THIS WEEK'S MADE-UP WORD: alstage. THINGS I HAVE GROWN WEARY OF my temporary crown and its temperature distress, still. RECENT GASTRONOMIC OBSESSIONS: are pouch pickles, nighttime popcorn, and Buffalo wing hot sauce. DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK At Staples, there is sometimes a huge disconnect between the price you see on the floor and what comes up on the register. In their defense, they will charge you the lower price. THIS WEEK'S NUMBER BETWEEN 1 AND 10: 18. REVISIONS TO THIS SITE: This page, Bio, Teaching, Performances, Lexicon, Compositions. NUMBER OF HAIRCUTS I GOT LAST WEEK: 0. DENTIST VISITS THIS SEMESTER SO FAR: 7. FRAGILE THINGS DESTROYED BY THE CATS THIS LAST WEEK is nothing, but the little cat from the "cat shooter" is continuing to pop up in new places every day (currently on a stair between floors) RECOMMENDATION AND PROFESSIONAL LETTERS WRITTEN THIS LAST WEEK: 18 (including 10 handwritten Guggenheim letters) DAVY'S BAROMETER FOR THE FUTURE OF MUSIC this week is 32 out of 100. WHAT THE NEXT BIG TREND WOULD BE IF I WERE IN CHARGE: A president who understands that he has the opposite of "political capital". PHOTOS IN MY IPHOTO LIBRARY: 9,992. WHAT I PAID FOR GASOLINE THIS WEEK: $2.27. OTHER INANIMATE OBJECTS THAT WOULD BE A BETTER PRESIDENT THAN THE CURRENT ONE beans, beans, the magic fruit, temporary cloud formations, a distant noise that sounds like an explosion, the texture inside a wool mitten.

I am through with Brandeis for the calendar year, and none too soon. Much of last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were spent correcting the last homeworks, the late homeworks, and much time was spent going over the Orchestration portfolios -- yes, I did make annotations on some of the projects, and I DID read all of the "listening journals" I had obnoxiously assigned. Why did I assign listening journals? Because it was my decision that the students had to listen to a lot of music and listen carefully to how instruments were used, but they wouldn't necessarily be graded on it -- thus, undergraduates being a busy lot, since they weren't being graded, I knew they would not do the listening unless I made them write about every piece. That, therefore, created a larger burden for me in terms of grading -- it's this time of year when I regret assigning as much as I do. On the other hand, it did help to lead to that Gushing With Pride moment -- as when I showed a colleague the first orchestra arrangement that came in, and noted, "here's someone who couldn't have told you the range of any of these instruments three months ago, and look -- an orchestrational crescendo." Hee hee hee.

Meanwhile, the theory students may just be starting to "get" Beethoven -- as in how to balance the form when weird stuff happens, how the dominants get longer and longer, and why codas are there. How 'bout that. So all that correcting, reading and grading took me right to Friday night, which was when Beff got back -- a day late because of something to do with exams and the U Maine schedule.

Which gave us a shortened weekend. It was still mild (love this global warming thing at this time of year), and I have been making occasional trips out to the edge of the property where all the overgrowth has been, obsessively uprooting old vines, ailanthus stumps, and large root systems that seem to belong to forsythias. I have NOT obsessively been picking up the pine cones that have fallen in the side yard, but I just may. I just may. Because there are a lot.

And there was a large pile of packages that had arrived for Beff to sort through -- various Christmas presents (including a tote bag for the sibling known as Matt -- she brought it into the computer room and asked if it looked like The Sibling Known as Matt's style, and I had no idea what she was talking about. So I said, "I have no idea what you're talking about, but I suppose I'm supposed to say that it does. Look like the style of the sibling known as Matt, that is.").

Beff had plenty of grading of her own to do, of course, as well as practicing to do, but we did manage long and large walks both weekend days (including around the mill on Sunday and a brief look at a house we could have bought but are glad we didn't -- no garage, narrow street, other houses very close -- but a one-minute walk downtown). And on Saturday of course there was a trip out Stapleswards to look for more giftie trinkets, as well as ship the holiday gift packages to my own relatives, spread far and wide as they are in Colorado and Vermont.

I have noted here that Cammy sharpens his claws on the back of my computer chair, which was bought new when we got the house -- therefore about six years old -- and the back has become quite ratty (not catty, ratty) -- so I decided since I was at Staples that I would go for another new office chair. So into the office chair department went I, and they've been upgrading (a quote from Adam from Buffy Season IV) -- none of the carpet-textured office chairs seem to be offered any more, though there are plenty at really lowdown prices. I found something that met my needs -- adjustable height and armrests (Beff brought home a really nice chair from her dad's condo, but it lacked the armrests), and a leatherette surface -- perhaps Cammy-proof, but I doubt it. And it was $120 on sale for $100. Of course it wasn't in stock, so at the store kiosk the salesman looked it up for the sake of having it delivered, and the price came through as $150. The manager gave it to me for the indicated price, of course, and it arrived a few minutes ago. I am not excited about putting it together, but I will be one of these days.

