Now that I don't have any shows for awhile...
I can finally update you on the OTHER parts of my life. In all honesty, it's not as interesting as the more interesting part that makes up The Experience, but it's the less interesting stuff that makes The Experience possible, like a little kid waiting to run out the school doors when 3 o' clock came around.
I'm still technically temping at the asset management firm. Yesterday I expressed my interest in sticking around a bit longer, citing that my chance of making it in the music biz is still very slim and that I would have to catch a lucky break if I ever do get a job in music. Or Honor By August could give me something to do if/when they start touring in the long haul.
I've changed my daily eating habits now. I still skip breakfast, but I'm going after the salads for lunch now. And I'm power-walking at least a mile or so on the treadmill, in addition to using the weight lifting machines at the gym.
I'm still utilizing the Starbucks on Delancey and Allen on the Lower East Side as my "home office away from home." I get free drinks on occasion from the underlings on the staff (ok, they're not underlings, but they're not management either!), but the shift supervisors I've come to know and love have to charge me, but at least it adds up to free perks later on. Yes, I still have that crush on that one girl, but we really don't speak to each other besides "Hi" and "Bye." Oh yeah, I've bonded w/ a good deal of the staff over chinese fried dumplings. Because, somehow, that's all we're eating nowadays. Either as a snack or a meal.
I'm taking more responsibility at home, where I'm still not paying rent. Mom's handed over the wireless bill and the Old Navy Credit Card bill to me, and now I'm tacking on my old student loans starting next month. On top of that, I still gotta pay for my online access and gym membership fees, and of course, shows and travelling, PLUS my vacation in January. Um...wow. I just hope I find a way to keep myself so busy in the office the next several weeks to make me work overtime.
I'm still doing the church thing just to keep people happy. It's like this. I show up, all is right with the world. If I don't show up, there's no stability. The young adults keep pestering my mom as to why I don't show up for any of the church functions outside of Sunday worship, and my mom keeps pestering me to participate so that they wouldn't pester her. Now mind you, I go to an Indonesian church, only because my mom's Indonesian and needs to stay in tune w/ her culture. I never wanted to partake in any bit of the young adult fellowship because of the language barriers and cultural differences, and I always tend to be shy when I do get myself into these things (a far cry from what others have seen).
Furthermore, I feel like I'm a big fish in the wrong pond. I've actually gotten an invite from Connie to see what her church is like, and I might take up on her offer (Connie, get a hold of me! I need to arrange for a Sunday visit w/ you!). One such example was when I was leading worship last month (on the day after an HBA show, mind you!). I treated it like it was a concert I was holding. I walked from side-to-side, getting the congregation to clap and sing and almost jump. Some might call it radical, I call it "taking what I've learned on the concert circuit."
Well, I guess I could use the church as a means to keep up the musical passion I have. We do have a band, and the worship is more free and expressive, and some of the songs have the same quality of emotion and intensity as the ones I listen to in the secular realm.
But ya know what? I need some of this bitter reality and realistic truths to make me want to break away from it to the point where I can live out The Experience. It's all about balance, really.