It's late and I feel alive so I'm writing. It's been a bit but I have more train analogies. I swear waiting on the train platform is better than sitting on the toilet for generating ideas sometimes.
Anyway, the New York City subway system, the MTA, short for Metropolitan Transit Authority, is notorious for delays and night time and weekend service changes because of the simple fact that it runs 24/7. It's easy to forget this fact and get angry at your predicament to the point where you forget to appreciate that at any hour of the night, you could feasibly hop on a train and get somewhere...maybe not always as close to your front door as you'd like but still...somewhere. But last night, trying to get back to Brooklyn after the Mets game was an epic ordeal that took me almost two hours. Back when I lived in NC, a two hour car ride would be unacceptable unless I had planned to be somewhere for 24 hours or more. I'd probably even plan to sleep at my destination as opposed to braving the return trip at an ungodly hour.
In truth, the main frustration on nights like these is that, in my almost 5 years of living here, I like to think that I've gotten better at figuring out what the best way to get home is, factoring in service changes for construction and reduced frequency of train arrivals late at night. But sometimes you just eff things all up by making one snap decision, thinking it'll get you somewhere quicker and it ends up extending the length of your trip long enough that you find yourself standing on the platform for the third time in one night muttering rapid fire F words because your phone is dead and you can't even listen to music or play cell phone games to pass the time and all you wanna do is get home.
So this past Friday night I went to a Mets game in Queens with some coworkers from the freelance gig at TruTV. A fun time all around and I got to see one of my favorite bands play a show after the concert (Third Eye Blind...a band I haven't seen perform in 15 years!). But because I stayed so late and because every single train line that I might take home from Citifield is having some kind of track work related to Hurricane Sandy damage, it took me, as mentioned previously, 2 hours to get home.
I can trace my mistake back to one pivotal moment at Roosevelt Avenue when I took the first train that came, an E train, thinking I would just catch up with the F in Manhattan and take it the rest of the way home, and walk the extra ten blocks from 7th Avenue and 9th Street. I somehow forgot (let's face it, I never go to Queens anymore) that the E is local and the F is express (or maybe I was thinking both would be local at that hour...I don't knwo). So, no sooner do I get on the E train and it goes two stops, do I see an F train passing us in the tunnel on the express track. It probably arrived at Roosevelt Avenue mere minutes after I jumped on the E.
Now, because I did this, I found myself waiting for an absurd amount of time for the next F train to come. The lesson? Maybe it's not always the best advice to jump on the first train that comes along...even if it is late at night. Even waiting at Broadway Lafayette for the F, I had to pass up two D trains that rode by because I knew they wouldn't be stopping at Prospect Avenue due to construction on the R line. They might have gotten me close but not close enough unless I wanted to take a cab the rest of the way. I found out earlier in the week that the D, N and R were not only not stopping at my stop Bay Ridge bound but also Manhattan bound. So there was essentially no way for me to get to the stop closest to my apartment and I would have needed to take the F no matter what. Now, if I had waited two more minutes at Roosevelt Avenue I'd have made it onto that first F train and could have freaking napped on the way home if I wanted to and been home a good 45 minutes earlier than I was!
But, that is not what happened. No, in fact I stayed on that E train all the way to the LES, gave a group of kids some directions because our E train wasn't going to Canal like they had expected, noticed they had beer cans in plastic bags and watched one of them light up a joint on the train (even joked with him about getting a contact buzz), made it to Broadway Lafayette, waited for three trains to pass through that weren't mine before finally landing on the F train and riding home, all the while people watching and listening in on people's conversations since my phone battery had died at the game and I had nothing do but be a fly on the wall.
It was fun, but ultimately, considering my aim was to get home in a timely manner and get a decent amount of sleep for a change, not the way I wanted to spend my Friday night. What if I had waited for the right opportunity? Patiently....Then I got to thinking about that in terms of my career, because, let's face it, that kind of thing always comes up when I have the extra time for introspection that these long train rides afford me. I have a lot of opportunities here. That's literally the main reason I came to this amazing city. Often I'm compelled to take the first ones that come along. It's easy to think that's all you might get and that you'd better seize it while you can. But, as evidenced by my train trip, you could take the first thing that comes along but then immediately realize (or maybe not always immediately realize) that there was something else coming that you are now going to miss out on because you've devoted your energies elsewhere.
