July 5, 2005 at 3:32 PM

For a week, I've been at the Origins game convention in Columbus, OH, helping with the booth for Matrix Games. It went well; we sold lots of games and got some wonderful feedback from fans.

The people at Origins are pretty much all geeks, in one way or another -- which also describes the people at chamber music festivals, really. It's just a different kind of geekiness. Needless to say, I feel right at home at gaming conventions!

I bought a heavy practice mute for practicing in the hotel room, which worked wonderfully. I was pretty tired of playing muted after 3 or 4 days, but it at least allowed me to practice once we got back from the convention hall and dinner in the evenings.

I had brought recordings of the music I had to practice, and I absolutely recommend practicing with recordings when you're working on ensemble or orchestra pieces. Sure, you can't practice the communication aspects of the group, but it really helps with just getting the music in my head and under my fingers.

We're back in Sandgate this evening, playing at the old schoolhouse again. We've been playing anything and everything there, which I really enjoy -- the more different kinds of music, the better!

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