Although I had no intention of having a pet when I moved to Baltimore (I have enjoyed having cats in the past, but it’s been several years since the last batch) it seems that the universe had other plans. This guy showed up on the front porch a couple months after moving in:

I had seen him around the street quite a bit, because a neighbor—a certifiable “crazy cat lady”—was feeding the various strays, several of which had run away from a home nearby that is infamous for bad behavior, including animal hoarding. But last summer Crazy Cat Lady moved away, and the herd of felines redistributed themselves across the neighborhood. It didn’t take long for this boy to set up permanent camp at our place; I fed him a bit of tuna one afternoon, and that was it. Clearly I have a gigantic “S” tattooed on my forehead.

Although he already had a “street name,” I felt he needed something a little more…..refined, so now he is called Longfellow. Not only is he very tall indeed (standing on hind legs he can easily reach the kitchen counter), but like Henry Wadsworth’s Paul Revere, he always sounds the alert when strangers approach.

Long story short, after several months of trying unsuccessfully to find Longfellow a good home, which I thought would be easy (HA!), he injured his paw and we let him inside the house because he was limping badly. I feared he would tear up the place after living outside for so long, but much to my surprise, he is exceedingly well-behaved! He has far better kitty manners than any indoor cat I have ever owned, and responds well to gentle discipline and training. In addition, he is very healthy (no feline diseases or infestations of any sort) and had only strained one of his toes. Even though it was a minor injury, it took several weeks for his paw to heal, and during that time (remember that “S” on my forehead?) I got attached. Sigh. So here we are.

He’s got quirks, to be sure. He is definitely not a snuggly cat—he doesn’t like to be picked up, and has zero interest in sitting in laps. However, he loves to be petted, and he does enjoy being wherever the humans are hanging out. When he is happy he gives “head-butts.” Most days he keeps me company in my studio, oscillating between napping in his fleece-lined box and lounging on top of some cardboard file boxes. After a few months of living together, we seem to have arranged a schedule that works for everyone.

Now that he is well-fed, comfortable, and getting plenty of attention (including regular doses of fancy organic catnip thanks to my kitty-loving mom), he purrs all the time, and has become quite the showboat!

I do hope that he’ll start helping out with the composing soon! Or maybe the copying. Right now he is lying on top of the score I’m working on.

The mixtape remains available for your listening pleasure here. Happy Holidays!

Total heartbreaker, right?! I am completely jealous of that pout!

The only way this little name issue affects me is on Twitter – this is mine, and that is his. Needless to say, he has quite the following. So occasionally I am flooded with messages from his adoring female fans who tell him how hot incredible and um, hot good-looking he is, and how they would die a little inside if he would please oops can’t write that follow them too. Oh, ladies. All I can say is thanks for the dopamine blast, and I do hope you figure out your lovely Scottish boy’s proper Twitter handle.

He may be The Official Alex Gardner, but I will always be age before beauty The Original Alex Gardner!

As Molly also points out, the whole scenario could be so much worse.

Now that is historic snowfall! (Photo courtesy of bass clarinetist Harry Sparnaay)

*******

As I patiently await the arrival of spring (grrrrrrrr!), this delightful tidbit, via Alex Ross, has become a daily necessity:

During this sort of performance you can clap whenever you like, though it would be a shame to risk frightening these little ones away.

*******

Listening:
Henri Dutilleux – Ainsi la nuit (Arditti Quartet)
Brooklyn Rider – Dominant Curve
Joan Jeanrenaud – Strange Toys

Maybe compounded by this joyful event?

Oh wait! I know what else it is! I CAN GET HITCHED NOW!!! Okay, almost. Still exciting!

Whatever the reason, it’s kinda nice to revel in one’s baking urges. As 2009 draws to a close, I have been enjoying the presence of many different types of family; the family into which I was born, an astoundingly cool family of friends, and a rapidly expanding “musical family”. It is amazing to be working with people who not only believe in, and bring their own voices to music that is happening right now, but who are also “in for the long haul”. A composer really can’t ask for better than that!

