Ten Big Things for September

Hey Folks!

It’s been a long time, I know. I’ve been unfortunately neglectful of this blog of late. Still I have been keeping busy–I have another album brewing, though it’s difficult to say how close to completion I am–likely less than half way. I’ve also programmed a little html game called Auld Land using Construct 2, which you can read more about here.

More along the topic of today’s post, I’m going to be starting a new job in two days, and I want to keep myself productive even despite this (I sometimes tend to get lazy after working 40 hours a week and not pursue my own endeavors). To help, I have crafted a list of ten things that I plan to accomplish in September. One of them I actually completed yesterday, but that will give you a feel for how I’ll be updating as the month progresses.

Ten Big Things for September

1. Host a Coffee House Game Night
2. Print The Coffee House Games
3. Finish songwriting for disc 1 of the new album
4. Host a House Concert
5. Write a short story/play
6. Submit a play to a theater company
7. Do a full sheet (8.5×10″ or larger) drawing
8. Write another blog post
9. Host an Autumns Eve Feast
10. Make a Knytt Stories Level

The Broom that Swept the Dreams: A Mini Opera Libretto

Click here for the Neil Gaiman short story upon which this script is based.
Click here for more information about the Mini Operas contest, and how you can participate with your own script, music, or video!

And without further distraction, allow me to present…

THE BROOM THAT SWEPT THE DREAMS

By: Nash High

ACT I

CLARA:
I just want to dream of Richard,
I just want to see his face,
But instead I find I’m lifted
To this dank and dusty place.
I just want to dream of Richard,
I just want to meet his gaze,
I just want to throw him overboard
And drown him in the lake–
But instead I’m here.
In this awful room,
With nothing to keep me occupied
Except a table and a broom.

BROOM: Clara….
CLARA:   Aah!  …Richard?
BROOM:  No… Clara… sweep with me….
CLARA:   Sleep with you?!
BROOM:  No… sweep with me, and I will tell you my story….
CLARA:   You mean… like this?
BROOM:  Yes….

I once belonged to the Sweeper,
Who cleans all dreams away,
Who sweeps them up with the powder and dust,
And burns them in the burnished light
That solders the night with the day.

The moss of ancient castle stones,
And the slick of alien steel,
They all have grazed my patient frame,
As my bristles inched them toward the flames.
I have swept the lines that so rudely define
What is from what isn’t real.

I’ve played my part in the genocide
Of countless enchanted beasts.
I’ve purged the world of demons,
Discomfort, and disease.
In the marble hands of my Master,
I dutifully managed my task.
I’ve swept away sets, props, and actors,
Hell, I’ve swept away entire acts.
For Ages I have sacrificed:
I’ve devoted my life to upholding my place,
And all was well,
And all was quiet,
But now I’ll tell you
Of how I’ve been–
Oh, I’ve been betrayed!

I’d been accused of residue,
Of what I’d left behind,
In the corners and the crevices
Of hazy waking minds.
But I’ve only done the finest work
That my fibers would allow,
And it always pleased the Master well–
At least… until now.

I don’t know what
Could’ve made him change his mind.
Now I’m not good enough
When I’ve been here all this time–
And suddenly he feels the need to improve,
So he hobbles off to find himself a better sort of broom!
Oh, I’ve been betrayed!

Now I’m divine among the staves;
There is no better broom.
Dusters just divert the dirt,
And besoms streak the room.
But imagine what grave countenance,
Encased my dark demeanor,
On finding that I’d been replaced
By a mindless vacuum cleaner.

Now I’ve been,
How I’ve been,
Oh, I’ve been betrayed!

Abandoned… Neglected…
Mishandled… Rejected…
But mostly, oh mostly
Betrayed!

END ACT I

ACT II

CLARA:
I don’t know what you want from me;
What can I hope to offer you?
I’ll try and stay to lend my ear–
But the bright of day will take me soon—
Too soon!

