bells in the wilds

I keep whining that my dream of working in a US National Park for a summer can't come true because none of the parks have carillons, except Death Valley at Scotty's Castle, which also boasts a theater organ. The carillon doesn't seem accessible, though.

So here is an interesting case: Luray Caverns in Virginia. A "stalacpipe" organ and a "Singing Tower" carillon. Hmmm.

build your own carillon

So this is how to get started on building your own private carillon: Move into a deconsecrated church. Doh. "The tri-level condos average 1,850 square feet. One four-level unit contains the original church bell tower, reached by a spiral staircase." Thanks to Mark for that New Haven tidbit.

flight

Stayed up far too late on my flight to Zurich and was rewarded with the breathtaking silence of a vista of stars and the Milky Way arching beyond my little airplane window. I could only imagine what a wonder the pilots must have seen from the cockpit, skimming over a dark Atlantic free of artifical light.

The Frick Collection was tiny but each piece was a gem set in the magnificence of a sumptuous mansion on Central Park. My eye is becoming more developed. Even as I hurried through each room, my gaze lingered on paintings that I then realized were by the likes of Vermeer and Turner although many other artists are exhibited. Subway delays ensured, as usual, that I barely made my flight on time. My text message from the gate at JFK reached Todd while he was on his plane back to Denver. When the flight attendent questioned me in German, I instinctively answered, "Nee... nein." But as I read German magazines and listened to the announcements, I began to get a hold of the language again. So it's still there.

Zurich has the sleekest, most modern and yet comfortable airport I've ever seen. I'm dying, just dying, to actually visit the city and see some of Switzerland. August, anyone?

serendipity

What are the chances that three European-trained American twenty-something carillonneurs would end up in the same car on the subway sitting across from each other?

New York: A small big city.

And what are the chances that two of these carillonneurs would then come across the esoteric score of John Cage's "Music for Carillon No. 4" on display in MoMA?

Every floor of MoMA was exquisite. Barely made it out alive. Didn't eat a real dinner. Attended a party attended only by musicians in Brooklyn. Got off the subway early to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Arrived back at Two Gold at midnight. Nobody was home from work except Euge. The others returned about half past midnight.

I suppose going to work one day and returning home from work the next isn't so alien to my own way of life. But doing that work in an office... that's what boggles my mind.

homesick for where?

Seeing Marc Van Eyck's carillon video while on the bus to The Riverside Church panning across European churches (especially Belgian ones) and just now discovering Diest carillonneur Teun Michiels' hot website and photos make me miss Belgium. So now I have California (north and south), New England, and Belgium to miss.

As Rob, organist of the 1890 William Hill organ in Sydney Town Hall, quipped: We're never happy without something to complain about.

Quote from the Cornell Chimesmasters' glossy full color brochure: "Like steadfast seamstresses, the Cornell Chimesmasters have woven the emotional fabric of our fair Cornell through their daily chimes concerts." Instead of playing music "from Bach to Britney" as they say at Yale, the Cornell Chimesmasters "play music ranging from the Beatles to Beethoven."

the finish line

Another responsibility discharged. Information disseminated, people ruffled, people flattered, people flattering themselves. I was unprepared and out of public speaking practice, but I guess it came off okay.

"He's gonna break his arm one day patting himself on the back," said SSW of one of the more talkative members of the GCNA. She's delightfully saucy as ever. And now I have invitations for summer concerts that are over a year away.

Why do I keep being nice? Even someone who barely knew him had the gall to walk up to him and tell him he's an @55. I should just do that and walk away. And return to Belgium a couple days earlier. The grass is getting greener.

complexity

Now it's my turn to be embarrassed. It is the CG rather than her assistant to which all credit and courtesty invitations should go, no matter who does which kind of work. The real world is a strange place. I'm slowly learning to navigate it... an essential process for future carillon campaigns.

Geert's first question to me was, "Don't get me wrong, but where is the liquor store?"

Fried ice cream double dessert. Heaven on a Thai Taste plate.

I.I.T.Y.W.T.M.W.Y.B.M.A.D.?

Why in tarnation did I think I needed to be at 7 am breakfast?

frustration

Perhaps he became afraid to see me when the chance finally came. I passed a much better day reconnecting with Adrien. The synergy we had going was remarkable, especially considering that we'd barely managed to keep in touch over the past two years.

Until today, I never had an audience in Harkness that actually stayed watching me play in total silence until I encouraged them to go upstairs and enjoy the view.

The Guild didn't just forget to mention American Airlines in the papers. They forgot to mention in the schedule that YUCMI sponsored the opening reception. That's just mentioned on the back page that nobody reads.

Bob and I talked about this. You don't get something for nothing. But Yalies tend to forget this.

a woman in transit

By some miracle, Adrien returned to New Haven for the first time since she graduated in 2004 just at the time I also happened to be back. We met over salad, soup, and bread at Atticus and then went on an intense tea experience at Oolong's.

"I've become a public restroom addict," she explained after using the facilities. I could not imagine what she meant.

But since leaving her job for interviews around the country, and subsequently having traveled to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, as well doing the most hardcore outdoor activities possible in Costa Rica, she'd learned to operate on the assumption that you might not find another restroom for a long time.

We both agreed that there's something about a woman in transit.

disgust

So things have gone to sh*t around here. A poor welcome back and demonstration of a complete lack of business sense. So I get to do the cleanup in addition to everything else I'm working on. Thanks, Guild.