Sorry 'bout the long hiatus, but heck, it was Winter Break after all! And I had a whole lotta nothing to get done! Actually, I got a little more work done on the symphony, cleaning up the first movement instrumentation and posting it, along with a couple other new commissions, on my MySpace page.
I also got a whole lot of World of Warcraft played during the break! Yeah, I know, I'm a dork, but after all, is that REALLY that big of a surprise? So, I rotted a lot of brain cells, had a lot of fun with friends and family, and enjoyed the holidays. My favorite gift was a set of Sony MDR-7506 Professional Studio Headphones! Not only does my music sound great in them, you can hear monsters sneaking up on you in WoW! (Again, I'm a dork. Got it. Moving on....)
In other non-nerd related news, I received the following from Gabe T. in Texas:
I am both a student and an enthusiastic viola player. I recently played in the North TX Region 24 all-region concert, with one of the pieces being one of your songs "Orange Jam." I enjoyed this piece so much, it was both different from classical music and other sorts of music that students seem to play more often than not, but it also contained an element of music that many composes seem to leave out: this piece was amusing, challenging, and most of all fun. Many modern day composers that I know of can create beautiful music, but what is a piece without the enjoyment of the people actually playing said music? I really wanted to thank and congratulate you on creating such a great piece. One song, believe it or not, can make the biggest impact on musical careers.
Now, I don't care who you are, getting an email like that sure can make your day! I know it did mine, so "thanks again, Gabe! You rock!"
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go tidy up something on a commission and then it's off to nerd-land to slay some dragons!
Stay safe,
Jef