Happy Holidays everyone! Grab your hot chocolate, or your hot toddy, or whatever your pleasure, and enjoy. I can’t wait to share all the exciting things coming up in 2010 with you. Stay tuned for all sorts of exciting newness at the beginning of January!

Another composer participating in that show was Annie Gosfield, who, in addition to writing exciting and original works of music, also writes clear, insightful words about music. Her “Advice to Young Composers” is traveling like wildfire across the internet, and I’m sure it will be quoted extensively for a long time to come. She has also written an essay that describes my life with frightening accuracy, towards which I direct those who want to know (or, ahem, NEED to understand) what it’s like to be a composer.

************

An addendum to that recent post about becoming more interested in video:

Cellist Joshua Roman has a fine new project with photographer Chase Jarvis, which you can watch here. Chase has also made a very fun iPhone app called Best Camera, which makes the iPhone camera way more entertaining!

Also – I help manage a website called livingroommusic.org, which was created to honor the memory of Randy Hostetler, a super-talented young composer who left us much too early. A few months ago a friend of Randy’s gave us some wonderful video of Randy performing his own composition “8″ for piano and eight ball.

Having never properly met Randy (although we did attend the same high school and graduate school, at different times), this video is a lovely window into his personality.

********
Listening:

• Roger Kleier, The Night Has Many Hours (Innova)

Reading:

• Amy Bloom, Come to Me

However, this can be a completely good thing! For example, friends joining the Forces of Good by switching from Blackberry to iPhone have, in their extreme and ambitious enthusiasm, turned me on to fantastic apps I didn’t know about, such as Byline and Things. My own tortoise-like conversion has to do with video. I’ve never been a video person – it just doesn’t float my boat in the same way that photography does. I try and try to get psyched about art that incorporates video, and most of the time I end up running back to the comfort of the still image. That is starting to change though – more and more often I climb aboard YouTube or Vimeo to watch assorted musical performances or to check out the latest bit of satire. Molly has a talent for finding really good videos, and she has now gotten me completely hooked on Pomplamoose. This duo makes brilliant video cover songs as well as their own wonderful original music. Their work is such a good example of the best possible cover song scenario – the integral parts of the original song which make that song special are left intact, while the music is also changed up in a very personal way that makes it their own. Although I am a long time past the group house experience, I think these two would be ideal housemates, because who wouldn’t want to come downstairs in the morning for breakfast in the midst of this much joy?

Have fun everyone!

Two weeks ago they outdid themselves with their benefit Future Party, and in my opinion have raised the bar for everyone as far as concert season announcements go. Behold!

See what I’m saying?? How can I possibly ever deal with a paper press release again?!

When I was little I used to freak out my younger brother by telling him that I really came from another planet. Turns out I wasn’t kidding!

First of all, Thank You to those of you who have been commenting! Much appreciated. Now that there are more than 3 actual regular (*gasp*) readers, I do feel some responsibility to post more regularly, even just wee tidbits like this.

Has anyone else noticed the Twitter explosion of late?? So many new organizations and people. I am conflicted about Twitter; so much so that I have joined and left, then decided to give it another shot and joined up again. My issues with it are many – personally speaking, I’m not sure I really feel comfortable sharing that much/often, nor am I sure I can keep the tweets sufficiently witty and creative to make it interesting for anyone else. Taking a broader view, imho no depth or subtlety can be effectively conveyed using 140 characters. Reports of future news and serious information being communicated in tweets is plain scary. There are definitely people and organizations who make it work, and I appreciate their presence, but most of it seems, er, self-indulgent. Do we really need to know that you are cooking an omelet? Really??

Anyway. Color me skeptical.

*****

A sentence that I am glad to write: There have been more interesting new music events happening between DC and Baltimore than I have had time to attend.

Another sentence that makes me happy: With the recent addition of musical friends like Brian and Molly and Steve and David to the DC-B’more area, I realize that I no longer feel lonely for regular new music bonding like I used to!

*****

Something else to amuse you until the return from Composer Lockdown:

If you have even the slightest interest in baked goods, you must must must check out this blog right this minute.

I am tempted to quell my Election Anxiety with chocolate, but have been just barely keeping it together. All fingers and toes crossed, people!!!