The Juggler

In job interviews this century it has been necessary to brag about one’s ability to multitask. If I had any intention of working a day job again I would either have to lie or confess that I do not have, and have never had, any ability to multitask at all. At one time I could internalize flower-care instructions while writing a check to pay for a gift intended to mollify my second ex-wife’s annoyance over a recent transgression. By now, however, I’ve lost even that ability. With luck and great effort I can manage to think about one thing at a time.

Which brings me to this fall’s dilema. A passel of government agencies has commissioned me to complete in one case and make real progress in two, three different musical projects by the end of the year. One is quartet settings of Samuel Beckett poems, mentioned in the previous News of the Scott post. A second is duets for classical guitar (hey, that’s me) and violist Axel Porath. And the third is an operetta that uses the writings of American Splendor author Harvey Pekar as lyrics.

My gut says write one, then the next, and then the last. My gut is leading me astray.