This is the new title for my album. It has been eight years since I last burned music of my own onto a CD, and I've been warring with myself internally about my identity as a composer for most of that time, hence the name. I am not a big fan of putting too much thought into names. I tend to overthink everything, and the longer it takes, the harder it is to choose. So there it is.

There are nine tracks. The recording is complete on four or five of them, though the mixing needs work on all of them. The track titles are:
Part 33
The Magical Kingdom of Love
My Sanctuary
The Biggest Bear I've Ever Seen
The Legend I Was Meant to Be
A Chance of Loss
You Smell Like Cheese
Return of the Fire

...and one other unforgettably titled track that I may remember before I finish this blog, in which case you will not be reading this sentence but the title itself. Or maybe there were only eight. It's been such a whirlwind that I just don't remember now.

"The Magical Kingdom of Love" has existed in my head, even including some of the lyrics, since around 1997 or 1998. I was living with my parents and working for B. Dalton when I dreamed it up. It's amazing that it has taken so long to record. Oddly, though, it's still incomplete. It's really just two parts that alternate.

"My Sanctuary", "The Biggest Bear I've Ever Seen", "The Legend I Was Meant to Be", and "Return of the Fire" are all songs whose basic melodies and, in some cases, structures, I came up with while living in Providence, and were the basis of the idea that this would be an album about that time. Obviously, I never recorded any of them.

"Part 33" and "You Smell Like Cheese" are entirely new songs for me. Both were written rather hastily in order to meet the time requirement, although "Part 33" clocks in at over 6 minutes and is relatively complicated considering how it came about. It will either be the best or the worst piece on the album. I can't tell. It's certainly the one with the strongest "idea" to it - that is, the music and lyrics are designed to play off each other a bit. "You Smell Like Cheese" is probably the fastest song I've ever written and recorded. I mean, it was like two hours for all the music, and maybe another hour for the vocals, working from scratch. I wish they all came that fast.

I'm pretty sure there is one other song I'm forgetting. I know there was one I gave up on because it would be too difficult to record the vocals properly. That one was called "After the Planes". One day I'll record it because I like it, but not yet. But I think there's one more. This is going to haunt me all day, isn't it?

Well, if I think of it, I'll write it later. I'm slacking here. Back to work. [whip cracking]