Below are the 9 most recent journal entries recorded in celloshots' LiveJournal:

Monday, May 25th, 2009
12:11 am	Day 3: Complete! All three papers have drafts, citations, and bibliographies!! One of the papers requires some photocopying of some scores at the library tomorrow, and all require printing out and, in theory, editing, but I've reached a decision in re: editing. Not gonna do it. I know it's not my best work, but in all honesty, it should be good enough to scrape through and I have a Supreme Court decision to freak out about. Angelenos, who wants to come either party or riot in the streets on Tuesday night!? (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
12:37 am	Day 2: Complete! Thanks to all who left suggestions on the previous post--I think I'm probably going to go with the piano quartet for one simple reason--I hate having to transpose the stupid A Clarinet line! So, day two done. Second paper drafted. Proudest achievement: using the phrase "pitches ain't shit." Tomorrow is for Brahms and Dvorak and Debussy. And wishing I had a chance to play chamber music again. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009
7:58 pm	Quick poll!! Classical music types, please pick one: Brahms piano quartet in g minor, opus 25 Brahms clarinet trio in a minor, opus 114 You have until midnight tonight to weigh in. I have no opinion at the moment and I need to pick one to write about! (7 Comments |Comment on this)
12:41 am	Day 1: Complete! Back on track after a lousy start (see last post): Paper #1: draft done! Paper #2: no further progress Paper #3: fell asleep listening to music; no further progress But hey, Paper #1 drafted! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, May 22nd, 2009
3:06 pm	Masters Exams: An inauspicious beginning Exams began at 10:09 this morning. At approximately 6:30 AM, a crew began not just cutting down the tree across the street from our building, but also cutting it into tiny pieces. With very loud buzz saws. Around 7:00, I sleepily put my water bottle down on the nightstand--and missed. Water, water everywhere, but thankfully just on the outside of my computer and not the inside. At 10:09, the CA Supreme Court announced that the Prop 8 decision is coming down on Tuesday. At about 12:00 my glasses broke for no reason that I can tell. I picked them up off the dining room table, where they had been sitting for about 30 minutes, and one of the arms wasn't attached anymore. I swear it had been when I put them down. Despite setbacks, the following has been accomplished: Paper #1: music selected (Act I of Princess Ida), research begun, basic outline done, introduction written Paper #2: music selected by professor ("Love Among European Moderns" by the Modernist), analytical method selected (Mark Butler, Anne Danielsen on rhythm and groove), writing schedule outlined Paper #3: music narrowed down to five pieces, of which two must be eliminated: Debussy String Quartet, Dvorak "American" String Quartet, Dvorak Piano Quintet in A, Brahms Clarinet Trio, Brahms Piano Quartet in g; writing schedule outlined Having taken a break to write this, I now return to my regularly scheduled commedia dell'arte research. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
1:02 am	Fifty people a day You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it...in harmony...they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine three people walkin' in, singin' a bar of "Alice's Restaurant" and walking out? They may think it's an organization. And can you imagine, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day walkin' in, singin' a bar of "Alice's Restaurant" and walkin' out? And friends, they may think it's a movement. Friends, it's a movement. It's taken us forty years since Stonewall, and it probably took losing on Prop 8 to wake the beast, but we are fucking here. Exhibit A: The federal government agrees to sign the U.N. declaration that our existence is not, in fact, a criminal act. Guess which administration refused to sign this last year? Exhibit B: Gainesville fucking Florida solidly rejects the attempted repeal of equal protection for gay and trans people. This is, I hear, the first EVER vote on trans rights, and we took almost 60% of the vote! Exhibit C: Vermont state senate legalizes gay marriage. The House and the governor are yet to come. The gubernatorial asshole is against the bill, but maybe not enough to veto. This would be our first victory on marriage that happens outside the courtroom. These are all government things. Executive fiat, municipal vote, legislative action. That's not a movement. But who made this happen? WE DID. Directly (Gainesville), indirectly (Obama), and by a sort of political osmosis (Vermont). Bigots, back the fuck off. Next targets: A) Defeat another anti-trans ballot measure in Kalamazoo, MI. B) Win marriage by vote in Maine, Iowa, DC C) Win marriage by legislature in Vermont, New York, New Jersey D) Talk to every last goddamn voter in LA County about homophobia E) Wipe a certain rural community in upstate New York off the map That last one is not on the national gay agenda. I heard this weekend about a young boy there (let's call him Jasper) who once upon a time came out to his band teacher, a friend of mine through Rainbow Brite (I'll call her Strawberry Shortcake). Ms. Shortcake found him a foster placement, since his parents had kicked him out. Then she got a call late one night that Jasper'd accidentally come out to his new roommates--and they'd beaten him for it. He was homeless again. His story isn't mine to share, even anonymously on the internet, so I'll leave the rest of it out. I don't know his real name. I've never met him, nor am I likely to. I don't know how he's doing now, though Strawberry Shortcake managed to get him through most of the immediate, emergency shit. But even not knowing any of that, I can promise him that this movement is for him. If you are in any of the places I've listed as a target, please consider becoming one of those fifty people a day. We need you. Yes, you. Not just "you who are queer and therefore personally invested in these issues," but all of you. There is a center, somewhere, where