Enter the SWEEPER, who empties the contents of a vacuum cleaner onto the table and lights it aflame.

BROOM:
My timid reign has ended now:
I have no place to be.
Oh, Clara, find it in your mind,
To try and remember me–
Remember me!

SWEEPER:
Broom! You don’t have to do this!
You can come back and live in my home.
I’ll treat you as an honored guest,
Your life will finally be yours entirely–
Yours and yours alone.

BROOM:
No! I won’t hang over your fireplace.
I won’t gather dust in your shed.
My purpose decayed when you made your sick trade
Now your flames will put me to rest.
Your flames will put what’s left of me to rest!

So stand aside, my old keeper,
You know well the job you must do:
To purge in fire last night’s tired ideas
To leave the ground clear for the new.
So let’s leave the ground clear for the new!

BROOM casts himself into the fire.

END ACT II

EPILOGUE

CLARA is alone.

CLARA:
I just wanted to dream of Richard.
I just wanted to savor his fear.
But instead I dreamed of… something.

Huh.

I Found a Box EP Released!

Hey folks!

Sorry it’s been a while–I’ve been busy!  However: the fated day has arrived!  The I Found a Box EP is finished and up for sale on Bandcamp!

I’ve also just completed a poster which contains lyrics for each of the songs in the EP, and you can find it here.

If you’ve listened to my first album, you’ll notice a pretty massive difference in the style of each piece, but I think there are common threads, too.  I’ll leave that one up to you.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the music!
Nash

The Night Wind lyrics booklet up for grabs!

Hey Folks!

I’ve just finished putting the album booklet for The Night Wind into a PDF, so you will now be able to read the lyrics to each of the songs here!  I do hope you’ll take a look, as personally, I think the lyrics are the strongest part of the album, and they aren’t always easy to decipher just by listening.  Included with the booklet are a number of small drawings I accumulated in my wallet throughout high school, so I hope you enjoy those as well.

In related news, The Night Wind itself is no longer available for free download; however, you can purchase it for only $5 via Bandcamp.  Furthermore, tomorrow I will be recording final lyrics for the four tracks on my I Found a Box EP, which should be released sometime soon!  More news on that later.

Best,
Nash

Daily Composing Gambit

Hey Folks,

I’ve started a composing exercise ritual in which I write a short piece every night at 10pm.  I started with the goal of completing them between 10-11pm, and I thereby dubbed the project “TenEleven”; however, I quickly found that a one-hour window of time just isn’t enough (last night I was up until 1am fiddling different elements and synthesizer voices).

I’m also hoping to build some of these off of certain pieces of inspiration–art, poetry, word, photos, etc.  If you’d like to submit some inspiration for me, especially something you created, then I’d be delighted to see it!  You can submit content through my Tumblr.

I’ve been posting these pieces to my personal Soundcloud account, where they are available for free download.  Get them while you can, because after 20 or so, I will be taking them all down, tweaking them, and compiling them into an album.  After that, they won’t be free anymore!

I have three of them up now, as well as three other keyboard improv tracks, all of which I’m a fair bit proud of.

More news in the way of I Found a Box EP and the booklet for The Night Wind to come shortly!

Nash

New EP in the works! Also: Album booklet.

Okay, I know things have been quiet around here lately, but that usually means I’ve been busy!

And I have.

A little while ago, I joked on twitter about creating the I Found a Box single. Well, maybe I take my jokes a little too seriously sometimes, but I will actually be recording vocals for the second of the four songs tomorrow.  I think it will be called I Found a Box EP, because I like that a bit better, but this is actually the closest thing to a concept album (EP-thing) that I have created (I have been pursuing concept albums since I first started writing music).  Anyhow, I will keep you updated as to the progress, but I think it’s safe to say that at this rate, we can expect it sometime in March.

Additionally, just last night I finished proofreading and song-checking my album booklet for The Night Wind, and I have sent it to Renee to be PDFatized sometime soon.  I’ll let you know when I have it, and I will add it to the album folder on Bandcamp, as well as posting it for download here.

