Welcome, May!

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The past few weeks have been stressful. Training new employees, dealing with difficult customers, not sleeping well, not exercising (I’ve gained 20 pounds in the last two years), getting through family drama (two life-threatening events in the same day, 2000 miles apart: my dad’s heart attack in NM and a 9 year grandchild starting the rest of his life with Type 1 Diabetes) . . .  My CrossFit lifestyle withered into oblivion when I lost my job at the University in 2020, as Covid got going. Deep depression brought me to a standstill as I took a few months to try to reset. Since then, my physical status has been on steady decline. Now my daily schedule looks something like this: Work 3-11 pm (on a good day), Go to bed at 4 am, get up between 10:30 am and noon, get booted up and go back to work. If I get one day off a week I’m fortunate. At least I don’t have to work all night for now. That was the worst.  So I haven’t had time or energy to do much, even read, much less write. And since my

Classical Friday . . . sort of.

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Usually Fridays are reserved for literary excursions, but this week, I wanted to do something different. I want to share one of my favorite pieces of music. This particular piece is from "A Little Nightmare Music," by P.D.Q. Bach, the 21st of Johann Sebastian Bach's 20 children.

Prof. Peter Schickele, the only scholar who will study P.D.Q. Bach, divides the life of the composer into three parts: the "Initial Plunge" (when P.D.Q. learned the principles of music), the "Soused Period" (or the "Brown Bag" period, when he forgot what he learned in the Initial Plunge), and "Contrition" (the last short years of his life).

This piece demonstrates P.D.Q.'s excellent grasp and ability to plagiarize. It was a common practice for composers to borrow themes, but this piece is an excellent case-study in the composer's frequent use of tracing paper. Enjoy!

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Welcome, May!

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The past few weeks have been stressful. Training new employees, dealing with difficult customers, not sleeping well, not exercising (I’ve gained 20 pounds in the last two years), getting through family drama (two life-threatening events in the same day, 2000 miles apart: my dad’s heart attack in NM and a 9 year grandchild starting the rest of his life with Type 1 Diabetes) . . .  My CrossFit lifestyle withered into oblivion when I lost my job at the University in 2020, as Covid got going. Deep depression brought me to a standstill as I took a few months to try to reset. Since then, my physical status has been on steady decline. Now my daily schedule looks something like this: Work 3-11 pm (on a good day), Go to bed at 4 am, get up between 10:30 am and noon, get booted up and go back to work. If I get one day off a week I’m fortunate. At least I don’t have to work all night for now. That was the worst.  So I haven’t had time or energy to do much, even read, much less write. And since my
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