#oblongrobber

When I was a kid, I'd lose Saturday afternoons to books.

I'd luck into a particularly compelling read and suddenly find hours had slipped away as I immersed myself in an imaginary world.

These days, with so many demands for my attention, I flit from one thing to the next, with an inability to dive deeply into the moment. Nicholas Carr blames it on the new technologies that forever update us and reward us with likes, favorites, and shares. Though I initially flinched at his idea, his book is compelling; I think there is something to his notion of "the shallows."

A couple of weeks ago, my not-so-old Axiom keyboard pooped out with a blue screen of death. I tried all the tricks I'd read on online forums, but the stubborn machine wouldn't restart. And I had just gotten into a groove for capturing musical ideas more quickly with FLStudio.

So I broke down and bought another MIDI keyboard. Inspired by the purchase, I started putting some beats and synth leads together. I tweaked settings, tampered with melodies, added FX pads. It was one of those times when the muse is kind and the layers come together painlessly, seamlessly.

Suddenly, it was 12:45 a.m. On a work night. And there I was, still huddled over the keyboard, tapping out a few squawks and bleeps for my own sonic pleasure.

Carpe Thursday: Totally tired of life rolling over me. Today, I said fuck it all and finally got on the keys to fool around with some chords, filters, and beats.

A theme for @trelvix

So it was a few weeks ago that we lost the snapshots and musings of @trelvix, one of the most talented writers I had the pleasure of following on the Twittumblrs. As it is with many virtual relationships, I knew him but a shade, through the shared glimpses he decided to spotlight here, with vague pictures, snippets of dialogue, slivers of details. He revealed so much in so little. 

After he died, I found myself once again inspired by the creativity left behind. I sat down at the piano, determined to come up with some musical theme worthy of his iPhone-a-go-go portraits.  

Days passed, and occasionally, I'd peck out a few odd chords trying to evoke the imagery of @trelvix's scenecraft, but nothing seemed quite appropriate.