I'm a bit on the fence about the "improved flavor" of Wrigley's Spearmint.

I think it is a bit too pungent. Or I am getting crotchedy.

It is what the cool kids are doing.

I heart Stephen Colbert so much that I feel like I have to link his Op-Ed article in today's NYTimes (thank you, ocvictor). I think it may be a bit scattered, but then again I am also listening to Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto which I had meant to do 2 weeks ago. I work best when I am scattered.

His shameless plug:

Others point to my new bestseller, “I Am America (And So Can You!)” noting that many candidates test the waters with a book first. Just look at Barack Obama, John Edwards or O. J. Simpson.

As some of you may know, I am a huge NPR fan. Perhaps it is a prerequisite to listen to NPR before becoming a grad-student, but whatever. I just heard of this show, Radio Lab through This American Life and it is awesome. It blends nerdiness with quirkiness similar to my beloved Alton Brown on Good Eats.

The latest episode is Musical Language. This is the stuff I am interested in. As it says in the synopsis:

What is music? How does it work? Why does it move us? Why are some people better at it than others? In this hour, we examine the line between language and music, how the brain processes sound, and we meet a composer who uses computers to capture the musical DNA of dead composers in order to create new work. We also re-imagine the disastrous 1913 debut of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring…through the lens of modern neurology.

Next year or the year after I plan to dive into this a bit more so I can incorporate it into my dissertation (scary thought).

Seriously.

And it sucks.

I keep forgetting things. I just now put my iPod in my oboe bag and locked it in my instrument locker knowing full well that I would need it to go to the library and then to the gym. I didn't realize I had left it until I signed up for a time to use the eliptical at the gym (that I was going to use my iPod for), signed out a book on reserve (that I was going to use the headphones for), and signed out a laptop (that I was going to use my headphones to use the CDROM that goes with the book I checked out that was on reserve). So instead of doing what I had planned to do, I am wasting time on LiveJournal before returning the laptop, book/CDROM and walking back up the hill to the music building to retrieve my fucking iPod and headphones before 4 pm because going to the gym without my iPod would be cruel and unusual punishment.

And ya, with age comes confusing LJ entries.

Get used to it.

Aha

Springfield/Eugene is very nice. The people are nice. The weather is nice. The land is nice. The campus is nice. I realize I am still in the honeymoon phase, but I don't see the non-honeymoon phase being bad at all (perhaps this will change after a few classes). I just finished off a small bag of salted sunflower kernels (so good!), practiced oboe (and English horn), and read about 180 pages of "A Practical Approach to 18th Century Counterpoint" (a page turner, lemme tell you). I'm feeling very relaxed and content. Good times.

I'm here. I got here around 7 last night, local time. Pretty easy drive, just very long. And I didn't get bored until around Idaho, even the miles and miles of cornfields in Nebraska weren't boring. Rather redundant, but not boring. The sky is pretty overcast and I plan to explore the town, perhaps find a Walmart (I don't even know how anti-Walmart they are around here - like New England is anti-Walmart - dude, I just need some clothes hangers). I am supposed to drop by the Music building to say hello (maybe I'll wait until Thursday for that one). Yesterday it hit me how much shit I have to do in the next few weeks. Ugggh.

The most amusing thing about this trip is the crash course in geography of the midwest (more on that later - too tired now).

I am in Boise, ID, very tired, very annoyed about missing an exit earlier, and very happy to be in Boise. I plan to be in Eugene tomorrow evening, but I'll let y'all know when I am getting close.

I am spending the night in Rawlins, WY. I figure that tomorrow I will stop in Boise, ID; then I should get to Eugene late-day Monday. Plannin' on taking a long bath tonight....

I'm in Lincoln, NE. Today I went through Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa. I think I did pretty well today. I also just booked my hotel for tomorrow night. Ahhhh....

I'm in Clarksville, TN. So far the drive has been pretty uneventful. Traffic around Nashville was surprisingly bad, but other than that everything has been pretty smooth. Ate a HUGE loaded baked potato from Whitt's barbecue. Feel kinda gross because of it. I believe it may just tide my barbecue cravings over until Xmas.

Can I just say what an awesome car-packer I am? Everything is fitting without being so jam packed that I can't 1) get stuff out if I need it mid-trip and 2) packed so tightly that the car is too heavy. I am heading off (very) early tomorrow morning and am debating on if I should stop at Delta State University
to pick up a t-shirt of the Fighting Okra! for my grandma (her alma-mater). It is just as easy to order some shirts online from the University. I'll probably do that. Even if I did pick up shirts in person I'd have to send them through the mail from Oregon anyway.

It looks like I will be going through St. Louis and Kansas City, MO. Anyone know of a good barbecue place (with kick-ass sweet tea preferably)?

It kinda sucks that it is right before Labor Day, but I don't want to wait another week just to avoid it. If anyone feels like calling over the next week it would be greatly appreciated. I may get a little bored during my drive.

I am now going through all my stuff, trying to get rid of everything I can. Yuck. I am never as productive as I initially set out to be.

Guitar. Hero.

I am currently in New Jersey hanging out with coraljune. It is a wonderful 78 and I am inside on the computer. Duh. Gotta take advantage of the lack of HUMIDITY. (Fuck ya!)

I CANNOT stop listening to this song, Ron Burgundy Tribute. I've known about it for months and finally after hearing it a few times I understand how incredibly good it is.

It has an irregular form. Instead of the expected:

AABBAABB

It uses:

intro AABBAABBCCAABBDAABBAABB

Not only is there a CC thrown in, but the D is an extended B section (with an interpolation). Each phrase is the expected 8 bars in the 4/4 reel form each repeated and I bet anything that it is in G or D - the more I listen to it, the more I think it is in D. I don't think I have ever heard an extended tag (the last cadential figure - usually the last couple beats in a phrase) leading into an interpolation of the section then becoming it's own part - which then isn't repeated. (I have heard extended tags within the tune making the phrasing irregular [8 bar phrase repeated with an extra bar the last time - making 17 measures] before going onto the next section [AA 1BBAA 1BB] - I can't remember the tune I am thinking of right now.) The CC part is cool enough - it gives the impression of a descant - then the D part - I love that it doesn't come back. Hell, I haven't even talked about the hemiola (a specific type of syncopation) in the BB part that originally turned me onto the tune. And then there is that fucking awesome cello sawing away underneath....

I'm at a coffee shop in Tallahassee watching a 50+ year-old business man very quickly two-finger hunt and peck on his keyboard. This cracks me up. I also find it amusing that in taking notes by hand for my upcoming Music History exam, the skin on the top of my thumb is peeling.

Well, I got my car back, I think my finances are going to be okay for the coming year, and I'm feeling better about my upcoming exams (really, they are the same for both the incoming Masters and Doctoral students; annoying, yes, unpassable, no). It is nice to know that the most inconvient thing going on right now is my missing watch.