you can volunteer. There is an organization that will take your money. There is a group of dedicated fighters waiting to help you discover just how dedicated you can be, even though you never had the chance before. There is room for you in the movement, whether you're queer or a straight ally, of any race or many, flat-ass broke or rolling in it, devoutly religious or a godless atheist, old as the hills or not yet of voting age. If you want to help but don't know how, send me an email, or a facebook message, or give me a call. I will do the research for you and I will personally get you involved. If, somehow, you read this blog but don't know how to get in touch with me, leave a comment with your own contact info and I will find you. The moment of the movement is now. Seize it before it passes you by and leaves you to regret having missed it all. Get out of your Monday-morning-armchair-quarterback stupor (yes, even the gays can use football metaphors), and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Leave West Hollywood, the Castro, Hillcrest, Key West, South Beach, Provincetown, Northampton, Chelsea, Park Slope, and the rest of the gay ghettos. Wave your civil rights in the face of someone who has never bothered to look at them. This is it, folks. Start your engines. We're off. (Yes, I understand the irony of beginning a post on the queer movement with a quote that includes the f-word. I'm not condoning it, just quoting accurately. I also ended it with a NASCAR metaphor. Ponder the irony while you're signing up to join the movement.) cross-posted from Brain Vomit (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 29th, 2008
8:09 am	My least favorite person Right now, my least favorite person in the world is Rubén Díaz Sr., state senator of New York from the Bronx. Why, you may well ask, is such a minor politician so important? Oh, just because. The man is so very homophobic that he is willing to throw out the Democratic state senate majority in order to prevent gays from getting married. The Democrats haven't controlled the state senate in about forty years, but hey, that victory ain't worth shit if the scary gays start marrying and reproducing and taking over! Oh, wait. Skip that middle bit. Now here comes the fun part of Rubén Díaz Sr. He, along with three other assholes, claimed that he was breaking from the party to protest a lack of Latino leadership. A worthy cause to champion, I feel, if only he didn't (a) use it as a cheap disguise for his homophobia and (b) argue for more Latino leadership by claiming that there are too many black people in power! Are you fucking serious!? Check it out. This man makes me sick. He has obviously never used the word "movement" in any kind of meaningful way in his life. He is totally fine with oppression, as long as it isn't oppressing him. He is a racist, and a homophobe, and I'll bet you ten dollars he pretends that God told him to be this way. Asshole. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 20th, 2008
11:08 am	Jukebox meme OK, so I gave in to this oh-so-fun meme. This is something I can do without turning my head [see blog post on neck pain]. Here are the first lines of 30 songs from iTunes on random, for you to guess titles and artists. A few notes first: A. The random didn't seem to be that random. Songs often came in oddly matched pairs. B. A surprising number of them include the title in the first line. C. The performer is almost never going to be the person you expect it to be. D. At least one of the performers gets the words wrong, marked [sic.] in my list. This is what comes of the English trying to sing German. Hinted! 1. These lush moments, how I adore 2. I must say these tropical days have been quite restful 3. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia 4. Ave spes nostra 5. I love the time and in between the calm inside me and the space where I can breathe 6. When the sun sinks in the west 7. The elephant trunk and Democrat donkey will be down the drain and sunk 8. Paree, he’s like a lover 9. What if I came down now? 10. Smile, smile, smile, that’s all you do 11. Something bad is happening 12. Some people got it, and make it pay 13. Pobedichom, pobedichom, posramichom 14. Nanina…[unintelligible mess of Georgian] 15. You must treat your lover girl right 16. If I tell truths to you, my love, my own 17. Ah, you’re wonderful, you’re all that I’ve yearned for 18. Pistol shots, gun shots 19. Says Red Molly to James, that’s a fine motorbike 20. Oh, tinozza ambulante! 21. O ihr Herren, o ihr werten 22. Schön lie [sic.] Engel voll Walhallas Wonne 23. Sicut erat in principio 24. Sani e salve agli amplessi amorosi 25. Sold a hammer to the Pentagon (Guessed by Ginger at the blag) 26. Victoria dines alone, she skips the potatoes (Guessed by Ginger at the blag) 27. Guido, I was lazing around my bedroom 28. Amor volat undique 29. Coulda been a writer, shoulda been a novelist 30. And I followed her to the station (13 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
8:26 am	New blog I have added a new one to my blagosphere list: Center of Gravitas. I've only dropped in on it a couple of times, but they've been rewarding visits. Here, for example, is GayProf's take on the incredibly frustrating post-Prop-8 racism: "Moreover, I think that queer rights organizations need to be involved in bigger fights for economic and social justice. We ask other groups to join with us, but when was the last time a group like HRC campaigned for an issue facing the UFW?" Now there's a suggestion I haven't heard from any of the other angry queers currently storming the fortresses of the patriarchy. Fight not just for ourselves but for other oppressed people!? WHAT!? Many times have I heard the vague "reach out to people of color" advice, but here is a concrete way to do that, a way that may actually have an effect. Fabulous! I am cross-posting this at my currently-empty LiveJournal, just to see if that generates some readership for this blag. If you're reading this at LJ, you won't see the Blagosphere sidebar or any of the posts leading up to this, so click on over to Brain Vomit and see what I'm talking about. (1 Comment |Comment on this)