I haven’t been writing blog entries — but what the hell have I been doing?! Going to the post office, and watching American Idol.

I posted the MP3 of “Turbine” a few days ago, and then spent a day burning CDs and writing cover letters and sending copies of the recording all over the place. (Well, not all over, really. I sent out about a half-dozen copies, primarily to people whom I figure wouldn’t listen to a piece online.) I also sent out a few dozen emails about the piece.

It’s been a long time since I’ve sent out CDs to conductors, trying to generate performances. I didn’t really do it with “Sasparilla,” as I figured (I think, correctly) that the piece had limited and specific appeal. I guess the last time I sent a piece around, it was with “Redline Tango.” It felt strangely exciting to be doing it again. (Not, like, “Rachel McAdams before she went blonde” exciting; more like “ooo, we’re having banana cream pie for dessert” exciting.) We’ll see if any performances come of it.

AEJ and I have been watching Idol, although we’re not particularly attached to most of the finalists. I don’t think we’re big fans of any of the women, but we like a few of the guys. Bucky Covington is a favorite, and not just because “Bucky” was my imaginary friend’s name when I was four. Bucky is just a raw talent with absolutely no training or experience, but he sings really well. He has that Southern Rock sound, and it’s real. This guy clearly grew up in the middle of nowhere — a real country boy from North Carolina, unlike Carrie Underwood, last year’s winner, who lived in a “small town” in Oklahoma. I’ve been to Carrie’s hometown (written about here), and it’s small, but give me a break — there’s a friggin’ Pizza Hut there. No “country town” has a Pizza Hut. I’m pretty sure, though, that Bucky lives on a farm in the middle North Carolina where the nearest Pizza Hut is two hours away.

Whereas Bucky is raw, Chris Daughtry seems like he’s really a rock star already. Great charisma, good voice, and seems like he should be fronting a band. I feel like he has this thing wrapped up already, and I’d be fine if he won. Then there’s Kevin Covais, who is only surviving on sympathy votes. The guy can’t sing, and he couldn’t look less Idol. But people keep voting him through, presumably out of pity. Come on, people — you’re just setting him up for an even bigger fall. There’s Ace Young, who is like last season’s Constantine, only without the sexual charisma — meaning he’s nothing, because that’s all Constantine was, was a 6-foot tall “I’m going to impregnate you with my eyes” smoothie. I think Taylor Hicks is entertaining, but AEJ doesn’t like him at all. I don’t know how long the gray-haired 29-year old Joe Cocker+Ray Charles impression will stay interesting, but he’s fun for now. At least that guy Will is gone. I read on another blog that he was like the “illicit love child between Fred Savage and John Mayer,” and wow, she nailed it.

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I rest my case. (Did Will go to my photographer? I think I’ve seen that pose before.)