Well, since I’m currently being kept awake by my upstairs neighbors (who have apparently conspired to keep me awake a lot lately), I guess an update is in order.

• Making progress on CocoNES. Finished the initial code for the NES core, minus the audio processing unit. I think I came up with a fairly slick solution that fits the code neatly into the Objective-C/Cocoa framework while still being able to cut out the overhead on some repetitive operations. More on that in another post.
• I have my second concert with Masterworks Chorus this weekend. I’ll be singing the solo movement 17 from Brahms’s Liebeslieder-Walzer. It’s a lovely tenor solo… too bad I’m not a tenor. I’ve managed to almost convince myself I could pass for a lyric baritone, though. At the right time of day. In any case, as long as my voice cooperates it should be fun. I enjoy singing it, it’s a lovely movement, it just hinges on how my G4 and A4 are feeling that day. If you HAPPEN to be in Omaha this Saturday, you should stop by the Strauss Center at UNO and take a listen.
• Hockey season has started. I’m making generous use of NHL Center Ice. Watched most of Minnesota’s season opener on Saturday (except for when I was fighting with my routers), and caught the end of another game last night. Minnesota’s looking really sharp this year, and Marion Gaborik hasn’t figured much into that, which is a really good thing, because I’m guessing that he will no longer be wearing a Wild uniform by Christmastime. Fuck him, if he wants to be greedy there are plenty of other great players out there who realize that Minnesota is the envy of the league as far as market and culture, maybe beaten out only by Detroit. Doug Risebrough did a bang-up job this summer bringing in Antti Miettenen (who had one goal in the opener and two last night) and Marc-Andre Bergeron.
• I’m finally working on some new music, a different setting of a poem that I already set in college and wasn’t really happy with the result of. I’m shopping around for a digital piano; Yamaha has a new line of home digital pianos that are really tempting. I need to work on my piano… I’d love to teach private lessons once we get a place of our own, but I won’t be able to do it fumbling around on the keyboard.
• World of Warcraft 3.0 was released yesterday. All sorts of cool new shit. I’m forcing myself to NOT get up and play it right now and throw my sleep schedule even more out of whack.

I think that’s about it.

So, I’d like to write another song. But I’m having trouble finding a suitable poem. This is where you come in.

I’m looking for a poem with several short stanzas, that isn’t very wordy and paints a picture rather than telling a story or giving a message. A very good example would be “The Engaged” by Octavio Paz (better known to some as “A Boy and a Girl”):

Stretched out on the grass
A boy and a girl.
Savoring their oranges, giving their kisses
like waves exchanging foam.

Stretched out on the beach
a boy and a girl
Savoring their limes, giving their kisses
like clouds exchanging foam.

Stretched out underground
a boy and a girl.
Saying nothing, never kissing,
giving silence for silence.

So, Kelly sent me some character profiles. Wow.

I don’t wanna release any details until she’s pretty much finalized the story, but I will say that it’s loosely based on the story of the Greek (originally Phonecian) deity Adonis.

Let that whet your appetites for awhile. If you’re all good boys and girls I may post the theme sketch that I’ve come up with. *evilgrin*

Well, I was planning on spending some long hours in the library poring over scores that I can’t check out (or paying exorbitant amounts to photocopy them), until I discovered Indiana University’s huge online repository of full opera scores. Now all I have to do is find a recording and I can do my study from the comfort of my living room.

Started arranging some theme ideas together in an overture. Just have a couple right now, more should come along as we get a storyboard set out and identify some major dramatic themes.

It seems to me that what I have is a little simplistic. I hope I can correct whatever is causing that feeling; I want to walk away from this without anything nagging me in the back of my head as being not quite right.

Kelly sent me a synopsis of the story she has pretty much decided on. I think it’s going to work great. More details as we get story elements finalized.

Well, Kelly and I had our first real meeting today, and I got a pretty good taste of reality. As in, I was imagining us being at step five by now. But, that’s ok, because I’m committed to this however it goes.

Today, we set a direction for the story. It will probably have its basis in mythology of some sort, but definitely very modernized and made so people can relate their own lives and experiences to it.

I’m feeling good about this.

Things on tap for my “dead” week:

Monday: The usual class-and-work-my-butt-off day.
Tuesday: Class as usual, then orchestra concert, then dress rehearsal for the Mozart lecture.
Wednesday: Class, lose my work hours to give Mozart presentation.
Thursday: Class, meet with Kelly and start figuring out the plot of our opera, meet with Dr. Munsen about getting back into education.
Friday: The other usual class-and-work-my-butt-off day.

Yes, I will most certainly be dead by the end of this week.

/edit: And at the time of this posting, the outside temperature is 37 degrees, wind chill 32. What happened to spring!?

Well, after pondering it for a bit, I’ve decided to go ahead with what will probably be the biggest project of my undergraduate career.

I will be writing an opera, working with my friend Kelly Kruse, who will be writing the libretto.

I’ve decided that, to give this thing a little spice, and keep me motivated, I’m going to log developments in it here. Right now, all I know is, I’m working on an opera.

We’re getting together next Thursday to go over plot ideas. Fun fun!