NM: walk back, bright stars, no wind, silence, yellow crescent moon like an upturned goblet fuul of tunes, 2:40am.

Chris Buckley (fiddle), Dan Lowery (flute), meself (bouzouki). This could get Dangerous.

NM: coming off Caprock into canyon & range, bright chill sun, one turkey buzzard etched sharply against blue sky.

NM: in the midst of a day of sadness, a sunset of stunning, roseate, Turner-esque beauty.

Working draft to Press's & Series's acquisitions editor. Page count: 419. Word-count: 102.627. Next stage now!

American Musicological Society Southwest Chapter Meetings: git down.

They still some student musicians in this world who mistake "attitude" for "professionalism." They gonna be sorry.

Our boys in the Battlefield Band welcome the Chilean miners home: class all the way: http://ping.fm/B9Ljr

NM: dark rain clouds rolling in from the south, with a cold wind sweeping all before them.

"Turkey in the Straw" = "Possum up a gum stump," what Hans Nathan calls "an Ohio River tune of the 1820s." See http://ping.fm/tu0HK

Numinous moment

NM: catching teeth-gritting ice-cream truck jingle on wind, & realizing that, 1000 miles west & 200 yrs later, it's "Possum up a gum stump."

Numinous moment

NM: that moment, in the session, when two players lean in close to better hear one another--one way we say "I love you, man."

Note to frat kids: saying your fashion show or dance marathon or teeter-totter game is "for charity" doesn't make it any less narcissistic.

Not unrealistic to infer that a college prof teaching 1100-1300 undergrads over a decade might have a better grasp of late-adolescent mentalities $ maturation.

Of *course* music is a sacred, holy thing. Isn't it obvious?!?

Note on the Hallowe'en season: don't bring that "glittery emo douchebag Twilight shit" anywhere near me. I've got garlic & wooden stakes.

Sometimes, as a teacher, it's the compassion you dispense, as much as the content, that matters.

Why I iz Firefox uzer: REYNARD!! http://ping.fm/ngaI0

Still wondering why the fuck outside reviews tend to exploit their anonymous status to grind irrelevant axes. Not a way I choose to be.

Numinous moment

NM: the complex chatter, argument & over-the-back-fence gossip of early morning bird-song.

Lotsa traffic on R candidate Iott, a Waffen SS re-enacter. Nobody's commented on the KILT in this photo: fuckin' Celtic-Supremacists! http://ping.fm/nOglc

The King of Rock and Soul

We lost Solomon Burke, the Wonder Boy Preacher.

JB was more desperate, the Wicked Pickett was more dangerous, Otis was more of a leader, Brother Al was more messianic, Sam & Dave more competitive.

But Brother Solomon, more than any of the rest, made us believe in the gospel of the music. When Solomon sang, we all still believed we could be saved.



"Turn on Your Love Light."

Thank you, Solomon. You surely turned it on for us.

Palpable city-wide sigh of relief as Fall Break begins and kids bug-out of town.

Useful skill: learning to provide interviews in easily-transcribed bites lessens likelihood of misquotation: http://ping.fm/CVuCP

Numinous moment

NM: pristine cloudless sky, cool temps, light breeze--cycling feels like bird's flight.

Frickin' LOVE Google Maps! http://ping.fm/RDuYt

Memo to pickup-truck frat-pigs passing my bike, blaring Wu-Tang (who'd scare 'em green on street): "yes, bitch, I AM laughing at you."

Numinous moment

NM: slivered crescent moon rises over die-straight W TX east-bound streets & lines of traffic lights--all green.

Suffering results when we forget that we are all *already* home.

Pete Seeger's wisdom: "It’s a very important thing to learn to talk to people you disagree with." http://ping.fm/5whWJ

In the face of humans' greed & brutality, the only weapon is a greater, more radical humanity.

The Tea Party movement has provided quasi-legitimacy to fear, ignorance, bigotry, and greed. These are not core American values.

New tires (Schwalbe Marathon) EXPENSIVE (80 bucks!!!) but also AWESOME.

Numinous moment

Numinous moment: pouring milk into dark coffee--it curls and rises from the depths like slow-motion wind storm.