22 April 2011

516 Title...

So here you are at my blog. PeriODDically... is just as it sounds; mostly periodic postings and often odd insights into being Daniel J Hay.

Many times I have postings ready to upload and then decide to dump them because they are either bragging about myself which I find I am prone to doing, or complaining about my health or life, which I can't stand doing but again find that I am prone to lapsing into.

This posting, however, is not going to flow in either vein. No bragging and no complaining.

Actually this posting is a request for assistance in naming the piece of music I just composed. You see, I've been getting a backlog of instrumental pieces with no name. This will make it difficult to include them in the annual subscription service I maintain and makes it look like an uncompleted list when I list the titles. The attached opus number just doesn't look completed without also having a title to go with it.

Therefore, if you will listen to the piece listed in the sidebar, (Opus 516), and then send me a comment for a name I would appreciate it. From the names submitted here and via private communication I will select a winning name and then add the submitting person's name in the dedication on the sheet music.

This piece is voiced in Oboe because I find that my composing software sounds best as Oboe voice, (or Cello or Bassoon). It is, however, suitable for most orchestral instruments.

Please note that if this posting is not at the top of my blog then it is likely the piece of music shown may no longer be Opus 516. You can always visit http://danielhay.podbean.com and look for the piece that will include 516 in the title regardless of how long after this posting you are visiting. Also be aware that only a small number of my pieces are uploaded to podbean.

To see which pieces of music I have had printed you can visit http://danielhay.magcloud.com and for information on subscribing to my annual sheet music service please visit http://bit.ly/g9muFh

01 April 2011

Research...

I spend a great deal of time researching topics that interest me. Much of the research is fodder for the author side of me to be used in works in progress. (#WIP on Twitter) Some of it is merely because some intrigued me at the moment it flashed by on my computer screen - so I had to learn more. Some is used in application to my composing side. And then, some is intended for future use in what would be best described as 'real life' situations.

When I was newly married I had considered a commune environment, and my wife and I reconsidered the same over and over as our children grew. One thing we could not accept was that the places we liked best were also places that had group parenting (or none, perhaps) and we could not see placing the well-being of our children into the hands of others.

Now that I am single, or rather, during the past ten years of being single, I have often considered other intentional communities (see http://www.ic.org) as well. In fact, I have listed myself as a new community to be formed if I find others of like-mindedness. At this moment I am living with friends who are trying to build a natural farm in the Washington mountains. I consider this a learning experience.

Combined with the better part of a year camping in the California forest mining gold told me I have the basic knowledge and determination to survive in a rustic setting. I have raised goats and poultry and rabbits in the past and have thought to do so again now. Such is the environs of this mountain side. And perhaps I will acquire a multi-acreage parcel and build from scratch as I have often dreamed of doing.

So part of my research goes into planning what I would do in the "if" situation of building a house from raw materials by myself. There is a blessing to the internet and research is one of those blessings. It also has many drawbacks but those are for a different posting.

The research at this point is making me lean towards building a masonry wood fired heater (sometimes known as a Russian Heater) in the middle of nowhere. Then building a slip-form concrete house around that. Both are time consuming and require a great deal of labor but of time and labor I have plenty.

To this end I actually advertised on a certain 'date' service for a similarly minded woman who would be interested in a rural, rustic, pioneer, farming, cheese-making, yogurt-making, poultry-goat-rabbit-fish raising project. Apparently my research failed me because the only responses I have gotten are from titilation-for-pay-service bimbettes.

It seems my Facebook account (http://www.facebook.com/haydaniel) also sees me as a target for such. The only ads that ever show up on my FB page are of the same nature. Of course, I can't make it choose some other advertisement stream - and having no interest in such I tend to stay away from my FB page. Naturally, people will say but you can ignore those ads, and yes, I can, but they are still there in profusion and are annoying.

So while I research concrete, masonry heaters, siding, flooring, windows, how to... etc... it is nice to know the world is running on without me. It is of course, and faster than I pedal (being to old to run on bad knees). Yet what research would be replete without a plea for additional information?

No, no, not information on the bimbettes of the world, but perhaps you can give me instruction on finding the right person to share such an adventure. (Or families with or without children.) And then I will research that as well...