Best,
Nash

Kickstarter Cancelation and Coffee House Games Revisited

Hey Folks,

Yes, it is true.  I have canceled funding for the coffee house games on Kickstarter.  I made a couple of pretty critical mistakes which I wasn’t able to fix after launching the project, and they would have left me struggling to meet impossible deadlines had the project been funded.

However, we are not done yet.  I’ve taken this opportunity to step back and reevaluate the project, adjust for some of my miscalculations, and really reconsider exactly where I want to see this project going.

As a result, I have decided to team up with my designer, writer, artist, and all-around brilliant friend Renee to fundamentally redesign the coffee house games.  We have a lot of ideas in the works, unfortunately it is too early to share them at this point in time.  However, I feel it is safe to say we are scrapping our traditional publishing plans and moving in a more hand-published direction.

I’ll publish more information once I have it!

Best,
Nash

Coffee House Games on Kickstarter!

Hey Folks,

Sorry for the slow update–yesterday was a pretty busy day, and I was bad about getting this posted.

Anyhow, I have in fact launched my Coffee House Games Kickstarter project!  If you like to write, or if you like coffee, or if you like neither but need something new to do with friends, check it out!  We’ve been having loads of fun playing coffee house games for the past year or so, and I think you will enjoy them too!  There’s a free demo game on the Kickstarter page.

Best,
Nash

The Night Wind, official launch! And a bit more.

Well, the day I’ve been itching at for months and months and more is finally here!  My first album, The Night Wind, has launched and is officially available through Bandcamp.  I’m releasing it under the moniker Street Nymphs, partially in the hopes that Street Nymphs will eventually become a full-on band and consist of more than just me.  Until then, I’ll settle with my ethereal forest sprite companions.

I’m releasing The Night Wind with Bandcamp’s delightful name-your-price feature, so you may download it for free if you like.  I figure, when it comes down to it, I would rather have many people listening than a few people paying. If this philosophy eventually makes a poor man of me… well, at least my album will still be on Bandcamp?  Ah, we’ll figure that one out later.

In other news, the coffee house games are coming along quite well.  I wish I had art to share with you, but I had something of a cross-hatching mishap the other day and have yet to retrace my earlier design.  Tomorrow Renee and I will venture out to a number of our coffee shops to deliver flyers and take a few photographs, and I am doing my best to have the Kickstarter project launched by then.  I will post another brief update as soon as that happens.

Best wishes, and I hope you enjoy the first ever Street Nymphs album!
Nash

Early February Update: New Kickstarter plans, an album approaching

Hey Folks!

I just wanted to keep you all updated on a few things as we tip over into this eerily warm February (at least here in the Midwest).

First of all, I plan to launch my second Kickstarter project sometime this weekend.  This is another publishing venture, though I won’t be hand-printing these books.

Over the past year-and-a-half or so, I’ve been playing a number of simple writing games of my own invention with friends in coffee shops around the city.  Now, it is my goal to bring these games out into the world, and to take the great coffee shops of Kansas City along with it.  I’m putting together a book of my writing games and calling it The Coffee House Games, and I’ll be using Kickstarter to raise the initial funds needed to bring the book to life.

The book itself will feature fifteen different games as well as a variety of the wonderful coffee shops Kansas City has to offer.

The other news I have for you is perhaps equally exciting: My album is roughly 80% completed. It has taken ages and has transformed from the bottom up on several occasions, but I am finally putting together these songs in a fashion that I’m not only happy with, but fairly proud of.  I’m currently tinkering with song 8/10, and it may require a bit more recording before I am ready to move on, but I should be tackling the remaining two either over the weekend or during the early days of next week.  After that I’ll go back through and finalize each of the tracks, and then we’ll be just about ready for release!

Expect to hear more on both of these topics fairly soon!

Best,
Nash