Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

Let's see ... last night I finally did fall asleep around half past nineteen but woke up again at twenty-two o'clock (translation for folks who don't feel like thinking about the unconventional pairing of 24-hour time and non-military phrasing: 7:30 PM and 10:00 PM), feeling definitely unrested. So I made a tryptophan bomb, which did put me to sleep around three, and yes, I slept better than I have in several days ... but still not long enough. So I figured I'd eventually get tired enough to nap and maybe I'd still be able to do what I wanted this evening after all, but no such luck. I've been draggy and short-attention-span and no-sense-of-time and eyes-all-strange and achy all day, but every time I feel like maybe I could actually nod off, and go to bed, I fail to sleep. I finally had to punt on the evening -- I was tempted to go out despite the slippery roads (since I wasn't going to go very far I guess I could've taken the Toyota to avoid driving a car with the paperwork not completed in these conditions) but eventually I realized that it's not just a matter of whether I'm too tired to be decent company; I'm not really feeling together enough to be behind the wheel of a car. So I stay home. I've gotten nothing done except for reading all of one of the webcomics that number_12 suggested and trying to put the Win95 box back to where it was before it crashed, and a little bit of music in preparation for tomorrow's recording session.

On the piano I worked out a harmony line I think I like for "Scottish Bransle" that isn't based on the Barron arrangement. (I'm trying to wean myself from Marshall Barron's arrangements so as to have non-copyright-infringing music to work from, but it's hard because most of hers are so good, usually easy to play, and often catchy. Either that or I should track her down and make some sort of royalty-payment deal. I've run across a reference saying they're not the most historically accurate (nor intended to be), but they don't sound glaringly modern. For "Scottish Bransle" on the HCB album we're recording, not only is the copyright issue more significant, I also need a slightly different effect than the Barron harmonies to fit how the rest of the band is treating it.) And I'm thinking I need to get off my butt and string some Cat-5 up to the third floor so I can put a computer next to the piano. Oh how spoiled I've gotten, not wanting to scribble arrangements with a pencil (or pen) and staff paper, when I know that I can just fire up 'vi' and key it in.

By the way, have others noticed that it's easier to write music with a fountain pen than with a felt-tip or a ball-point? I think I'm about twice as fast with a fountain pen, and that's despite the reduced-ink-smearing advantage a ball-point has for a southpaw.

Anyhow, as much as I value improvisation, I figure the less time I waste saying, "I didn't like a couple of my note choices on that take, can I have a do-over?" in the recording studio, the better.

Before I crash again, I'll pick up a 12-string and see whether my right index-finger nail has grown out enough to record "Butterfly" tomorrow.

And all of this was going to be preamble for something else entirely, but I got sidetracked and now I think I'll either find something to eat or start a new entry for what I had planned to write about in the first place (once I remember what that was).