"Sabbatical" Year Updates

Well, my “sabbatical” AY is coming to a close. Fortunately, I was eventually able to find some contract work that kept me afloat, but I’m happy to be returning to UT Austin in just a few weeks. Rather than as a student this time around, I instead signed on to be an adjunct lecturer. So back into academia I dive. 

Highway clouds on a summer's day. Eternal Summer no longer.

More than a few things have happened “behind the scenes” these last few months. First, I signed on as a co-editor for an edited handbook on video game music communities, so be on the lookout for that CFP. Also, the special issue of the Journal of Sound and Music in Games that I co-edited with TJ and Hyeonjin was nominated by the journal’s editorial team for the AMS’s Ruth A Solie Award! That project felt like forever ago, but it’s an honor to be nominated. Finally, the chapter I wrote on the Scott Pilgrim franchise is due out in-print next month and I also have a ~mystery article and chapter~ currently under review. 

Outside of my academic endeavors (or musical ones, at least), I’m also thrilled that The Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC recently purchased one of my grandfather’s paintings, Humanscape #56 (San Antonio Circus). I had a small hand in the research for its dossier, but the family worked with the Director of Ruiz-Healy Art, the inimitable Dr. Patricia Ruiz-Healy, to finalize the deal. The painting was recently on view for their Sixties Surreal exhibition, but it appears it's not on view at the moment. Hopefully soon! 

This site also seems to be getting a decent amount of traffic these days. I was invited to contribute to a special issue of an interdisciplinary journal a bit ago, and I invited a friend to collaborate on a piece about one of my favorite narrative sagas. More on that down the line. More recently, I was contacted by Timoram, a musician and video game modder, letting me know that he cited my chapter on musical worldbuilding in his hour-long video essay that examines the musical direction of KH3. Definitely give it a watch! It’s really impressive not just for its analysis, but also its editing. I also received emails about some consulting work and an invitation to give a paper at an online convention in December. More details on those down the line as well, should they materialize. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBS0Uen4DaU 

I’m thinking I should maybe have an updates section on my homepage… In general, I’m kind of thinking I want to re-do my website. I’ve done some work already. Any thoughts on what I should keep, remove, or add? Let me know!