May 30, 2020

Silence is not the absence of sound, rather it is an aspect of sound

WFH: DAY 55. 8.00 am: A communion.

House (detail) #35:

8.30 am: A review of the inbox and my plans for the working day. 9.00 am: A little mopping up of MA Vocational Practice presentation assessments. 9.45 am: Refreshments were served. My habit of eating a little chocolate before 11.00 am ought to be curbed. (It’s as bad as imbibing a glass of wine or G&T before lunch. (And I don’t.) This is the thin-end of the wedge to something, I’m sure. After a little politicing, I returned to The Noisome Spirits compositions. If I’m absent from a project for too long, it becomes like a stranger to me.

I looked over the text for ‘The House Was Going Away’. This is a narrative about a domestic poltergeist that specialised in making very loud noises. The final composition in the suite — based upon the theme of terrifying and destructive sounds — is ‘Such a Noise as if the World About Him Was Going to Pieces’. It deals with a man from Carmarthen who was visited by a giant German mariner; he commissioned the witness to dig up stolen goods that the latter had buried in his home country. Fascinating in its oddity, among other things. 11.30 am: Refreshments were served.

12.00 pm: Respite. I’d revitalised my Traveler guitar during the week. A decade ago, the instrument accompanied me to the USA and Canada, where it was played in presentations of my sound work. The headless design enabled me to stow the thing in the overhead locker of an aircraft. The guitar is adequate rather than brilliant. Nevertheless, I have a soft-spot for it. (And I don’t mean a padded gig bag.):

12.20 pm: Back into the study in order to continue with yesterday’s writing. Post-lunch, I remained in the same vein. The literary constipation was easing. It seemed wise to persevere, so I pushed on. (In the background: BBC Radio 3’s ear-opening Late Junction. No doubt this is one programme that’ll be axed once the corporation begin to economise.)

Throughout the day, I’ve been trading political opinion with my Facebook associates – the vast majority of whom occupy a spectrum of conviction from hard-left to soft-left to centre-left to soft-centre (?) to centre. Thus, the spirit of the exchanges is supportive rather than combative. We are witnessing the painful and distressing beginning of a tumultuous transition in the world order. Everything is at stake.

4.30 pm: Power down and walkabout.

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