Lichtenbergian goals:

Nothing really, as befits Lichtenberg Day.

Part of the problem I’ve encountered with developing variations for Resignation is that the tune is so pure by itself that any kind of alteration feels like a violation. Anything I try to do to it degrades the music instead of adding interest.

The thing to do, obviously, is to completely destroy it.

Lichtenbergian distractions:

One of the books I brought home from school to read for the summer was Word after word after word, Patricia MacLachlan, a new book. Very short and quite lovely. I read it in one session before going to sleep the other night. Yes, MacLachlan is the author of Sarah, Plain & Tall. In this book, five 4th grade friends are in a class with a visiting author, and they learn how writing can shape their lives. As I said, it’s quite lovely.

I went to Atlanta to have lunch with my friend John Tibbetts, a young person of such life force that it’s impossible not to have a good time with him. Then I stopped by Sam Flax and picked up two tubes of gouache in colors that I do not have but apparently I need if I’m to paint portraits ever. (Really? Cadmium orange and cadmium yellow light? Really? As I said, I don’t know how to mix colors.)

Then back to Newnan, short errands, cook supper, and a languid evening with my lovely first wife. All in all, a solid Lichtenberg Day: I thought about composing, and I bought painting supplies, but I didn’t actually do any work.