gurdonark

Today I visited Midlothian, an hour to the south of Dallas, for a work matter. As I drove home in the early evening, the rain began to fall. I played blitz chess about as inexpertly as I know how, against several opponents I don't know, and one opponent I've played often before. My rating went up, because one higher rated opponent kept playing the Polish (Orang-U-Tan) Opening, which I kept dismantling with relative ease. I play too many unorhodox openings to be very flustered when I face one.

I got from the US 0Chess Federation a report on the tournament I just directed. It got rated in good order, although I learned that my rating fell again (not surprisingly, since I won 1 and lost 2), resulting in my rating going below 1700 for the first time since I was 21 or so. I'm not unduly worried about it, as my overall play is about the same as ever, but I could use a winning streak in my over the board tournaments soon. I have too many recent near misses, and coming close to winning is not the same as winning.

I'm glad to be home with our dog Ted, who looks equally glad to be home. I went into our back yard and took pictures of cone flowers, susans, and lantana.

On my birthday, a friend suggested I focus more on writing poetry. I enjoy writing poetry, and with a bit of focus on submission I can get poems published. Perhaps the rest of 2005 and all of 2006 would be a good time to write and submit masses of poetry. I've only made a half dozen or so submissions this year, I believe, getting two accepted for publication.

I am going to start a new yahoo group. I have in mind a group in which members exchange mp3s of songs, samples and other royalty-free oddsound. I want to put into practice my ideas about free sharing of one's own intellectual property, without taking another's intellectual property.

The key to the popularity of any such worthy venture is in the promotion of the effort. My Feeder Guppy Rescue League just gained its 37th member, because it has a cool group name, it meets a specific micro-need, and
it has a humorous group blurb. My chess club has been a bit slower to get off the discussion group ground, but it just added its 7th member.

I subscribe now to Sonic Architecture, which is more about indie artists promoting themselves, to Nature Recordists, about how to use expensive mics to hear birdsong, and to Odd Music, about how to construct and
play odd music. I see a lot of groups devoted to various exchange collectivist ideas. The notion is not new, of course, as the cassette exchange movement (and, for that matter, sheet music sharing of generations past) predate my concept. But I have in mind "faith in practice"--the idea that a "movement" requires a focus. Ultimately? An orgnanzation and a proper website. But for now? A yahoo message group will do. But I will write essays. I will find members. I will grow a movement--a legal way to dethrone the RIAA. A group which respects intellectual property rights--and creates public domain material as fast as a canary's whistle.

I love the moment of creation, when I think of an absurd name and then think of guerrilla ways to promote the group. Sometimes the moment is a success--sometimes it is not. But it's all in trying. I am a huge believer in trying really hard.

I spent time at "lark in the morning"'s website today to try and figure out which Indonesian percussion thing I bought. But nothing resembles the thing I bought. I run out of Indonesian musical knowledge when we move past the basic gamelan. I love the sound of a gamelan orchestra.

I'm ready to create--to do, to experience, to live. I do not like to live my life in frustrations and imaginings.
I like to channel them into creation and absurdity. I'm back from vacation,and I'm back in gear. Now I'm going to get back to where I once belonged.