0. Prelude: Making the Bed 1:49
1. Preparing Breakfast 3:16
2. Cleaning after Breakfast 3:56
3. Doing Laundry Part 1: Washing 2:58
4. Paying the Bills 12:43
5. Doing Laundry Part 2: Drying 3:02
6. Mopping the Floor (extended version)6:39
7. Doing Laundry Part 4: Ironing 4:14
8. Preparing Lunch in D minor 5:13
9. Cleaning after Lunch 5:01
10. Vacuuming(Parts 1 and 2) 8:23
11. Oiling the Hinge 2:35
12. Doing Laundry Reprise 2:49
13. Preparing Dinner 14:00
14. Cleaning after Dinner 9:37
15. Dusting 10:07
16. Changing the Lightbulb (Remix)1:55
17. Smoke Detector Beeps 3:27
18. The Grand Finale: The Final Household Appliance Symphony 4:28

"Finally, a CD homemakers with which homemakers can relate. Domestic Engineering brings us in touch with our true feelings about home life...Highlights include 'Preparing Breakfast,' 'Oiling the Hinge,' and 'Vacuuming.' Even the lengthy 'Preparing Dinner' and 'Paying the Bills' do not lose their appeal. And the finale simply defies description!! Buy and listen for yourself!"

"Domestic Engineering sends the listener on a fantastic voyage of emotion...from anger to dispair...and when it is over, the listener is left with an ineffably exquisite sense of elation."

"This CD is good. . . but we really need to talk about campaign finance reform instead."

Critical cynics then accused Pythia of using time-sensitive political reviews. They said people would soon not understand the meaning of the reviews, and they censured Pythia for mixing her music with politics. Pythia stated resolutely, "I am a radical libertarian, so take that!" Furthermore, to molify those who still question her (which may be preventing them from buying her CDs), she provided the following reviews, which are not affliated with any candidate in the 2000 presidential election.

"This is clearly demeaning to the female race. Such an album created by a man would be commendable, but Pythia does not seem to realize that a woman's place is not in the house. This is a new millennium, and women must get out into the corporate world, and gain control over men."

Cynical cynics and critical critics alike were unrelenting in their attacks on Pythia. They snubbed, "Isn't a little curious that all her reviews come from groups instead of individuals? Hmmm?" Our bold and noble hero, Pythia, promptly retorted, "No. No, it's not. This isn't Amazon.com, you know." Futhermore, to appease her enemies and, more importantly, to fill up more space on her webpage, Pythia devised and posted the following reviews from individuals.

"Uh. So you are my aunt? No, you say the proctor ate the purfume with the grapefruit? Oh yes, I used to put things in squirrels too."

"mmmmmmmmmm..."

I’ve been listening to a preview of Domestic Engineering. Wow! The “Paying the Bills” demo has to be the best song I’ve heard in my life. Can we expect work of this calibre throughout the rest of the CD?
Of course! I really committed myself to the making of Domestic Engineering. Maybe I drained my imagination, though. I don’t know. I have only a vicarious taste of the domestic engineering industry.

Domestic Engineering is an extremely unique style of music. I’ve never heard anything like it in my life. Did you have any musical influences in your composing?
There’s a bit of influence of a rather obscure ensemble called Random. I am not a fan of Random, but the song “Baking Donuts” gave me some inspiration. Dad’s Sound Effects record was another huge influence on me.

Because Domestic Engineering is so unique and promethean, you might meet unfavorable criticism--which of course is unwarranted! What will say to critics who accuse your music of being a bunch of sounds of household appliances?
I will tell them that they are correct! That’s what the music is--and what is should be! I expect censure from philistines. Isn’t that the way it always is with masterpieces? When Da Vinci first displayed his painting of Mona Lisa, a lot of people who knew Mona formed a protest group. “This isn’t art!” they fulminated. “Why, it looks just like her; where is the creativity? You might as well take a stinkin’ photograph!” Like Domestic, the painting was a realistic facsimile of something from real life. The art that hides by its own art, you know. I believe that critics are those people who cannot bear to face reality; perhaps they find something alarmingly personal in Domestic that they would rather avoid.

