Feeling a bit down on myself lately.....

Some random thoughts while I try to fall asleep again.

almeda recently posted an interesting dissertation on the dynamics of filk circles. A lot of it rings true for me.

( I remember my first filk circles. )

The type of post-con blues I'm feeling is a little different this year. I know OVFF has been, is, and will continue to be performer-centric, and with the size of the con, I usually don't get to play. It's tough to say hello to folks when there are about 100 or more people to meet and greet in the span of 1-2 days. I missed saying hi to several people, either because I didn't see them when we could talk, or they were otherwise engaged in conversations.

I don't get to play much anymore. Taking care of a household, my family, and my ongoing clutter issues have sucked up a lot of time. (I know: same-old same-old.) Because of that, I feel relegated to the "listener" class. But with my musical talents, I feel that I should be in the "player" class.

What would be my ideal filk circle? For me, it would be a small (6-8) circle of people, playing and offering constructive remarks to each other. (For those of you who are familiar with Toastmasters, it would have a similar format -- evaluation instead of critique; "I" statements instead of "You" statements.) It would be more of a musician's workshop than a strictly-for-performance circle.

I should add this to my Blue Book......

The "blue book" contains cover songs that I'd like to sing at filks. (The "red book" contains all my original works, and developing embryos of songs.)

I think this song, from one of my favorite albums -- Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly" -- would qualify as "found filk". It's retro-future-gazing at its finest. Plus, next year is the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year.

I'll need a good horn section and singers to back me up. Or I'll just have to run down to the local karaoke music shop and see if they have this in stock. But I can do the "synth blues harp" solo on the Minimoog, once I get a good harmonica patch set up!

( What a beautiful world this would be.... )