Pointless update about ME. April was a busy month and it's flown by in a flash. Most of the month was leading up to my presentation at the West Coast Conference, which went well enough...I think. It's not like I trust most people's judgements of me (especially positive ones) so I can't really say with confidence how it was received but people didn't leave halfway through and didn't seem to hate it. Beyond that, I dare not venture any guesses. And let me tell you something I learned...something you may know already: Music theory papers are boring as sh*t! That's right. ALL of them are. And I'm contributing to that pile of mess. Shameless I am.

But there's another musicology conference going on at San Francisco this weekend and I plan to go to that. Why? Guess I'm trying to be a good music academic and keep up with musicology as well as theory. I've also got some assistant type dutied for a sort-of job helping a composer. And I've really got to get going with a response to an article for Music Theory Spectrum (a theory journal), as well as the 3 papers for the end of this quarter. That Beethoven Sonata I'm supposed to polish isn't even really learned yet. I also need to start doing some serious research for an abstract to submit to the Society for Music Theory national conference 2005. Along the same lines I need to do some major research into what my dissertation topic might be (Diatonic Chordal Superimposition in Post-Tonal Music?). And meanwhile I really liked my book review of Beethoven Hero so I want to submit that to a journal, along with a short paper on the relationship between text and music in serialist songs that I want to expand to a small article.

All the academics aside, I really really want to work this summer so that I can afford a BMW Z3 convertible (preferably a 98 or later 2.8). And learn kiteboarding this summer. And take an "Asian tour" near the end of the summer to see relatives and friends.

Right. Sometimes, I really surprise myself how much I set out to do. And after those times, I really surprise myself with how much I fail to accomplish. Live and don't learn, that's me.