Scary Crazy Person

Something that I have gradually noticed, and I am not especially proud of this - is that the story I would like to tell is not the same as what is really happening. My story is the one where little by little people notice the bell ringing activity and become curious about it. Once they find out what it’s about, they want to do it to. Gradually more and more people pay attention to the sunrise and sunset and feel part of a larger community as a result. And we all live happily ever after.

One of several problems with this (aside from operating under such a delusion) is that I have been trying to force other people to be in my story. Sometimes I scare them. Sometimes they think I am crazy. The more serious offense and result of my narrative overlay on any situation or person is that I ignore and minimize what is really happening. I don’t see or hear or learn anything. All people become characters and actors in my story and I don’t care what their stories are. For this, I apologize.

I have confused wanting something particular to happen with wanting something to happen in a particular way. I have replaced questions with a demonstration. There’s more, but I don’t see it yet. In doing this, I have eliminated any chance of discovery and pretty much squeezed the life out of the project.

Last Week of March

3/25
I walked around the block- the usual routine. I like doing this. Years ago I taught at a Cazadero Music Camp and every morning a small group of people would be responsible for waking up the rest of the camp. The group changed each day and so did the style of wakeup. My favorites were the quiet gentle ones that first entered your dream, subtly changing the action so that it incorporated the sounds. Gradually I’d realize that the sounds were real and coming from outside the tent. It was a wonderful way to wake up. As I was walking around the block this morning, I thought about that.

On the plane. I don’t know where we were, but I think we nailed the sunset. It was happening behind us. Since I had an aisle seat, I had to rely on my seatmates to keep an eye and to check periodically. At one point, I noticed that there was no one in the galley. (They guard that little window back there. Nobody is supposed to go near it- federal regulations). Anyway, I hopped up and ran back to look and it seemed about right. So I returned to my seat and the woman by the window said, I think the sun is setting. So I offered her a little bell, She was shy about ringing it and asked for how log. I said about about 15 seconds- a symbolic ring. So we did.
It was a 4 1/2 hour flight and we were 1 1/2 hours from NY. So, my best guess is that we were somewhere over Kentucky or Indiana. Anyone have any better ideas?

3/26 PM Spring in Brooklyn


3/27 PM God Bless America (plus bells)

My Dad can’t help himself. When he bursts into song, it usually has something to do with God or country. In this case he hit both at once. Thank you Charlotte and Linda for the steady accompaniment.

3/28 PM Sonic Fragments

Sonic Fragments: Narrative and Mediation in Sound Art. End of day one of the 2 day festival and symposium at Princeton University. After the first panel finished everyone who was interested walked over to Blair Arch on campus. We rang bells on the way over and continued ringing under the reverberant stone archway.

3/29 AM
THE LARGEST ASSEMBLY FOR THE SUNRISE SO FAR...

This was an exciting morning! Walking into the lobby of the hotel at 6:40AM I saw a few scrunched up faces peering in through the door. Then, “Here she is”. Right on time, too, I might add. Three people from the Sonic Fragments Symposium had come to ring in the morning. It was very cold and we couldn’t get a clear view of the lower sky so we just walked a few feet away from the hotel entrance and started ringing. A minute later we hear some quiet jangling coming up the path and 4 more sleepy people were walking our way shaking keys. So I ran up, passed out some bells for those who preferred them to keys, and 8 of us rang the little bells together. A new record for the morning ringing! Thank you all so much. This was a fabulous symposium. Anyone interested in hearing the audio works featured over the weekend can download them from the sonic fragments site.

3/29 PM The Ringing of Lot 21

The Sonic Fragments conference ended quite a while before the sun was due to set so we went to fetch the car from a distant location at the edge of the campus in lot 21. And we rang from there.

3/30 PM Grand Gorge
Pit Stop for Gas, Nuts and Bells


3/31 PM Dinner Break