Inspired

We were graced with the first snowfall of the season today. It is lovely and treacherous.

I was inspired by Jenn's tale of how she found what she wanted and thought that articulating some of my goals might help me reach a similar state.

I want to go to grad school for technical/professional writing. I don't want my day job to define me, but I do want it to be something I enjoy that challenges and engages me. Writing is a prime candidate for such a career. The level at which I would like to pursue this seems to point to a graduate degree, unless I can land a fabulous job without it; in that case, I'd land the job and then get them to finance my desire for an advanced degree. And then perhaps some day, I'll make enough money from said dayjob to go get an advanced degree in music.

I would like to live somewhere between Baltimore, Washington, and Frederick, and not only because I have friends in this region (though that admittedly doesn't hurt). The writing market is strong there, and the folk/classical/liturgical music communities are thriving.

I would like to pick up formal flute study again, even if I'm not working on an advanced degree. I'd like to continue developing my music career as I develop my writing one. I would like to teach flute and kin instruments but drop clarinet. I would want to teach one night a week instead of three so that I could practice/perform more.

I want to become a decent guitarist and maybe pick up other fretted instruments. I have no idea how, when, or where I developed an obsession with said instruments.

I want to be financially savvy, saving and investing with the best of them, living comfortably but not extravagently.

I want an apartment, a space of my own that I can come home to after the work is done and the music is played--a place where I can gather friends and family in for an evening.

I want to carve out the kind of life that I would be happy to share with a husband and children but that I wouldn't mind keeping for myself if that's what God asks.

The encouraging news is that I'm making headway on a good many of these goals, even if it is only in baby steps.

Just a girl and her music--with a day job

It's been a while since I've considered something significant, so here is your much-missed deeper side of Good Excuse to Wear a Veil. ;)

I am absolutely in love with my position with York Steno. I love bringing documents in line with style guides and the rules of general good usage. I can think of no better outlet for my inner anal retentive grammarian to come out and play--and even get paid for doing it! At this point in my life, I can imagine no more perfect place of work for myself.

Shockingly, sitting at a desk all day did not cause all knowledge of music to leak out of my brain (my secret fear about getting a day job). I have found that entering the wide world of full-time work has done wonders for making me a more productive writer and musician. I am producing content and editing with a clarity and speed I have not seen in a long time. I am practicing more and more regularly than I have in a good while (not excluding my final semester of college, sadly).

Interestingly, though, having such concentrated time with my flute has thrown into very sharp relief the fact that my flute and I have some "issues" that need to be sorted out. Where is our place in the world? Clearly, it is the instrument I am best at. I 've been playing it for thirteen years and got a degree in it. I should hope I've picked up a thing or two along the way. But things no longer "fit" quite as easily with flute as they once did. In high school, it was terribly simple: I couldn't be in a band, so I found my way to orchestra. I fell in love with it, and with piccolo. College didn't offer many opportunities in the realm of orchestra, but I was principal in the wind ensemble and played in several excellent small ensembles.

That said, I really don't have a consistent classical performance outlet anymore. I do miss it. I miss being up to my eyebrows in classical music. I miss the immersion, the nobility, the beauty. Maybe I just need some new music. I have my eye on Pizzolla's Tango Etudes for unaccompanied flute. Maybe I just need to pick up my music for Lucia di Lammermore, which I'm playing in March with Center Stage Harrisburg.

At the same time, I've found a new, perhaps better-fitting, home in folk music. It's very earthy. I like that. Picking up my wooden flute is like putting on a new personality: the half of me that is in touch with the land and the people who make their lives by it. I feel like I've found a new niche in the folk, particularly Celtic, communities.

At the same time, it feels a little strange to be straddling these two worlds that, although similar, are usually so widely split. Let's admit it: everyone knows how stuck up the classical community is known for being. How cut-throat, how back-biting. But it conveys some of the deepest and most noble sentiments of mankind. It has a undeniable universality and beauty to it.

Folk music, on the other hand, has a level of personalization and intensity that I love. I feel connected to a glorious heritage that really belongs to all humanity, not just those wealthy enough to afford Beethoven. It really is the music of the people. The joy, the sorrow, the pain, the beauty of just being alive. I can relate to that with less of a stretch than I can to some of the ideas and stories in the great classical music.

To complicate things further, I am currently searching for a guitar teacher, so that I can explore another side of folk music--and in theory, vastly open up the role that I can play within that community.

Let's not even get into liturgical music. I currently have no connection with that beyond a great love and desire to reconnect with it as soon as an opportunity presents itself. That will just have to be in time, as God sees fit.

I wonder if I will continue to straddle so many worlds, or if I will ultimately pick one and abandon the others. The thought of such a choice saddens and frightens me. They are all beautiful and noble in their own way. How can I pick?

The better question, perhaps, is do I really need to? At the end of the day, isn't it all music?

The new year begins!

New Year's Eve 2006/2007. Three days. Two girls. One mission.

Linny Jane and I threw quite possibly the best party ever on New Year's Eve/New Year's wee hours. Having decided on the Thursday before that it would be fun to have a party and realizing we didn't know what any of our friends were doing, we took it upon ourselves to invite everyone we could think of to Linny's abode for some rolicking good times. And indeed we had a bloody awesome party, with much food eating, piano playing, noise making, movie watching, video game playing, chatting, musing, reminiscing, and hoping. Couldn't have wished for a better crew (or a better time!) for celebrating the promise of 2007.

There was decorating.

There was eating.

There was chilling.

And of course, there was partying!

The new year also brought me a new job, which I started today. It's probably not a good idea to gauge a job by the first day, but I still got a really good feeling. Our building is located in lovely downtown, right next to the Strand Capitol Theatre. I can walk past it on my way from the parking garage if I am thus inspired. I am not even a block away from an organic cafe, and I'm ten minutes from my favorite coffee shop.

Oh, the job itself? Well, I get to work in an office that has a (probably non-functional) fireplace!! I get my own desk and my own closet. Whee! Employees are not only permitted by encouraged to bring pictures, posters, etc. to personalize their space. The proofreading work is tedious, but I do rather enjoy furthering good usage throughout the world. I think it will be a good thing for me for right now. Besides, who knows where this may lead?

To celebrate this fantastic new job I bought myself a present: new guitar strings. D'Addario 80/20 bronze. It took me an hour after I got home from work and teaching to restring my guitar, but it is done. Why? So that hopefully long about March, I can start taking some lessons--something I've wanted to do since I was at least twelve. I've started teaching myself some VERY basic chords, mostly so I can accompany myself while I'm trying to learn a few new Irish songs, but I really want to learn to play at least modestly. Why not?