The Post-Its pad I use for writing down call numbers and CD numbers just ran out of paper. That means I've now made seventy-five separate trips to the music library to check things out in three months. Whee.

Today was another productive day. I cleaned the apartment thoroughly, did laundry, finished some counterpoint work, and proofed my pedagogy assignment. I was so industrious that I even went downstairs and cleaned our little hellhole of a laundry room. It's always disappointing to remove clothes from a machine and have something drop onto the sedimentary layer of accumulated grime and grit that coats the machines and the floor. That too must have been part of the more expensive maintenance package that our complex didn't get (which also includes changing the lightbulb outside my door).

I've really been neglecting my string quartet shamelessly. As soon as my history paper is done, that will be the only remaining "major" task of the semester, so hopefully I'll have renewed zeal for the task. I present my paper on Friday... I really should start working in it.

Late last night (actually early this morning), Mark, Kathy, and I were helping Mike tidy up his piano rags, and came up with the idea of having the pianist do an endless vamp, followed by the page turner smacking the piano. This was originally done in the late 30s with Spike Jones and his City Slickers in their dance number, Black Bottom (600K).

"The idea behind the arrangement for 'I've Got You Under My Skin,' as well as for the other standards according to Holman, 'was to write long charts based on standard tunes but make them like an original piece. In other words, just use the changes or use a fragment (of the melody) to tie it together, and make pretty much of an original, except you don't get royalties for it (chuckle).' Bill states that 'Stompin' At The Savoy' was the most-talked-about chart at the time, 'because of the way I screwed it up (laughing). I added bars...and at that time people weren't used to doing that. I wound up with a 10-bar phrase instead of an 8-bar phrase, and people said - How do you do that? Well, you take your time! Nobody says you have to have eight...'" - Bill Holman, Stan Kenton arranger