User:Antandrus

View from Gaviota Peak, southeast into Santa Barbara Channel; my house is visible to the left, but since it occupies less than 0.001 pixel it is hard to distinguish.

Discovered Wikipedia Sunday, April 4, 2004 at approximately 22:00 UTC, and began editing pretty much immediately.

Unrepentant highbrow; Ph.D. in music composition; undergraduate work in some other stuff, including geology; seven years of teaching students (undergrad and graduate) in music theory, music history, orchestration, ear-training, sight-singing, composition, counterpoint, repertoire, and various other subjects; violinist and pianist; former editor of a music research journal; part-time-career as a 21st Century Obscure Composer.

However, being unenamored of a life of poverty and struggle, I acquired some competence in GIS and now manage a department in the same at an environmental consulting shop. I'm not going to write about that on Wikipedia though: that's work. (Occasional exceptions excepted.)

So far I have been focusing on "early music" (Medieval, Renaissance, and early Baroque), because I love it, I know a bit about it, and no one else seems to bother with it. Once in a while I contribute to articles on 20th-21st century composers, music, practice, theory, etc. Occasionally when I'm feeling uncreative I do routine chores such as fixing disambigs, reverting vandalism, voting for admins, deletions, and so forth. I follow Recent Changes pretty closely so I usually know what is going on 'pedia-wide, even if I'm not contributing.

As a break from music sometimes I write articles on California geography: mountain ranges, river valleys, places I've lived, places I haven't lived, and also sometimes I write on meteorology (I'm kind of a weather nut) as well as geologic stuff, since I studied that as an undergraduate. Also sometimes I click on random page and copyedit, if I don't get hooked on reading. Is anyone else surprised at the sheer amount of things you have learned on Wikipedia? In my opinion this is one of the most wonderful things about this project.

Some other random interests: Classics, literature, history, military history, earth sciences, mountaineering, birds, trees, religious traditions, data forensics, European and eastern philosophy. I read a lot, especially English literature, as well as a lot of stuff in translation. While I'm fairly knowledgeable on topics such as Shakespeare, the existentialist writers, Swift, Greek tragedy, and epic poetry I don't usually contribute to articles on those topics; I don't feel my knowledge is sufficiently encyclopedic. There are other writers here who are better, and who know more, and for now I'm going to leave it there. I would politely ask others to at least consider the depth of their knowledge before tackling detailed subjects around which their own experience is limited; but then who am I to tell other people what to do? Do as you will, says Rabelais, but prepare to be reverted (not by me, necessarily, but by someone who actually has studied the topic). This is an encyclopedia, not a trivia site.

Wikipediholic score (12/22/04) currently 81. It has varied between 72 and 94, but people keep changing the test.

I don't quite understand the political POV-pushers, since it so unnecessarily stressful living that way; but then there really are people on earth who think they Know the Truth. It is common to mistake the death of curiosity and openness for knowledge, but perhaps this is just one way nature is merciful.

As of March 13, 2005: 246 new articles, from scratch, mostly on Renaissance and early Baroque composers, techniques, and forms. About 160 of them are biographies of composers, theorists, or other musicians. I think I'm about 20% done with finishing the area to my satisfaction. And that's only to get it up to the level of being a useful tool for a general reader. It still needs a vast amount of information on just how everything happened, and a lot of articles need to tie in to cultural and political and religious history as well.

A total of 7014 edits, counting this one. It's not so much a matter of pride, or keeping score, but that I'm amused by numbers. That's a lot of clicks on the "save page" button. I really hope all of this work by everyone on this project results in a useful product; it probably will, but it still could go either way. Give me something to drink and I'll write an essay on it, like many others have.

My wikipedia goals:

Fill out the classical music area in general, and Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque in particular, since the early music area was quite undeveloped when I started.
Starve the trolls.
Tithe some of my time helping out with anti-vandalism, voting on deletions and admins, etc., since I think it's a Wikipedian's duty to help out just a bit.
Stay positive. Laboring in the shadows, unacknowledged, is hard after a while. But take time to acknowledge the good work of others.
Drink some more wikipedihol. It makes me happy. So there.

O my soul, aspire not to eternal life

But rather exhaust the limits of the possible.

Pindar, Odes (Pythian III)

Look round at the courses of the stars, as if

thou wert going along with them; and constantly

consider the changes of the elements into one

another; for such thoughts purge away the filth

of life on earth.

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7:47

The cultivated person's first duty is to always be

prepared to rewrite the encyclopedia.

Umberto Eco, Serendipities, "The Force of Falsity," last sentence.

Dedication

All the work I do on Renaissance and early Baroque music is dedicated to the memory of Professor Seamus O'Reilly.

Accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu,

Atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale.

Subpages

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