JP Deni's Coming to Town*

(*To the tune of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”)

How long has it been? Doesn’t really matter, because Deni and I are the kind of friends who might go 5 or 10 years without seeing each other, but when we get together we pick up where we left off. If you’re not familiar with our legacy, click HERE and scroll down to “J.P. Deni.”

The good news is, Deni’s coming to visit me during the first week of August. The bad news is, there is no bad news. Last time we saw each other was, I think, in 1994. It has been far too long. I also spoke with Karma on the phone on Saturday. She and I met in 1985 when we were music students at Ventura College. She’s a very talented singer for whom I have composed a number of pieces. She has lived in London for about five years I think. Anyway, on the phone the other day she said that she might be able to fly to Vienna when we’re there, and spend an afternoon with us. Imagine! I’ll be in Vienna with two beautiful opera singers!

This is turning out to be a very exciting summer.

Questions

1. Everyone seems to have a “100 Things” feature on their weblog. Do I need one as well?

2. Why is Punky Moods still down?

3. Why does the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem code always seem to disappear from my site?

4. What good is Technorati anyway?

5. What’s the farthest distance you’ve ever spit a watermelon seed?

6. Domestic or import?

7. Am I the only person who’s sick and tired of the cable commercial in which the robe-clad wife tackles her husband, then gets all put out (”What!?”) when people look at her?

8. How many of you are going to the Okie Blogger Round-Up 2006?

9. What’s your favorite swear word, or phrase?

10. Why aren’t some of you in on Blogroller? It makes it easier to know when you last updated your blog.

11. What nice thing should I do for visitor #10,000? (As of this update my Sitemeter is at #9,545.)

11. What are you wearing today?

Music in the House

One of the pluses of being a musician (in my case a composer) is living in a constant environment of music. It’s everywhere, even when the stereo is turned off. In fact, I don’t play CDs as often as some people think, and that’s because music is in my head 24/7.

Throughout the day I’m constantly turning musical phrases over this way and that in my mind, even when I don’t mean to, playing with harmonies and contrapuntal lines, as well as the voices, or “colors,” of the individual instruments, or human voices. I think it could drive some people mad, but as a composer I’d go mad if my daily life wasn’t full of this. However, everything changes when Nettl begins working on a piece at the piano.

Then the buzz in my head fades and both my conscious and subconscious attention is drawn to what she’s doing. I don’t think even she knows what a respite this creates for me. As she works on the Mozart K.505, my mind creates the entire piece for me — the orchestration, the piano obbligato — the entire score. It’s like living in a concert hall. What a delightful accompaniment to my Saturday blogging!

Tonight we’re going to Ville and Beau’s house to play board games. Meantime, I have some work for Rhombus to get done and emailed.