Wow, I really dropped the ball on the whole "blogging" thing this past year. Well, now's as good a time to start as ever, I guess...
If you are unaware, today happens to be my 24th birthday. I figured it would be a good time to reflect on the various events which occurred the past year. Before I do so, take a listen to this song from the musical Rent (or rather, the film version of the musical):
If you are unaware, today happens to be my 24th birthday. I figured it would be a good time to reflect on the various events which occurred the past year. Before I do so, take a listen to this song from the musical Rent (or rather, the film version of the musical):
There's a lot of things I enjoy about this song, especially the main message of love (and one of the best piano hooks I've heard since Count Basie [and Coldplay]). However, I also love the way the lyrics describe various other ways to measure a year. I've certainly experienced daylights and sunsets, as well as PLENTY of midnights. The "cups of coffee" line certainly applies to me as a musician, and that number has become uncountable in recent months (there are a LOT more papers to write in a Masters degree than I thought). I've traveled several inchesthis year on foot to get to my grad classes at Central Michigan University as well as on random walks to think over stuff on my mind. My car has had many miles added to its odometer, mostly on trips to and from Kansas (although it did get to experience Kentucky last October when I went to an SCI conference). And of course I've had a great many moments of laughter and strife, thankfully much more of the former than the latter. However, I really don't think any of these measurements work too well to measure my life this year.
So what's another way to measure 525,600 minutes? As a composer, I could do it by the number of works I've gotten done over that period of time. It has been a very active year for me in that regard, as I pushed myself to simply write more than I ever have before. My list of works now includes several instrumental duets, a brass/percussion fanfare, two orchestral transcriptions, an original orchestral piece, multiple dance music pieces, and even a work for choir and percussion (because I have to satisfy my percussion writing craving SOMEHOW). While I am very happy to have written that much, I think there's a lot more to my life than just the notes I've put on paper, so what else is there?
I could measure the last 31,536,000 seconds in terms of what I've done performance-wise and in grad school. I haven't been extremely active in performing as I used to (see the above paragraph to understand why), but I did get to take part in some awesome opportunities. I joined the Balkan-Klezmer-Gypsy band Kavazabava and formed a duo with my friend Frank Nawrot dedicated to new music. At CMU I also played in the New Music Ensemble and in the pit for their production of 42nd Street, both of which were an absolute blast! Academically, I wrote a literature review (i.e. a report of current research) of the uses and effectiveness of color in music notation and managed to get it presented at a state music conference and at CMU. This may also lead to further research, as apparently there's still more to uncover in that area (although when I'll have time to do said research is another story). Still, these don't appear to be a very good way to express things either.
So what is there? How can I measure these 8,760 hours? The song from Rent says to "measure in love," which I have certainly expressed, but love is by design unmeasurable (thank goodness!). I think a better way would be to "celebrate, remember a year in the life of friends." I've gained so many friends this past year, be they schoolmates, musicians, dancers, composers, choreographers, apartment dwellers, or brothers and sisters in Christ. There's a ton of overlap in those categories of friends I just mentioned, which is even more incredible and awesome. Through my experiences with my friends I've grown so much as a human being and I can't thank them enough for this. I can only hope that next year brings me even more of them!
So what's another way to measure 525,600 minutes? As a composer, I could do it by the number of works I've gotten done over that period of time. It has been a very active year for me in that regard, as I pushed myself to simply write more than I ever have before. My list of works now includes several instrumental duets, a brass/percussion fanfare, two orchestral transcriptions, an original orchestral piece, multiple dance music pieces, and even a work for choir and percussion (because I have to satisfy my percussion writing craving SOMEHOW). While I am very happy to have written that much, I think there's a lot more to my life than just the notes I've put on paper, so what else is there?
I could measure the last 31,536,000 seconds in terms of what I've done performance-wise and in grad school. I haven't been extremely active in performing as I used to (see the above paragraph to understand why), but I did get to take part in some awesome opportunities. I joined the Balkan-Klezmer-Gypsy band Kavazabava and formed a duo with my friend Frank Nawrot dedicated to new music. At CMU I also played in the New Music Ensemble and in the pit for their production of 42nd Street, both of which were an absolute blast! Academically, I wrote a literature review (i.e. a report of current research) of the uses and effectiveness of color in music notation and managed to get it presented at a state music conference and at CMU. This may also lead to further research, as apparently there's still more to uncover in that area (although when I'll have time to do said research is another story). Still, these don't appear to be a very good way to express things either.
So what is there? How can I measure these 8,760 hours? The song from Rent says to "measure in love," which I have certainly expressed, but love is by design unmeasurable (thank goodness!). I think a better way would be to "celebrate, remember a year in the life of friends." I've gained so many friends this past year, be they schoolmates, musicians, dancers, composers, choreographers, apartment dwellers, or brothers and sisters in Christ. There's a ton of overlap in those categories of friends I just mentioned, which is even more incredible and awesome. Through my experiences with my friends I've grown so much as a human being and I can't thank them enough for this. I can only hope that next year brings me even more of them!
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