And in the meantime, all the extra printing paper and toner cartridges I ordered online last week arrived. I saw that 28-pound tabloid size laser printing paper was available, so I snapped some up -- and it is labeled as "color laser" printing paper. Cool. And one of the packages that had arrived was a Christmas present to me -- the Bose iPod thingie. And it has a very big sound. We listened to our Christmas tape on it, and Beff got tired of it. So we listened to the Christina Aguilera Christmas CD and suffered through a little bit of melisma abuse -- putting that voice on Angels We Have Heard On High is a little bit like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer. Actually, a lot like it.

Meanwhile, my big task of the weekend was putting together applications for MacDowell Colony and Yaddo for the summer, which is a much more involved process than I remembered -- it's always a much more involved process than I remembered. Since I had to get recent scores together, I actually had to make them and bind them. And burn some CD-Rs. And make three copies of the applications. And get Harold Meltzer to write for me for MacDowell. And then both applications ask you to list your five most important professional accomplishments. I suppose teaching singers how to write an orchestral crescendo doesn't count, nor does teaching 150 students, and counting, how to write a minuet for string quartet. So self-horntooting it is. And then they have to be packaged and addressed, an application fee check written, etc.

Meanwhile, we are leaving for our vacation trip -- England, Scotland and Wales (oh my) next Tuesday. So no update here for three weeks. Deal with it. The house- and catsitter will be Seunghee, a grad composition student at Brandeis, and we had her to the Quarterdeck for dinner on Saturday night so we could go over the stuff that has to be done. I had the blackened cajun special. She was able to read the Korean writing on the Little Pusan Restaurant, informing us that it read "Little Pusan Restaurant".

Sunday's dinner was portobellos and salmon burgers and salad. Really good, if you ask me. Go ahead, ask me.

Yesterday, Monday, I was supposed to go into work for a lesson and two meetings. In a lucky twist of fate, both meetings were cancelled, as was the lesson. Which made it my first working day since I finished "Not" back in October. I am not yet ready to start a band piece, and I would have been reading Phillis Levin's poetry and writing a set of songs with ensemble, but I do not know yet what ensemble I am writing for, and my e-mail asking that question is so far not answered. So I got antsy -- I asked the usual suspects for etude ideas and went back to the last time I asked for etude ideas, and settled on one of them: fast melodic thirds. Meanwhile, Mike Kirkendoll weighed in with some that I've filed for future etudes. As I write this, I am in the middle of bar 48 of this etude, and, true to form, I don't know if I'm half finished, two thirds finished, or nine tenths finished. But there definitely is some cool stuff, and if I play my cards right, I'll get in a quote from that Schumann song, Zwielicht.

But in the morning I had to get the colony applications out -- I drove to West Concord, since that's usually a deserted post office, and the line was about 30 people, all of them holding packages. So I went to the health food store, got some pickles, and then went to K-Mart in search of cat treats and a hand mixer -- Seunghee had asked if we had one, and I was embarrassed to say we don't. I got a little Sunbeam handheld electric one, cat treats, etc., and on the way home I stopped at the Maynard post office, where the line was long, but only about a dozen people -- including a family applying for passports, and that takes a LONG time. Later on the news I learned that December 18 is usually the busiest day at the post office (last day they guarantee delivery by Christmas), and that made me think -- why does Yaddo have a deadline (January 1) that pretty much guarantees that applicants have to stand in line in the Christmas rush?

As to today -- I have been mostly writing the piece and checking e-mail on occasion. Shortly I will try to put a chair together. And my appointment to get my permanent crown put in for today was moved to tomorrow morning. So mentally, put that dentist visit number at 8, which it may be by the time you read this.

I decided to make this update the Year In Review update -- since it's going to be sitting here for more than three weeks anyway. So as usual, the twelve shots below represent the successive months of 2006. Drum roll, please.

You may recall that I had an unpaid leave in the spring semester -- oh lawdy how I'd love more of those. Except for the unpaid part. So I did the VCCA (with Beff), MacDowell Colony, Bogliasco Foundation in Italy, and Yaddo. So January is a view of the mountains near the VCCA; February is ice made near the edge of the Assabet Rive, mostly in the shape of the splatting; March is the kitties on a mild day that I came home from MacDowell to paint with Beff; April is a closeup of more ice deep in the woods at MacDowell; May is a bit of the Mediterranean as viewed from the Bogliasco Foundation; in June Beff had a performance sung by Sooooozie on an ACA concert, and there's Soooooozie showing us her cell phone, July found me at Yaddo, and there's a mushroom near my studio; in August, there's the breakfast (and dinner) table at Yaddo on my last day, with Gina making a face; in September, we see Beff at the nature preserve whose name I forget; in October, who can forget the ailanthus blowing down in a windstorm that took out part of the fence?; in November, there's Beff at the local nature preserve; and in December, there's the new digital frame on the mantel (it is displaying the Ka-Ching twins embarking in the canoe with me looking on). Rock on.