This summer has been great! Mum and sister came for two weeks, and we took a road trip in the mid-west and around the east coast; we visited cities and places including:

1. Chicago, Premiums outlets;
2. Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo;
3. Niagara Falls;
4. New York City - Statue of Liberty, Time Square, bus tour, Top of the Rock on Rockfeller Center, etc.
5. New York City - Met Museum of Art, Central Park;
6. Philly - Independence Hall, National Constitution Center, Liberty Bell, City Hall, etc.;
7. Washington D.C. - Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial, White House, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History/Air and Space, etc., Shenandoah National Park;
8. Shenandoah National Park

It was SO tiring... now rest for a couple days before I head to Hong Kong!

I am done with everything for the semester. I feel such a big relief. There is a moment of sadness though--I had to return my office key today. I'm going to miss having an office; I'm going to miss everything in BG. A Master's degree goes by too fast. Two years go by too fast. I feel like I just arrived here yesterday, and now I have to go. But life moves on, right?

Thank you BG. I will not forget this place, and you will remain special in my heart.

Anyhow, I'll be back for the New Music Festival in fall to hear my Five Songs of the Von Seggerns (2010)! I received an email today from a teacher in Nebraska, whose student is researching about the train accident in Amanda's poems, and came across my piece. I am very glad that my music is making connection with people - this is what keeps me and all musicians working. We make music because we care; we make music because we want to communicate.

After deciding to attend UMKC instead of the other school, I am so released now. I feel so much more settled down. Today was the premiere of my thesis - Apparitions - a fantasy for chamber ensemble (2010-11). It went very well--I now have a good recording thanks for Conrad Chu (conductor) and the fabulous players from BG. This piece is so different from my earlier compositions.

And, right now I have been looking to acquire a car so that I can travel to my new school.

April is a very unsure month. I need to make my final decision on what school I will attend for my doctorate, which will directly affect my travel plans in the summer, and whether or not I should go to the soundSCAPE Summer Festival in Italy. This is a really difficult time for me... hopefully everything will clear up soon.

Sometimes, I think maybe I'm too tired for more schooling...

I am on the road again! I am really looking forwards to Zeitgeist's and Bel Cuore Quartet's performances this week! I'm staying at a motel now, and am about 180 miles away from Zeitgeist's Studio Z. I just received Bel Cuore Quartet's reading on my Saxophone Quartet (2009), and it was fantastic! Life is obviously treating me very well at this moment, except that my homework and project loads might kill me when I get back.

March has been absolutely exhausting and relaxing at the same time. My spring break was great--I stayed home and didn't do much. I did start my new piece though (more details to come later). My thesis is totally done. Now, I am still waiting for schools--I was accepted by UNT few days ago.

So many travels are ahead of me: Zeitgeist performance (which I just found out), the long waited GAMMA-UT and visiting UMKC...

UNT is huge. Everything is huge. They have approx. 1650 music majors there, and it is the biggest music program. Every year they produce over 1000 concerts... It is quite impressive and exciting! All the comp. faculties were very nice, and I think my interview went well, and I enjoyed the lecture, concert and panel I attended very much!

So... I'm at Dallas, TX! I finally got there. My flights were delayed for couple hours--now it's already 2:00a.m in the morning. Are there more delayed or canceled flights than normal flights?!

This is going to be my first doctoral interview!

February has come!... When will Bowling Green see the blue sky again? This actually gets very depressing... Snow was only nice the first day we had it. This week is audition week for the master program, I get to meet with a fellow composer Corey from SJSU!

As for my own interviews and auditions, they are coming up soon, and I feel that I have so much to do, only to figure out where I shall begin with.

Revising stuff--there is always so much to edit. Everything needs editing, whether it be my web site, music, writings... I am almost obsessed with making things perfect. I spent quite some time editing my thesis today, and also, my bio page has been updated.

Aside from that, interviews/auditions are coming up, and I am almost nervous everyday about getting notified by doctoral programs...