FUQ, part 2!
More Frequently Unasked Questions! Yay!
Q: Last installment you said you were a nerd, geek, and dweeb, but not a dork, and that if I thought otherwise it was because of a faulty definition. Care to clear things up?
A: Well, to give a full response, I would have to go on many tangents, as is my style, but as this is a FUQ, and not Story Time with TacoTortoise, I'll stick to the essentials. Here are the definitions I use:
* Nerds and geeks are rather similar, in that these classifications relate to a person's interests. A nerd is someone with an excessive interest in some subject area, but whose interest is more bookish or academic. A geek, however, explores their interests more actively: instead of reading a book, they take something apart and put it back together to figure out how it works. A person can be both a nerd and a geek, as I am: for one thing, their nerdishness and geekishness may stem from different interests. It is also possible to combine nerdish and geekish traits within a single interest. In this formulation, the terms "nerd" and "geek" have nothing to do whatsoever with social skills or lack thereof, contrary to mainstream usage.
* Dweebs and dorks are the two main classifications for people who don't fit in socially. Dweebs don't fit in because they just don't know all the social conventions, and thus don't abide by them. Dorks are those who have full knowledge of social conventions and whatnot, but deliberately choose to ignore them. Thus, the categories of dork and dweeb are mutually exclusive.
You might guess that this has something to do with CTY. You'd be right. The above definitions were hashed out during a lively dinner discussion during 02.1, and it was my fellow staffers who declared me to be geek, nerd, and dweeb. In fact, I was cited as the textbook example of a dweeb, in contrast to my definite dork of a TA. Neither of us minded such labels.
Stepping back from CTY, I can sum up by saying that between music and math, I encompass both nerdish and geekish qualities, and my ignorance of social rules and regulations (one has to wonder whether deliberate ignorance would be more apropos of a dork) makes me a dweeb. But don't let that stop you from making friends with me. Others have tried it in the past, and would probably recommend it if you asked them.
Q: So, you pretend to be a composer. What's your music like?
A: To start off, you're clearly just trying to get me to toot my own horn here. Which is reasonable, consider that you're just me. But I digress. (not for the last time!)
Well, my music, as of yet, does not fit into any sort of -ism. I'm not so sure I'd ever want it to, but that may change. What does it sound like? Well, I put a lot of jazz into my music. This shows up in the harmony and rhythm, and sometimes in the form as well -- I especially like to use 12-bar blues. Lately, I've developed an interest in process-oriented music -- not as rigorous as Steve Reich or Tom Johnson, but enough to have an audible effect. I love counterpoint, but not in the way that most people think of the term. I'm not into writing rich fugues and such, (though I do enjoy listening to them) but rather creating sneaky inner lines that give unexpected linear interest. I call it "implicit" counterpoint, as opposed to the more "explicit" counterpoint exemplified by Bach -- though Bach himself was no stranger to implicit counterpoint, as evidenced by his chorale harmonizations. If there's any artistic philosophy that shapes my music, it would be my anti-virtuosic stance. I don't see why good music should have to be difficult to play. Frequently, the material in my compositions is shaped by my own limitations as a performer, (on piano, bass trombone, or flute) though I've been trying to move beyond things I can play myself. However, I imagine that my blues for cello and piano was so successful because of the unintentionally showy cello writing, and I have yet to find any flutist besides myself who can play the second of my Three Blues Moods.
Of course, this all means next to nothing. I hope to be able to put some of my compositions up on the intar-web somewhere, but that's a project for the future.
Q: Um...that meant nothing to me. Can you try again, in English?
A: *sigh* Classical, with jazz influences. Somehwere between Michael Tippett and Michael Torke, if that means anything.
Q: What do you want to do, once you're done with all this schooling?
A: Well, I may want to go for a PhD or DMA, but not until I've spent a year or two in the Real World. As a career, I'd kinda like to teach, either music at the university level, or math at the secondary level. As long as I have the time/freedom to continue composing. If I ever get to the point where my composing can pay for itself, I'd be a very happy man.
Q: Are you aware of the unfortunate homophone of the acronym FUQ?
A: Hell, yeah. I don't go around swearing like a pirate, but I'm not afeard of a little profanity. Just look at my "F'n'M" story from the previous installment. Still, I try to use profanity sparingly, so that it doesn't lose its effect. I wouldn't have gotten the nickname if it was something I said every day -- though now it is sometimes a useful catchphrase among CTY staffers.
Q: You seem to be losing it. Your questions last time at least seemed like the sort of thing people wanted to know, but were afraid to ask, but now you're just giving yourself an excuse to say what you want to say.
A: Isn't that what most livejournals are anyway?
Q: Um, I hadn't actually gotten to the question. And you happened to "respond" with a question. What I was GOING to ask was, how much longer are you going to keep this up?
A: Oh, I'm done now. I'll come up with some other way to generate content next time.
