Issuing supreme power to you...one moment.

My self-summary Propose an edit

I've just landed in Chicago from Ann Arbor, and am loving the city. My neighbourhood is the right mix of hip-slick and urban-gritty, so it's great to walk around and take it all in. My faves so far: the Chinese BBQ hole-in-the-wall 2 blocks away that is THE real deal; the dog beach that must be the happiest place on the shore; the Brown Elephant; the Sicilian pastry shop with the smoking-hot, five-o-clock-shadow owner. And I know I've just scratched the surface.

What I'm doing with my life Propose an edit

I'm a composer and musician--avant-garde stuff that has no commercial value and turns me on--and I teach university students about classical music. I also run an orchestra that does avant-garde stuff that has no commercial value and turns me on. The group is pretty successful so I guess it turns other people on too. I'm here in Chicago to work and to strike the balance we're all trying to strike.

I'm really good at Propose an edit

Friends, conversation, food, Scrabble, procrastination.

The first thing(s) people usually notice about me Propose an edit

My accent: exotic and perhaps unplaceable.

My favorite books, movies, music, and food Propose an edit

For my listening pleasure:
Brahms and the classical tradition
Ligeti and the modernist tradition
Varese and the experimental tradition
Bach and the OMFG-what-a-feckin-genius tradition
Aphex Twin and the electronica/IDM tradition
Cole Porter and the classic urbane tradition
Bob Marley and the roots culture tradition

For my reading pleasure:
David Foster Wallace essays
The New Yorker
Toni Morrison
Vladimir Nabokov
Jhumpa Lahiri
David Sedaris
David Mitchell
etc.
...anything that is structurally interesting, and fucks with language in a beautiful way.

For my viewing pleasure:
Hard-core artsy and experimental
Big-budget cheesy and animated

For my pie-hole:
Ethiopian
Mediterranean
Chinese
Japanese
Korean
Thai
Indian
...anything except insects

The six things I could never do without Propose an edit

Actual things--not metaphorical things like friendship, love and world peace--that I can't do without:

My cookware
My radio tuned to NPR
My telephone
My computer
My bed
My Soda Club machine

I spend a lot of time thinking about Propose an edit

The feng-shui of my new place.

On a typical Friday night I am Propose an edit

I can't tell Friday night from the other nights and won't be able to until the academic year starts.

The most private thing I'm willing to admit here Propose an edit

I know by heart all the two-letter words officially allowed in Scrabble.

You should message me if Propose an edit

You can hold up your end of a conversation, spontaneously go on an adventure, take life seriously while laughing at it all, and are curious about interesting things.

Tests He's Taken View all