From Now to There.

It's been an interesting month. Lightning seems to have struck twice. Ok, maybe not lightning, but at least some nice sparks.

First, on a whim I emailed an old friend of Osita's. For those who don't know, The Osita's professional life has centered around contemporary dance, much of it in Mexico D.F.. In my brief travels to D.F., I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with several of her dance comrades. Introducing: Mr. Ricky.

Seeing as The Osita and Mr. Ricky were good friends, he got introduced to some of the short recordings I've done. Thing is, he liked them. So, Mr. Ricky and I have exchanged pleasantries over the past couple of years, keeping loosely up-to-date about what's new and exciting.

The last email I sent to him garnered an unexpected response. He has started his own dance company and will be choreographing a new piece that he has titled "AQUA." Reading through his initial production notes, a flood of ideas immediately began filling my mind. Long story short - Mr. Ricky has apparently aggressively marketed this performance and has since received funding for production. AQUA is slated to be performed in D.F., and somehow, in Poland next year.

And I've been commissioned to write the score. 45-minute long composition to accompany this production. And it's a paying gig. What? Needless to say, this has been a dream of mine for quite some time and I'm jazzed to do it.

So, that's spark #1.

The other: $500+ of homebrewing equipment popped up on Craigslist for $150. The first batch, which was supposed to be an Old Speckled Hen clone, isn't quite turning out that way as I mashed some grains instead of steeping them. What does that mean? I extracted fermentable sugars instead of mere malt flavor. The result: a much stronger final gravity. What should have been a delicious 4.5% ABV OSH clone will end up being a 6.5% ABV mystery.

So, however it turns out, cheers!