Lichtenbergian Proposed Efforts 2026

For those just joining us, some background: At the Lichtenbergian Society Annual Meeting, the central RITUAL in the evening’s agenda is 1) having our Proposed Efforts for the past year read out to us from the record book and accounting for what we did or did not accomplish; and 2) recording our P.E. for the coming year. That meeting was Saturday night, and here’s what I’ve proposed.

(For a look back at 2025’s Proposed Efforts, see here.)

CREATE•U

This is the biggie: I’ve been invited/recruited/seduced by Gary and Deanne Gute to join them in starting an online academy for creative people. Imagine that! (They teach a course on creativity at the University of Northern Iowa; they use Lichtenbergianism: procrastination as a creative strategy as a text.)

In practical terms, it means I have to script thirteen videos: two intro sessions, the nine Precepts, and two “appendices”. Also, journal assignments, etc. It’s all still very fuzzy, but it could be exciting and maybe even profitable. Stay tuned.

Ten Little Waltzes

Out at Southern Arc Dance, artistic director Paulo Manso de Sousa is an incorrigible “yes and?” kind of guy, so no sooner had he listened to Ten Little Waltzes than he asked if we could add cello to it.

…

I mean… Sure, I guess, although my first instinct is to point out that this is a piano suite. It would be one way to increase my familiarity with Dorico, to be sure. My cello teacher is a professional violinist, and she sight-read the melodic lines when we listened to the suite last week and proposed joining the venture, so maybe I could find my way to orchestrating the piece for a string quartet or even just random instruments. (My experience tells me that this is one of those dream situations that I will put a lot of work into and yet see no performance. [see: William Blake’s Inn] ::sigh::

Compose something simple for orchestra or chorus or…?

Again, getting better at Dorico. I could maybe pick up Mike Funt’s Day in the Moonlight after ::mumbles:: years. That would be an easy next step: vocals and piano accompaniment.

The Beethoven Blueprint

For such a simple concept (using separate WASTE BOOKS to move a project from shinyperfect to ABANDONMENT), this book has eluded me. Maybe the simplicity is the problem, that it’s just a blog post and not a book?

Seven Dreams of Falling

This is a stretch goal for sure. For one thing, I have to achieve perfect mastery of Dorico before starting work on finishing this opera. For another, the librettist C. Scott Wilkerson, on whose play the piece is based, sadly passed away last summer suddenly, and I would need to get approval from his family and estate. We’ll see.

Ready, set, … procrastinate!