-TT
Q: Last installment you said you were a nerd, geek, and dweeb, but not a dork, and that if I thought otherwise it was because of a faulty definition. Care to clear things up?
A: Well, to give a full response, I would have to go on many tangents, as is my style, but as this is a FUQ, and not Story Time with TacoTortoise, I'll stick to the essentials. Here are the definitions I use:
* Nerds and geeks are rather similar, in that these classifications relate to a person's interests. A nerd is someone with an excessive interest in some subject area, but whose interest is more bookish or academic. A geek, however, explores their interests more actively: instead of reading a book, they take something apart and put it back together to figure out how it works. A person can be both a nerd and a geek, as I am: for one thing, their nerdishness and geekishness may stem from different interests. It is also possible to combine nerdish and geekish traits within a single interest. In this formulation, the terms "nerd" and "geek" have nothing to do whatsoever with social skills or lack thereof, contrary to mainstream usage.
* Dweebs and dorks are the two main classifications for people who don't fit in socially. Dweebs don't fit in because they just don't know all the social conventions, and thus don't abide by them. Dorks are those who have full knowledge of social conventions and whatnot, but deliberately choose to ignore them. Thus, the categories of dork and dweeb are mutually exclusive.
You might guess that this has something to do with CTY. You'd be right. The above definitions were hashed out during a lively dinner discussion during 02.1, and it was my fellow staffers who declared me to be geek, nerd, and dweeb. In fact, I was cited as the textbook example of a dweeb, in contrast to my definite dork of a TA. Neither of us minded such labels.
Stepping back from CTY, I can sum up by saying that between music and math, I encompass both nerdish and geekish qualities, and my ignorance of social rules and regulations (one has to wonder whether deliberate ignorance would be more apropos of a dork) makes me a dweeb. But don't let that stop you from making friends with me. Others have tried it in the past, and would probably recommend it if you asked them.
Q: So, you pretend to be a composer. What's your music like?
A: To start off, you're clearly just trying to get me to toot my own horn here. Which is reasonable, consider that you're just me. But I digress. (not for the last time!)
Well, my music, as of yet, does not fit into any sort of -ism. I'm not so sure I'd ever want it to, but that may change. What does it sound like? Well, I put a lot of jazz into my music. This shows up in the harmony and rhythm, and sometimes in the form as well -- I especially like to use 12-bar blues. Lately, I've developed an interest in process-oriented music -- not as rigorous as Steve Reich or Tom Johnson, but enough to have an audible effect. I love counterpoint, but not in the way that most people think of the term. I'm not into writing rich fugues and such, (though I do enjoy listening to them) but rather creating sneaky inner lines that give unexpected linear interest. I call it "implicit" counterpoint, as opposed to the more "explicit" counterpoint exemplified by Bach -- though Bach himself was no stranger to implicit counterpoint, as evidenced by his chorale harmonizations. If there's any artistic philosophy that shapes my music, it would be my anti-virtuosic stance. I don't see why good music should have to be difficult to play. Frequently, the material in my compositions is shaped by my own limitations as a performer, (on piano, bass trombone, or flute) though I've been trying to move beyond things I can play myself. However, I imagine that my blues for cello and piano was so successful because of the unintentionally showy cello writing, and I have yet to find any flutist besides myself who can play the second of my Three Blues Moods.
Of course, this all means next to nothing. I hope to be able to put some of my compositions up on the intar-web somewhere, but that's a project for the future.
Q: Um...that meant nothing to me. Can you try again, in English?
A: *sigh* Classical, with jazz influences. Somehwere between Michael Tippett and Michael Torke, if that means anything.
Q: What do you want to do, once you're done with all this schooling?
A: Well, I may want to go for a PhD or DMA, but not until I've spent a year or two in the Real World. As a career, I'd kinda like to teach, either music at the university level, or math at the secondary level. As long as I have the time/freedom to continue composing. If I ever get to the point where my composing can pay for itself, I'd be a very happy man.
Q: Are you aware of the unfortunate homophone of the acronym FUQ?
A: Hell, yeah. I don't go around swearing like a pirate, but I'm not afeard of a little profanity. Just look at my "F'n'M" story from the previous installment. Still, I try to use profanity sparingly, so that it doesn't lose its effect. I wouldn't have gotten the nickname if it was something I said every day -- though now it is sometimes a useful catchphrase among CTY staffers.
Q: You seem to be losing it. Your questions last time at least seemed like the sort of thing people wanted to know, but were afraid to ask, but now you're just giving yourself an excuse to say what you want to say.
A: Isn't that what most livejournals are anyway?
Q: Um, I hadn't actually gotten to the question. And you happened to "respond" with a question. What I was GOING to ask was, how much longer are you going to keep this up?
A: Oh, I'm done now. I'll come up with some other way to generate content next time.
-TT