Matt's blog

Ok, so some guy just called me on my cell and sung the entirety of "Happy Birthday" in German to me before realizing he had the wrong number.

And to think I though today was going to be a crappy day...

A post from Los Angeles, none the less. Whelp, I'm pretty much letting you know I'm in L.A. Yesterday was my last day at the church, so maybe you'll hear some more about that at some later point, just some parting thoughts. Anywho, that's all I've got.

Just played another guitar night at Empyrean downtown. Good stuff. I played three movements from Bach's 3rd cello suite which is coming together really nicely. Jeni got me the Yo-Yo Ma recording of all six suites which I have been listening to for the last few days. It's gotten me thinking about this piece in a new way. I may even re-transcribe part of it because I don't feel that the guitar transcription I have really captures the intention of the piece at a few points. I'm also thinking about ditching the young artist competition, which requires me to learn a pretty frickin' hard concerto, in order to get a lot more rep learned. We'll see. I don't want this concerto to eat up all my time when there's a bunch of solo stuff out there I could be getting into. Also, Julian Bream is an amazing guitarist, even at 70+ years old. We watched some of a movie biography about him featuring a lot of his playing. I think I may learn a piece he plays "Hommage au tombeau de Debussy" by Manuel de Falla which is a great impressionistic type piece which takes its time, tempo-wise, and quotes Debussy's "Images." As much as I love all the flashy, virtuosic stuff, I might love playing slow stuff even more. I realized that so far my senior recital only has one slow part to it, the Sarabande in the cello suite, and I think I should supplement that. If I ditch this concerto it will give me a lot of time to put together some cool stuff for the next recital. Anyway, I know the Bach will be awesome, I just want fill the rest of the program with stuff I'm just as excited about that will make a good show. Geez, I love playing guitar. Sometimes I feel like it's the only think I should ever be doing. But for now, "Come heavy sleep..."

Come heavy sleep, the image of true death,
And close up these my weary weeping eyes,
Whose spring of tears doth stop my vital breath
Come, and possess my tired thought-worn soul
That in living dies, till thou on me be stole.

Come, shadow of my end and shape fo rest,
Allied to death, child to his black-faced night;
Come thou and charm these rebels in my breast
Whose waking fancies do my mind affright.
O come sweet sleep, come or I die for ever,
Come ere my last sleep comes, or come never.

-John Dowland (1563-1626)

Ah, what an experience! In reality, infinite experiences! Oh, what diverse treasures lie at the bottoms of countless bags! Oh, bottom of the bag, how you bring forth the salient features of your contents for one final stand shouting, "We may not be as fresh as the top of the bag, but we are certainly more poingant!" Oh, Tostitos, defined by your crunch and salt, is not the bottom of your bag perhaps too crunchy, perhaps too salty? Oh, Frosted Mini-Wheats, defined by your frost, your wheat, and your diminutive stature, is not the bottom of your bag sheer perfection?