In the evaluations I've been writing during the spring auditions, there are notations like this: B: 31-2 (I, II) Br: 5 (I) C: 10-8 I take down which pieces are performed by prospective students, referring, with this shorthand, to the classified canon of piano music, so compact and so sorted that in some cases, even more cryptic scribbling suffices: 111 (1) 959 (I, II) L'i j Maybe I've grown to enjoy this abbreviating too much? 111 would … [Read more...]
Tract
Taupe. Dull ocher. Light gray. These are the exterior colors available in a new housing development I passed in the outer suburbs of Des Moines. The houses are attached and identically sized. There are slight, symmetrically-occurring variations in the facades. Some people covet these abodes. No chance the neighbors will decide to paint purple -- not allowed! No chance that someone will display a prized lawn gargoyle, or replace the standard-issue … [Read more...]