From the Urban Dictionary:

musicology:

The study of the history of music, but having no relationship to music itself. It is usually studied at the graduate level by inept performers and anal-retentive, sexually-repressed, multi-lingual, shutins. It is an equivalent discipline to Art History, except for the fact that you will never see a musicology show on PBS, nor will you ever see a musicologist interviewed on television. Musicology is the study of boring, obscure facts tangentially related to the lives and works of (mostly unknown) composers in the Western European high-cultural tradition.

1. Music is to musicology as science is to Scientology.

2. Musicology Ph.D. student: "Did you know that Joseph Matthias Kracher was on friendly terms with Michael Haydn?"
Intelligent Human: "Big fucking deal! Who cares?"
Musicology Ph.D. student: "Well, Kracher wrote two settings of the 'Te Deum.' What have you done to contribute to the advancement of Western Civilization?"
Intelligent Human (grabbing student's throat and choking him to death): "This!"
Musicology Ph.D. student: "Gakkkkqq!!!"



I rather grab the guy's throat who wrote this... Philistine.

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Same thing different day - even more splattered mid week. Oy.
Anyway reason to be here is a great little thing I wrote today in my MUH 150 class - the class I TA.
We read John Cage's Introduction to Themes & Variations and were told to pick out one phrase we liked. I elaborated with the following:

A music that needs no rehearsal
like life
there is no rehearsal
some of the best music is improvised
it is left to chance
taking chances
not caring about right and wrong and whatever the consequence is
because you did it - you experienced it...
and since you should be cautious of somethings and not of others
shouldn't limit your interpretation of whatever that is.
there are no rehearsals
music = life

ah, yes after a hard day i read this and i know why i love what i do.

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I feel like splattered paint. EEEEEEVERYWHERE! Just everywhere. I feel as if I have so much going on so much research and papers and such and ideas. Its overwhelming and exhilarating all at once. At least I got my mac back - that brings some sense of order! (iBook died two weeks ago, got it repaired and my life is so much better now. Oh windows how corrupt you are. Nothing like a pure computer...)

Senior year has so far been a lot of fun. I mean I am rolling in so much research and fun and well benefits of being such a gosh darn good student. What do I have to complain about - nothing really. I went to NYC last weekend researching for my thesis. I thought I was going to find the smoking gun - but no of course I am not! HOWEVER! I must say this thesis of mine is falling into place wonderfully! If anything it took time to realize i might have a bullet (not the gun) so at least I have some ammo. I keep on talking to people who know people - or better yet finding out that it is a really limited topic - yet there is enough out there to sustain my argument. No - I am not going to have a book (maybe by the time I finish my PHd - HAHAHAHA!) but I will have something substantial to say. That my friends is very interesting. Also I think - not super certain but mostly - found out I am basically TAing a class until I leave next December (oh I just kinda don't want that day to come... such is life...). This is super cool! I find the experience to be great and helping my teaching skills - but I don't do too much teaching but I observe so why not its wonderful and so is life at the moment!

Otherwise - what can I say I have 4 music classes this semester and one english. The english just happens to be literary theory which ties in perfectly with my new (ooh daring) excuse me - current musicological studies. Understanding what literature will give me a greater understanding of what musicology is doing. So, this past thurs was Joyce day and for my Lit. Theory class I had to attend the entire day - I was planning to anyway. It was incredible. I loved the papers my friends wrote and the concert that night was simply incredible to say the least. Ah, farmington - how small and amazing you are.

I don't know what to say - I am procrastinating once again - what else is new? Hopefully this week will be a full week, not like last. Hopefully a little less hectic - less roommates getting hurt, friends having babies, joyce days, coming back from NYC completely wasted (meaning the lacking sleep wasted...) wilson scholars luncheons and open house running arounds. Seriously, I need time to breathe. Oh well, maybe I won't go home this weekend. I think I owe it to myself. Ive gone home, for good reason, every weekend since august... yes, so maybe I need some me time. That would be nice.

OH.... and
Its
73 days 13 hours and 50 mins (roughly) Till I leave for ITALY!!!!!!!
(oh boy!)

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ITs OCTOBER and I haven't posted in a long long while.
I finished my bike project. It is beautiful. LOOK:



A terribly bad picture of yee ol' bike in living room. But that was my summer project, and not the reason why I am posting (though I am terribly proud of my bike, and how i painted and buit it, with the help of my friends at Northern Lights for the wheels and such...)

So I post because I feel as if I am turning another corner in my academic life. Lets see, I helped save the Art Renegades this week. I got my first Fellowship today - now a Wilson Fellow and a Grote Scholar. I feel like I have a TON of responsiblity on my back - I have to constantly perform and must not slack a bit. There is tooo much on the line at the moment.

The thesis - The NY Downtown music scene is so incredibly facinating. I thought i picked a good undergrad research topic, and i may have something that could lead my research into graduate school - who knows dissertation? Yeah, there is simply not enough written, not enough established. It is starting to pick up steam, but I am finding limited sources and such.
THIS IS EXCITING. What have I done, where am I going - SERIOUSLY! Everything is so incredibly optimistic at the moment. For once optimism.

I am a senior. I am SOOOOO a senior. I love it here I really do... but... I HAVE TO LEAVE, and gosh darn it - sometime soon. And when I mean sometime soon I mean ohhhhh I am going to NYC again on Thursday! YAYAYAYYAYAAYA!!! RESEARCH! And that whole Reich at 70 celebration at BAM too... I just can't wait.

Also I am, for sure, going to Italy in Decemeber, but more on that later.

This is short, because i am tired. And I just had this wave of - damn it you did it, your doing it, your going to be it - run all over me. Its nice to know you found your place. Hopefully I stay here. night.

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