Good Things Come in Threes, Too

You already know about the offer to send me free books. (Yay!)

Then I went down and got the mail. I found my contributor's copy of Why Can't Penguins Filk?: Songs from FilKONtario 7. Track 12, "The Dead Woman's Son" is my first song and performance to appear on an album. (Though technically, I can be heard in the background audience chorus on quite a few live recordings....)

It's weird to hear a slice of my life from back in 1997. It seems a million years ago now. It's especially weird since...um...due to lack of sleep and (then) relatively recent composition, the tune on the CD keeps changing as I sing it. Um. I _sound_ good, more or less, but...um...it's kinda the quantum flux version of the tune. On the other hand, it's nice to know what key I originally sung the tune in, because it does sound better up there. And on the gripping hand, it does sound kinda like the filk version of a field recording, which must count for some kind of trad. cred....

But I can't help feeling happy! I'm on an album! It's so cool! (Now, I only have to get cracking on my album....)

Finally, about that hymn for St. Albert the Great's feastday. I decided to submit it to the new music director and see if it interested him. (The previous music directors were very nice about my hymns but also pretty unencouraging. Heh. With reason in some cases.)

And you know, he did actually seem to think it was pretty good. He got interested in how he'd want to arrange it to be sung and everything! Furthermore, he mused aloud that next year he could do a full four-part arrangement for the choir and put copies of the lyrics in the pews for the congregation...well, assuming a bit of money to me for royalties. (And with the royalty rates, believe me, I'd be lucky to be able to buy a cup of coffee at the gas station with that bit. Obviously not a major consideration. Still, it was cool that he thought to mention that to me.) So we'll have to see if anything materializes, as the feast is next Sunday. But it's definitely something. (And I guess my project wasn't all that quixotic, after all.)

So I'm in a ver' happy mood today. Happy founding of St. John Lateran's, everyone!