Thursday, July 10, 2008

A beautiful day.....on the chair

It's gorgeous outside right now. 10am, clear skies, sunny, 70 degrees. Yesterday it was very soggy, humid and rainy until about 3pm when I left for the moe. show. Yesterday, I had no problem focusing on writing, and I wrote very well and feel like I accomplished some good problem-solving, thinking and prose. And today...what a beautiful day! So, I've glued myself to my chair (mentally I envision my butt "attached" to this chair) with the notion that I simply cannot go outside to garden, swim or chat with my neighbors (I'm sort of chatty.....) because I simply cannot remove my tush from this chair. Until 3pm. And only to go to the bathroom or get coffee and then quickly return to the chair. Must....stay....on....chair.

I have two chapters in the works right now. My Chapter 1/intro/prospectus that I gave to my adviser in May is the typical sort of outline of the Diss, and I haven't looked at in awhile. Which I think is good for now. By August, I hope to have all of Chapter 2 written (tentatively called, "Borders, Bridges and Booze: A Brief History of Music in Buffalo, New York") and much more solid writing and narrative research for Chapter 3. I have a feeling that my Chapter 1/prospectus is going to read like a bunch of 1st-year grad school slop by the time I get back to it in late August. I hope to know a helluva lot more about what I'm actually writing about than I did while trying to describe what I HOPED to write about (the latter being much of the content of Chapter 1, me thinks...). Quite a process, this Diss.

Chapter 3 requires a visit to the National Archives in D.C., which I had thought could be accomplished next week. Ha Ha Ho Ho that is not fucking possible. I'm realizing that I need to get the music history of Buffalo prior to 1925 (Chapter 2) down and dirty before REALLY understanding what I need for Chapter 3 (the development of the Buff Phil Orch due to New Deal/FMP funding). But oddly--and other writers can hopefully understand this cuz if not, i'm up Shit's Creek, big time--I DO know what I need to research at the Archives, sort of. But not really. But sort of. It's tricky to try to explain. Eh-hemmm......I know the information that I need is only available there in numerous boxes. I know that it will help me put together some missing pieces not available here in The Buff. I know (intuitively) that the factoids in those boxes will mesh with the research and theories I'm putting forth so far in Chap. 3. BUT, I don't know what's in those boxes because I HAVEN'T GONE THERE YET. But I can't go yet. Not yet. Oy vey.

I'm staring to slowly spin around and around on this chair, as if my own swirling logic gives this hunk of metal some momentum of its own. But I will not get off the chair today. Until 3pm. Well wishes appreciated......

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