I have some crazy packing to do today. I leave tomorrow (7am flight, meaning getting up at 5am — is there ever a 5am when you’re not traveling?) for San Antonio and the Texas Music Educator’s Conference (TMEA). I’ll be working on Redline Tango with the Texas A&M Kingsville band tomorrow afternoon. (They’re playing it on their concert at TMEA on Thursday.) Looks like dinner tomorrow with Danny Prado (one of my favorite Texans), and probably several beers after that. (Danny and I usually have a few Shiner Bocks at these Texas conferences.) Thursday, there will be rehearsals with Rick Clary and the 5A All-State band, preparing for “Sasparilla,” which I’m very excited about. Thursday afternoon at 12:30 is the A&M Kingsville concert, followed at 3:30 with a performance of my buddy Daniel Montoya’s piece, “The Rapids,” by the Texas Tech University Percussion Ensemble. Thursday night is anyone’s guess.

Friday morning, more rehearsals with the All-State band. Saturday, we add the accordion player, and then the concert. Sunday, I leave for Lexington, Kentucky, to work with Cody Birdwell and the Wind Ensemble there on their final preparations for the premiere of “Turbine.” Wednesday night is the “unofficial” premiere of “Turbine” in Lexington. Thursday I ride with the band from Lexington to Nashville for Friday’s “official” premiere of “Turbine” at the regional CBDNA convention. That same day, Georgia State University performs “Redline Tango” at the same CBDNA convention in Nashville. Saturday I hang out in Nashville (any suggestions?), and then Sunday, I fly to Dallas, rent a car, and drive to Waco to work with the Baylor Wind Ensemble on “Strange Humors.” Tuesday I head back to Dallas (Richardson, to be specific) for the American Bandmasters (ABA) conference. Wednesday afternoon, I pick up AEJ, who is flying to Dallas for the concerts. (Woo hoo!) Wednesday night is the premiere of “Strange Humors,” with Dick Floyd conducting. Thursday is a free day in Dallas. Friday, the Dallas Wind Symphony, guest-conducted by Gary Hill (who has the record of “Redline Tango” performances — I think he’s done it with 5 different ensembles, not counting Dallas Winds), performs “Redline Tango” as part of winning the Ostwald. Then, the next morning, AEJ and I fly back to LA.

That’s 7 performances (3 Redline Tango, 1 Sasparilla, 1 Strange Humors, 2 Turbine) of 4 pieces (every one of my band pieces) in 16 days. Holy crap.

So, we’ve been watching the Olympics. Highly enjoyable, especially yesterday. What’s up with pairs skaters? Do you need to experience tragedy to succeed in sequins on the ice? Great skating, though. I think my favorite event so far has been the speed skating. The real one — the one where they just go crazy-fast the whole time, not Short Track, the one that Anton Ohno completes in. (12 laps, but you only go fast for 4 of them? Lame. Why not just make the race 4 laps long?) I wish they’d broadcast more curling. That, my friend, is a soothing sport.

From last night’s Letterman, about Cheney shooting that guy: “The guy who got gunned down is a Republican lawyer and a big Republican donor and fortunately the buck shot was deflected by wads of laundered cash. So he’s fine. He took a little in the wallet.”

And from Leno, whom I normally don’t find particularly funny: “Something I just found out today about the incident. Do you know that Dick Cheney tortured the guy for a half hour before he shot him?”

Sorry that I don’t have an interesting blog entry in me today. Hopefully I’ll have some good stuff from San Antonio! Off to pack…