When Indiana Jones found the Holy Grail, it seemed like a distant old man’s fairy tale.  I saw that film at the ripe adolescent age of 16.  Indiana and his dad were so close to attaining the fountain of youth, but were ok with letting it pass them by.  Maybe it’s because Indiana saw the Knight who couldn’t wield his sword due to feebleness of sitting still and old age.  Maybe it’s because Elsa died while trying to retrieve it.  (Side note: this is the original Elsa—at least the one besides my grandmother— by the way.  With all due respect to Frozen and my 3 little girls.  I really didn’t care that Elsa didn’t sing.  I mean this Elsa…)

Do you feel confronted when getting your portrait taken? For most, getting a portrait taken can be uncomfortable, at first, after all the photographers right up in your face! Pressure to perform, look your best, not make a funny face, and wonder “what is my face doing?” and so on. And you’ve got one shot to get it right. (no pressure, right?) Your portrait is meant to showcase who you are to the world.  Usually, I am the personal stylist behind the scenes, styling clients in a manner that expresses their personality. But this time, it’s me in front of the lens.  As a stylist, I am also a speaker, vlogger, and former model, so I do have to face the camera on a regular basis. But don’t we all? Have to face the camera, face ourselves on zoom, face ourselves in the mirror every morning as we get ready for our day, and put our “best face on.”

Boxes, poxes and more poxes of boxes. Please no box, I'm done box. I don't want to be in a box. Why does everything we do need a label box? A box for this, a box for that, a pox, a box on your house. Specificity down to the boxatomic level. Why can't I be Aleks box, and you be you box, Jimbo Box, Bob Box, Sally Box, Dana Box or Bruce Box? I don't wanna be a box box, and neither does the art that we create only to be suppressed by flox.

The score of a musical work is fascinating. As a composer, I spend hundreds of hours alone with a score to unearth and present the uniqueness of every sound. I consider the physicality of a sound, both in the depth of overtones and frequencies and in the most mi-nuscule human motions it takes to produce them. I consider texture, the harsh and grinding color of the cellist utilizing over-pressured bowing, and the intimate fragility of the flautist's unstable multi-phonic. I consider shape, from violent rhythmic gestures to light, lyrical flurries. I consider, how variations larger blocks made up of colors, texutres, layers, and rhythms work together to highlight every unique aspect of a sound. I consider the weight of each and every observance I make, and I ensure every mark in the score best reveals the essence of a sound.

In the 2007 movie “There Will Be Blood” Daniel Day-Lewis plays Daniel Plainview and Paul Dano played two roles, Paul and Eli Sunday, twins.   If you’ve seen the movie, you can skip this next bit.  Daniel is an oil prospector and is brought to the Sunday property by Paul.  Paul’s twin brother Eli suspects that Daniel wants to purchase their land for the oil beneath the ground.  Through the years of the movie, Daniel buys all the land around the area except one hold out.  Eli returns to the area to sell the last hold out plot of land, hoping to make some money after having lost everything.