(no subject)

Past the halfway point now. The week I've spent here feels both incredibly long and short. It's mildly incomprehensible how adrift I felt a week ago upon arriving, given how many cool people I've met and how packed each day has been. I was going through today's notes and realized that presentations I heard this morning I thought had happened yesterday.

Part of me doesn't really want this to end, and part of me can't wait to come home (although it will be for just a few hours). It's a rare thing that I get to geek out about music with a whole bunch of people for days on end, but the pace is starting to wear me down, and I'm starting to miss being in my comfort zone, taking things in my own time -- as well as just plain wanting to be with my lover, my friends, and my things. I think it's been said that the best and most rewarding part of traveling is coming home.

I've found that there are certain folks here towards whom I tend to gravitate, and clumps have formed here and there, but my impression is that most composers here are interested enough in everybody else that they're not sticky to the point of exclusion.

9+ hours of presentations tomorrow, and then the workshops with Fireworks begin on Wednesday -- I expect that those will be the most valuable parts of this symposium in terms of useful information.

I'll push for at least one more night at the High Street Brewery, probably Wednesday or Thursday. The cider I enjoy so much is made locally, so I won't have many more chances to partake.

(no subject)

During today's morning session, it occurred to me that by the end of this symposium, I will have been listening to others' music for over 72 man-hours, more than 200 pieces of new music.

That will probably increase to around 250 pieces once the New York segment of my trip is done.

I've been recording my impressions of each composer's music. I wonder how much meaning my notes will retain after a year when their pieces are less fresh in my mind.