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Spring Break and the Book of Ideas

So after finishing up Nocturne and Skepticism, I turned my attention to a new piece for marimba and electronics (formerly cello and electronics), and didn't get very far before Spring Break happened. So I loaded up the car and drove to Poplar Bluff to spend a few days, where I looked at deer and ate steak and didn't orchestrate nearly as much of “Palilalia” as I'd intended. It's coming along though. But after five days of wheezy bliss (the pollen count in peebz was something atrocious), I headed back to my adopted hometown of Springfield to visit some friends from undergrad. Late nights talking, dinner with Maggie and Dugan and Ashley and lunch the next day with Carlyle and Stephen, it was a great time except for the fact that it rained the entire time I was there. And then came the marathon trip that was Friday.

As Dugan, my host in Springfield, had to be at work by 8, that meant I had to be out of the house by 8. This put me on the road earlier than intended, which means I arrived in Kansas City for lunch at 11. Those of you who have ever seen a map have undoubtedly noticed that Kansas City, Missouri is not anywhere between Springfield Missouri and Norman Oklahoma. Well, I decided since I was already in Missouri, I'd try to catch up with Kristy, who works for the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City. We had a great time catching up over lunch at Union Station. Also, KC seems like it would be a nice place to end up after all of this academia is over. From Kansas City I drove down to Wichita to see Amanda, since we'd not seen each other since early January. We played dominoes with her mom and brother, had dinner, talked for quite a bit, and before I knew it, 9pm had arrived and I drove back to Norman.

While I was in Springfield I sopped by Barnes and Noble and among the other things I ended up with, I bought a Moleskine notebook. Though I keep most of my records and notes digitally now, I've had the desire to write more, and I figured buying a notebook was a good first step. And after a couple of hours of thinking, I decided that it would best serve me as an idea book.

I have lots of ideas on a lot of different things. Most of them aren't very good. But some of them are great. And the trick is remembering all of those ideas so they can be evaluated and brought to fruition. Ideas about what? Ideas about whatever. Already I've listed ideas for organizing paperwork, addons to Hammer, plans after graduation, all sorts of things. Will this help my creative process? We'll see.

Decorative element
Kyle Vanderburg