It has occurred to me that a common denominator in my journey has been the obsessive nature of my mind. I have an energetic, focused mental life, though the content has changed over the years. It looks this way: mathematician --> writer --> composer, in terms of focus, but the form has been very much the same. I'm reminded of the logger poet Fred Ross, who hated people to compare him to Robert Service, saying, "Robert Service never wrote a logging poem in his life."
I wake up already with music in my head, a quick transition indeed. I've been rewriting the opera's first aria this morning. I admit I'm no great shakes as a composer, but I've also heard much worse ha ha. And the themes, attitudes, dramatic juxtapositions are moving the story forward.
I somehow missed "Across the Universe" when it first came out. What an original and compelling film! Not so much a story, though there are characters with narrative lines, as a visual tone poem and tribute to the Beatles. My only regret is the film came out before they cut Abbey Road, where so many of their best songs are. I would have loved to see Golden Slumbers be a part of this.
My former student, the Saudi woman, has just been hired to create her second comedy series for television over there. She is becoming my most successful student -- and well deserved. I still think her Masters thesis, a screenplay, would be a successful film if somebody did it.
A leisurely day. More work on the opera, of course. Some reading ... I am nearing the end of the Vietnam war history I'm reading, an incredibly good book. It's extraordinary how many good books there are in the world. Any writer hopes s/he makes even the smallest contribution to the tradition.
I wish we didn't live in a zero-sum universe. Everything, and I mean EVERYthing, would be so much more pleasant.
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