Your work definitely has an extremely personal, emotional quality to it. I would have thought you had drawn from past experiences; it’s amazing that you can do so well without!
I agree. I have been known become somewhat of an actress at times, so I guess that’s what I was doing with Domestic.

If not personal experience, what inspired you?
I had a sense of duty. The world needed Domestic Engineering. It is such a down-to-earth piece of music, which I believe does an extremely great job of relating the joy and agony of quotidian household tasks. As I said before, I was not familiar with these tasks. After creating and experiencing Domestic, I can feel them.

So, in essence, this is your way of praising important but otherwise unnoticed tasks. Would you say that you are the champion of the common man?
Ha! Sorry, I couldn’t help but notice that you said “common man” rather than, say, “common woman,” as if you are a bit of a feminist. You definitely implied that house work should not be thought of as a woman’s domain. Fifty years ago, people would not even have been able to comprehend that question! Now, I’m no feminist by today’s standards, but--oh sorry, you were saying. . .

That is a wonderful point, Pythia! I was asking--
Oh right, your question! I would not call myself “champion of the common man” for fear that people would think me a socialist, which is simply not true. Of course, the phrase generally also refers to proletarians rather than home-makers as the “common men.”

It seems like it was about time for someone to support the domestic engineers; after all, that is the oldest profession!
Actually, there were no domestic engineers until their were houses. The first people were nomadic hunters and gatherers. The earliest profession was biologist.

Biologist!?
Yes, biological nomenclature, specifically. Adam was involved in that from the start. Anyway, I was goiing to say, before you interrupted my train of thought, that as far as music for the "common man" goes, the song that comes to mind is Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.” Now, I always think of Olympians when I here it. It takes special physical adroitness and lots of dedication to become an Olympian, and fewer people are Olympians than domestic engineers. So where are all the domestic engineering songs? The closest thing is “I Brush My Teeth.” No one else even sings about house work, let alone depicts it in vivid sonic realism as I have done. Most people-- excluding myself--have had direct experience with domestic engineering, so you’d think that music would relate this, but noooo. We have an entire genre of “industrial music,” and yet, before my album, there was simply no music on the market to celebrate homemakers. Sure, there were songs to praise common jobs, such as “People in Your Neighborhood”--

Oh yes! I hear you are quite a fan of Sesame Street music.
Somewhat. Songs like “Would You Like to Buy an O,” “I Love Trash,” and “Cookie Disco” really turn me on. Some songs are dull, though. You know, I’ve written my own versions of “Would You Like to Buy an O” and “People in Your Neighborhood.”

Wow! Any chance that those will be bonus tracks on Domestic Engineering?
No. Domestic is a concept album about a full day of household tasks; adding Sesame Street songs would terribly upset the mood.

But you are also quite a talented lyricist, I understand.
Yes, if you want to think that. Of course, Domestic doesn’t really have any lyrics--unless you want to call that stuff on “Paying the Bills” lyrics!

[Laughs.] Whatever you call it, that song certainly is filled with emotion! What a fantastic song!
It is a personal favorite of mine, along with “Smoke Detector” and the “Laundry” series.

Do you have anything else you would like to say?
In case you missed it before, I am not a Socialist, not like that soi-disant poet-of-the-common-man Carl Sandbag! I guess I am the true champion of the common people--the most common people of all--but I am by no means a socialist. I am a Capitalist. No mixed economy either. I’m a 100%, all-natural, free-market, laissez-faire Capitalist.

Well, Pythia, it has been a pleasure and an honor to speak with you. Good luck to you and may Domestic Engineering become more popular than Ricky Martin!
Wait a sec, aren’t you going to buy my lunch?. . . Hey, where did you go?. . . Hellooo!. . . Are you still here?. . . Hello??. . . hmmm. . .