Eventually I will get back to posting about music and teaching but right now I’m enjoying my blogging hiatus.

However, I did run across this pizza blog (yes, I kid you not) that had a post describing the various regional styles of pizza that you can find around the country. Even though I remember the styles found in my native Connecticut fairly well, I tend to be partial to New York style though I do have fond memories of the “Mountain Style” popular in Colorado, particularly at a chain known as Beau Jo’s.

The best pizza I’ve ever had (and will likely never top) was in Naples, the birthplace of pizza, in a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant with a pushy, loud owner but amazing food. I am constantly on the lookout for restaurants that make pizza in the “true” European style. Suggestions are welcome.

Though I live here, I’m not a fan of St. Louis style. I just can’t get past the unleavened crust and provel cheese which leaves very little for me to like!

After a wonderful winter holiday that included a 2 week stay in Colorado for a family reunion, we are back and ready to go for a new semester. This includes prepping for another run through second semester music theory, my favorite course to teach in the curriculum. There is something about teaching the fundamentals of harmony and guiding the students through their discovery of diatonic harmony through secondary function that is quite satisfying.

I enjoy the transformation from fundamentals, discrete musical structures without the benefit of the big picture and from note against note counterpoint to full textures. It seems like all of the work and frustration that some of the students feel in the first semester begins to pay off as they begin to acquire the skills to one day to see beyond the labels, vocabulary, and rules.

Or maybe I’m just happy to be back to work after getting a bit bored the past couple of days. It’s hard to say, really.