AETHERPHON, global theremin family

The update is most welcome David, I had started buying the National Inquirer
again in hopes of news.  :~)

It's all understandable and there's no loss of face in facing the hard
choices it brought.  Life has a way of throwing several curve balls at once
dosen't it? and our passion and involvement with music ( in any of the many
ways we are here ) usually takes extra effort to keep art in our lives as we
progress through those unexpected twists, but also can keep us sane and not
only helps us re-group internally for "normal life" but sometimes to share
and inspire others as well.

Your real life adventures and hard work to press through them, keeping what
is important to you prominent, are definitely encouraging to me at least,
and your work on the Internet radio for Theremin Music and alternative tunes
has been a rich, varied and sometimes surprising inspiration.

Best wishes for the degree work, job, household, et. al. and my hopes are
with you that Spellbound keeps stoking your inner fire and you can continue
this really important work... and it is work.  I'm eternally grateful for
all you've done and look forward to the resurrection of the bigger plans
very soon!


here's looking at ya new masters-to-be on Atherphone,
John


On 2/3/08, David V <porphyrous@...> wrote:
>
>   Hello all,
>
> Last summer I was buzzing with activity, with a couple of big plans
> simmering that I always wanted to do but never had the nerve to pursue.
> I wanted to do two things, (a) start my own record label, and (b)
> start my own e-commerce store for theremin music. Fictitious names were
> purchased, tax numbers acquired, supplies bought, hardware purchased,
> artists solicited, etc.
>
> Suddenly at the end of October, I pulled the plug on all of it. At the
> time, I was simply too embarassed to discuss what had happened. I
> thought people wouldn't understand, or might try to talk me into
> continuing even when it was very inadvisable to do so. I did it as
> quietly as I could.
>
> A couple of weeks ago, I got to talking to some folks in the Cygnus
> Radio chat room, and I finally decided I should explain myself. I was
> almost kinda half hoping that something would change that would permit
> me to reactivate my plans.
>
> I teach technology for a living. From 2002 to 2004, I worked on my
> graduate degree, a Master of Education in Educational Technology. My
> school's administration gave it their blessing. I had selected it
> specifically because I thought it would help my job working for them. I
> finished it just as my daughter Maggie was turning 1, and I thought
> things were going to go swimmingly. My son Eric was turning 5, starting
> full-time school, and I thought that the timing couldn't be better.
>
> Then in October, I was told that the rules were changing. My school is
> seeking to expand into new markets, states that have punitive laws
> against for-profit schools, and so the only way to do that was change
> their accreditation to the same organizations that state and private
> universities use. To do that, the rule was changed that every faculty
> member had to have a Master's Degree in their field of discipline, or
> else they would be demoted, and the assumed stance there is that such
> instructor's positions would not necessarily be protected if hard times
> came. We were given 18 months to do this, but they did not update the
> tuition reimbursement policy, which limited us to 6 credit hours per
> semester, 12 credit hours total reimbursable per year, and a yearly
> limit that had just been increased 25 percent -- to $3500 per year.
>
> Do the math. That doesn't come out.
>
> I love my job, and I love the school I teach at, and the bean counters
> at HQ simply don't care about how this affects their staff. So I was
> faced with a simple decision. Do nothing, and pretty much write off my
> career, or go for it, at considerable personal expense with no guarantee
> I would ever recover my expenses, and hope I can do it fast enough that
> I stay off their radar screen.
>
> I was angry, and personally embarassed, to be presented with this choice
> after I had been making preparations for the project of a lifetime.
>
> So I have my school selected -- Missouri University Science and
> Technology (formerly University of Missouri - Rolla), my GRE is
> scheduled for Tuesday, and I'm preparing to start on-line courses in
> June. If I time it right, for the reimbursements, I should only be in
> debt for about $16,000, and it should only add one year to my ability to
> get a raise and/or promotion. It's not an ideal situation, but I'll
> deal with it.
>
> Along with continuing to teach full time, and take care of my family,
> including my son who is not making good progress to being
> self-sufficient upon adulthood, and my daughter, who has a speech delay
> because of being brought up with two borderline autistic parents and a
> fully autistic brother (as far as anyone can tell, she is NOT autistic),
> I'm not even sure how I'm going to get done what really must get done.
>
> I refuse to give up my radio show, because it's the one thing I still
> have fire in my belly for. And I've given up so much more, I have to
> draw the line there. My Sundays are for family and Spellbound, for the
> duration. I've had a difficult time keeping my head up these last few
> months, but I'm hanging in there.
>
> So perhaps some of you out there will forgive my ungracious and
> mysterious exit last year.
>
> --
> -----
> DAVID VESEL -- synthetic music for humans
> -----
> Spellbound, a brief program of music for theremin
> Sunday 10PM-12AM http://spellbound.purplenote.com
> 
>



-- 
----------------------------------------------------
John Hoge, NYC
"Absolutely dedicated to the propagation
and continuation of the Theremin."
www.hoge-theremin.com
and also check out
www.ThereminWorld.com


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