back home again in maumee?

By Wes F. in Morris on February 14, 2013February 14, 2013

This is a fascinating map – a United States where every state has the exact same population.

noms

By Wes F. in Morris on November 14, 2012November 14, 2012

If you ever find yourself in Waite Park, MN (just west of St. Cloud), I heartily recommend Café Renaissance. Greek, Italian and Mediterranean food. And what desserts! I left the gun, if you catch the reference.

up in lights

By Wes F. in Morris on November 13, 2012November 13, 2012

Got three performances in the next few months. May not seem like a lot, but I’m happy with it. Plus, they made lead to more.

Rational Exuberance, my short curtain-raiser for orchestra, will be performed in Kirtland, OH and Ft. Myers, FL this spring, and my setting of Psalm 120 (KJV) for soprano and euphonium will be performed soon at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC. As you might imagine, this makes me very happy.

If anyone is looking for new music, let me know. If not from me, I know a few composers who may be more to your liking.

By Wes F. in Morris on November 7, 2012November 7, 2012

Yes we did. Again.

every heart beats true

By Wes F. in Morris on September 16, 2012September 16, 2012

I always said when I owned my own home I’d make sure that I flew Old Glory.

Though it may surprise the casual reader, this unashamed liberal is also an unashamed patriot.

So, today, this happened.

And if that weren’t patriotic enough, I’ve also acquired this:

Yep. I’m a homeowner now.

on the edge of the prairie

By Wes F. in Morris on August 15, 2012August 15, 2012

Greetings from My New Office. This will probably be the only time that I actually update the blog from the office, as I try to keep work and blog separate. But, since I was here and classes start in a week, I thought I’d take the opportunity to let everyone know I’m doing well. Jawa Girl and the pets will be up here on September 2, and we’ll all be living in a house that we actually purchased instead of rented.

Gonna be a great year.

barsoom

By Wes F. in Morris on August 6, 2012August 6, 2012

Don’t know if you’ve heard (of course you’ve heard), but last night the human race (led by NASA and JPL) did something remarkable.

Not only that, but they timed it out to get a picture of it from an orbiting Mars satellite.

Chew on that for a second – they lobbed a marble from Chicago to, say, a very specific parking spot in Manhattan, and set a moving camera up to be exactly right there when it happened. To impress you even more, they did this having never been to Manhattan personally, and setting the timing on the camera sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas of the previous year. If that weren’t enough, they did it with less-advanced technology than, say, an iPhone 3G.

The human race is capable of some terrible, terrible things (we were reminded of that yesterday as well), but when we channel our energies and resources, we can transcend our limitations in astounding and awe-inspiring ways.

u-s-a u-s-a

By Wes F. in Morris on July 28, 2012July 28, 2012

After a really good Opening Ceremony (though the music retrospective/tech thing went on too long and no one needed Matt Lauer, Meredith Viera and Bob Costas spreading stupid over the whole thing), let’s get these Olympics going.

Also: It may have been a charm offensive, but as others have pointed out, Mitt Romney was short on charm and long on offensive. What’s next – offering Netanyahu bacon?

hoopy froods

By Wes F. in Morris on May 25, 2012May 25, 2012

It’s Towel Day, so make sure you have your towel.

all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore

By Wes F. in Morris on May 7, 2012May 7, 2012

Go sing along!

Now it can be told

By Wes F. in Morris on March 17, 2012March 17, 2012

I’ve been traveling a lot lately for job interviews. One of them panned out. I received an offer, accepted the offer, and received the contract today. I will be signing it and returning it on Monday (there are a couple other pieces of documentation they need, and those are at the office).

Starting in August, I will be Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the University of Minnesota, Morris. As you might expect, Amanda and I are very excited about this, especially since I don’t have to spend two hours of every day looking for and applying for jobs. I won’t bore you with the details of the contract (and it’s none of your business anyway), but suffice it to say this will be an improvement over my current situation in every way.

Thank you to everyone for the good wishes over the past few months. This position offers many wonderful opportunities, and I am fortunate to have wonderful new colleagues. If you ever find yourself in west central Minnesota after August, let me know!

cartography

By Wes F. in Morris on February 22, 2012February 22, 2012

This is so great – the Interstate Highway System as it would look if it were a subway map:

(from here, via Kevin Drum)

Update

By Wes F. in Morris on January 22, 2012January 22, 2012

Remember how I said my former student (classroom, not composition) and friend was in town for a contest?

She won!

Very happy and proud over here.

meeting of the minds

By Wes F. in Morris on January 20, 2012January 20, 2012

Jawa Girl and I had the good fortune to have lunch with Jennifer Jolley and her husband today. Good food (it’s Manuel’s, so of course it’s good!) and good conversation. She’s in town for Atlanta Opera’s 24 Hour Opera Project.

If you’re not reading her blog or listening to her music, you’re missing out.

So, this happened.

By Wes F. in Morris on January 16, 2012January 16, 2012

Yep, that’s me and Jawa Girl with President and Mrs. Carter. They still live in Plains, GA (pop. 675 or thereabouts) and we went down to hear him speak this weekend.

The mug I am holding was a gift from my beloved late Aunt Ginny, who was for many years the only other Democrat in the family (for all I know, that has not changed). It has a picture of President Carter on it.

Also, it seemed appropriate to wear a sweater when meeting the man.

Wes Flinn Music

Category: That was cool!