happy Frigg's day

So we get to Friday, and I assume I know where Friday comes from. In German it's Freitag, which would mean free day. But it turns out it is the day of Frigg, wife of Odin, the only one besides him permitted to sit on the high throne and look out over the universe. But Odin turns into Woden, Wednesday, which is a whole day separated from Frigg's day. It's like they are forever separated by Thor. It reminds me of the sign they have at the Red Arrow Roadhouse: Free Beer Tomorrow. So close, yet so far.

I went there last night per my weekly tradition. The bartender recognized me from last week, making me feel almost like a regular. Already. I'm looking to become the mayor of it in Foursquare. [Which is a silly, silly urban game; I only "play" because it doesn't take any time and doesn't cause me to do things I wouldn't ordinarily do.] And I read Les Jeux Sont Faits - Sartre. It was getting really good - a romance was developing, plot twists, death, insurrection, and so on. I didn't think I was getting close to the end, but it turns out the last 70 pages (!) are glossary and study questions. So, last night in bed, I finished the last 30 pages or so. And then I wondered why I couldn't sleep. [It may also have been from the coffee yesterday; like an addict, once I taste that sweet bitterness, I'm back off the wagon.] I tried but couldn't and so read some music history. Which you would think would work, but I was in the middle of the section on Shostakovich and his dealings with Stalin. Everyone around him died or went missing, but somehow he made it through. What terror to live with - and to create under! The commies were talking about him like a true genius; maybe that's what it took. I sort of wish art were more life or death here; it's become so self-congratulating and redundant. But I am fairly certain that, most days, I would be in the "disposable" camp, and the Russkys would be throwing out the baby with the bath water.

I finished two things yesterday! Granted, they were a cover and a remix, but still. I'm really excited about the Arvo Part remix and what it portends. Maybe I will write that orchestra piece after all.

So I'm in the finishing, polishing mode. I'm off to work on a song. I've been dulling the perfectionist urge - which ultimately does a disservice to creativity - by thinking of these as demos. The Nine Inch Nails cover I made in like 5 or 6 hours; if I have to remake these (once I hear how they go, their structure) then so be it.

Focus.