Not long after I returned from WY, I was asked to email a copy of the Starfish lyrics to be printed in the program for this past Saturday’s concert. At the same time, I was dealing with the fact that my bathroom ceiling had partially collapsed while I was away, leaving a 4’x2′ hole in the sheet rock above my toilet. So, in my flustered state, I emailed off the wrong copy of the text – a MUCH earlier version that was barely recognizable as the text used in the piece. (Idris and I had spent a considerable amount of time reworking the text together so that it was, as Idris put it, “more musical”, though I saw it less as “more musical” than as “more streamlined” – we removed a number of lines throughout, and replaced a handful of words, as well.)

As a result, there was a considerable amount of confusion during the first few minutes of the performance of Starfish. The confusion in the room was palpable, but slowly dissipated as people abandoned the incorrect text, and just listened, instead. How embarrassing for me, though!

Let that be a lesson – no matter how a-twitter you may be, be sure to check yourself before submitting program notes and texts!