Do, occasionally, give in to temptation. Wash the kitchen floor, hang out the washing. It’s research.

It’s wasting time to listen to music when you go outside because there are so many interesting noises. For example, every time it rains, I open the window and put the recorder outside. I should always be ready to be surprised, like by the siren of a patrol car in Barcelona and other cities. I hit things, on the street or anywhere, to check the sound—until I find the perfect idea of sound. I haven’t found it yet and am always searching.

So Tim, I wear the SUBPAC Wearable Physical Sound System while I commute on the subway to my office. And sometimes I wear it while I work at my desk. You strap the system to your back and chest, and it lets you feel the vibration of music through your whole body.

I’ve been told that because I like to make up silly songs and then sing them in all sorts of absurd situations and occurrences, that I am trying to turn my life into a Hollywood musical. Since I was first told that, I’ve come to completely agree with that, and I think that is awesome. But I have songs for everything.

This professor was obviously on the jury, and I wanted to stay the faculty’s blessed son, and so I trusted external validation at this point in my life more than my own creative compass. So, like a lemming, I followed his advice. I spent the whole night undoing eight months’ work and recutting the film. And the next day, I presented this hacked up Frankenstein to the faculty, who absolutely demolished it.

This is easy. It’s called Mother Dirt. It clears your skin, and it cost $49.00. My skin was a hot mess for most of my adolescence and into my 20’s.