This is my 1,000th entry. It only took 9 years.
This is my third journal entry this year. One of you asked where I have been. I honestly don't know.
My life mostly consists of work. I play in the orchestra, I teach, I write music, I take freelance work here and there. In my free time I hang with friends, I play for fun, I tune out, I go to the gym (barely), I (more likely) play Wii, I watch General Hospital. I'm still struggling through this Lewis and Clark biography, eagerly awaiting my next Haruki Murakami novel. I like listening to new music. I am entranced by this Norwegian fusion group called Jaga Jazzist, for example. There is so much incredible music around, and it is so easily accessible, it's terribly overwhelming.
I accomplished a life goal a couple weeks ago, I played John Adams' "Harmonielehre." I went up to Seattle and subbed with the orchestra, and it was a lot of fun. I think this is one of the best pieces of music written in the 20th Century. (If you're going to listen to the piece, get the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra recording with Simon Rattle conducting. [That's the Birmingham in the UK.])
There is very little to report on the romantic front, as usual. A few missed opportunities, some empty promises, generally low self-esteem. I've been too exhausted to do a whole lot about my physical appearance and it shows. I'm not sure what the solution is. I know that I haven't recovered from hosting a friend last week whose lifestyle is one I couldn't possibly maintain. But there have been good moments too, here and there, buried in the debris.
I know that I am over-committed. I know that I need to make sacrifices if my life is ever going to work. If I could sustain myself financially on music that I create, I would. Much as I love it, I would leave the orchestra in a heartbeat if I had a successful rock band or if I was in demand for high-priced commissions. Obviously this is very idealistic, and that in my very pragmatic existence I do care about the orchestra, and orchestral music as an active and viable art form.
So tell me about your life. Tell me what you care about. Tell me what you do. Tell me what you want, and what your dreams are. Tell me what you would sacrifice to have more of what you really need. Tell me your secrets for creating and utilizing free time, for staying motivated, for finding love, for making sense of it all. I am being absolutely serious when I say that I am curious, and I would like to hear what you have to say. So there it is.
Oh by the way, I also went to Japan. It was lovely.
My life mostly consists of work. I play in the orchestra, I teach, I write music, I take freelance work here and there. In my free time I hang with friends, I play for fun, I tune out, I go to the gym (barely), I (more likely) play Wii, I watch General Hospital. I'm still struggling through this Lewis and Clark biography, eagerly awaiting my next Haruki Murakami novel. I like listening to new music. I am entranced by this Norwegian fusion group called Jaga Jazzist, for example. There is so much incredible music around, and it is so easily accessible, it's terribly overwhelming.
I accomplished a life goal a couple weeks ago, I played John Adams' "Harmonielehre." I went up to Seattle and subbed with the orchestra, and it was a lot of fun. I think this is one of the best pieces of music written in the 20th Century. (If you're going to listen to the piece, get the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra recording with Simon Rattle conducting. [That's the Birmingham in the UK.])
There is very little to report on the romantic front, as usual. A few missed opportunities, some empty promises, generally low self-esteem. I've been too exhausted to do a whole lot about my physical appearance and it shows. I'm not sure what the solution is. I know that I haven't recovered from hosting a friend last week whose lifestyle is one I couldn't possibly maintain. But there have been good moments too, here and there, buried in the debris.
I know that I am over-committed. I know that I need to make sacrifices if my life is ever going to work. If I could sustain myself financially on music that I create, I would. Much as I love it, I would leave the orchestra in a heartbeat if I had a successful rock band or if I was in demand for high-priced commissions. Obviously this is very idealistic, and that in my very pragmatic existence I do care about the orchestra, and orchestral music as an active and viable art form.
So tell me about your life. Tell me what you care about. Tell me what you do. Tell me what you want, and what your dreams are. Tell me what you would sacrifice to have more of what you really need. Tell me your secrets for creating and utilizing free time, for staying motivated, for finding love, for making sense of it all. I am being absolutely serious when I say that I am curious, and I would like to hear what you have to say. So there it is.
Oh by the way, I also went to Japan. It was lovely.