Zachary Lewis, of A Solo Keyboard writes:

Dying stars pulse at an audible frequency equal to F above middle C before becoming supernovae.

Until I reached the last word I thought he was talking about people … you know … like movie stars or famous musicians and whatnot. Sigh.

I’m not sure where my mind is these days, but it’s clearly not working very well. Maybe it’s because I’m still pondering Mr. Teachout’s prediction and desire that we symphony folk be done with. Or at least our careers in live performance of old works be done with (and he says he needs no new recording of works that have been recorded before, so that’s out too), and I’m not sure what else I’d do with the oboe. (From what he wrote I guess I should play at dinner parties and get a “real job”? But perhaps I’m misreading him.) I dunno. Somehow what he wrote hit me harder than I like. I guess it caught me by surprise. In a more recent blog post he writes:

Having said all this, let me close by speaking directly to those readers who get all steamed up whenever I write something with which they disagree: I’m genuinely sorry that my work upsets you. I don’t set out merely to make anyone angry or stir up a fuss. I always mean exactly what I say. Naturally, you’re entitled to your opinion?but so am I. So the next time you write, please do me the favor of giving me the benefit of the doubt. Merely because you happen to disagree with me doesn’t necessarily mean I’m stupid, or even ignorant. Who knows? I might even be right.

I wasn’t angry when I read his post. I wasn’t steamed up. I was just sad and scared. That happens sometimes. It’s a byproduct of this career of mine.

I need a vacation. And just in time I’m going down to visit our daughter, Kelsey, in the not so exciting city of Irvine. The city’s not exactly a vacation spot, but visiting Kelsey, and her boyfriend Mel, will make it worth the drive and time and heck with the city itself! Any place can be HappyVacationLand™ if one is with the right people.
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