I happened to see the F train passing my E train in the tunnel but I thought about how you may not always realize that the choices you make cause you to miss out on opportunities. That's sort of a mind job if you think about it. How do you know what the best opportunities are? I have had occasions where I didn't realize for years that something I had seized upon, thinking it was a great opportunity, whether it was career-wise or relationship-wise, had potentially caused me to miss out on other opportunities. Or maybe not so much miss out on them but delay them while I wasted time on something fruitless.
I'm not terribly depressed by this thought. There are valuable lessons to be learned from every single encounter one has. It does kind of make me reconsider a lot of what I'm doing though...the recent focused search for a voice over agent, some live performing opportunities, film scores I've written for films that never got finished. I've spent a lot of time paring back some of my activities and bringing others to the forefront and slowly over the years I've gotten closer to satisfied with my endeavors. Fruitful or not. I had to give up some things that I really enjoyed because they were simply taking up time I could have been devoting to making ends meet or spending time on my own creative work.
That said, I'm thinking there's going to be some changes soon. I'm revamping my approach to the voice over agent and I'm going to start writing again with a mind to perform my originals.
On that note, I'm in dire need of sleep. Why am I still awake?!
Showing posts with label career. Show all posts
Showing posts with label career. Show all posts
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Leaps and bounds...
Watching the President's speech from the inaugural ball and reading articles on my laptop. Oh, and Happy MLK day! Punched out three voice over auditions Sunday afternoon after yoga and before work. Plus, I had one of those whirlwind days today, expertly planned out so that I could accomplish everything I needed to, cooking dinners to bring to work so I can save money, getting some yoga in and even fixing some settings with my MIDI pedal that I had been meaning to change earlier in the morning, just for good measure and because I had time to spare.
One of the voice over auditions was opened today and I saw that I was ranked 1st out of 51 other auditions (I still don't know if this means that I'm in first place or I was just the first one to be reviewed...I guess I can ask someone at Voice123.com). Anyway, the combo of all that accomplishment in a short amount of time and all those plans coming to fruition and nothing being forgotten or left out makes me realize that I'm really streamlining my process and as long as I can always plan a few days in advance and adapt last minute (I do things like I always keep deodorant in my yoga bag and have taken to packing a change of clothes in case I decide to do a class right before work as opposed to going and coming back before work), I will always get things done. I'm at a place in my life where I feel like if I can plan it, I can accomplish it.
A couple of things have resonated with me in the past 24 hours in all these articles I've been reading and I'll share them with you. One of them someone posted on Facebook earlier today, an article titled:
"How to Start Over (Hint: It’s Never Too Late)"...and while it was a brief article and kind of broad, it made me stop and think. Especially, this quote:
"It also REALLY helps to set a deadline for yourself—a date to take the leap—and work toward that…"
A lot of what the article (and some of the comments) suggest, I'm already doing. Working on my career while at a day job, resurfacing from the ashes of a divorce (6 years ago now) and a slump in a career in TV, slowly but surely reinventing myself (granted by leaps and bounds in the last few years), and starting a new career in Voice Over to support and supplement my music career that I've wanted since I was a child. But one thing I have never thought to do is to set a date for when I should be able to quit the day job (mainly because I'm a little afraid of taking that leap unprepared). I certainly have financial goals and personal/professional goals that I am requiring myself to meet before I can quit my day job but I've never said to myself, necessarily, that I'm going to do it by, say, the end of 2013 or in 2 years, or anything like that. Inevitably, what would follow would be an intricate plan with stepping stones to meeting those goals that are prerequisite to taking the leap.
I've thought about this too:
http://thevoiceoverguide.com/voicetalent-accounting-and-taxes/you-inc/
and that's the first article that has really summed up the why's and the why not's. I've been slowly devouring that guy's blog. He works with Voice123.com as a community manager. So much pertinent info to sift through and so concisely explained, but this particular article hit me today. I've heard, but also sort of glossed over, the pros and cons of incorporating but the way this article is written makes it so much clearer when and why you would want to do it. And no, I'm not ready.
Maybe that's a goal I could work towards once I've quit the day job or if/when I get to a point where I'm making the kind of money where it would make sense to do so. Either way, I've got a lot of planning to do still. But if I can figure out how to work a day job, while pushing forward on my voice over career, rehearsing with a band, doing stuff like this, and still have time to squeeze in yoga and the occasional drink with friends, I'm pretty sure I can make a plan this year to build even more on what I've done so far.
One of the voice over auditions was opened today and I saw that I was ranked 1st out of 51 other auditions (I still don't know if this means that I'm in first place or I was just the first one to be reviewed...I guess I can ask someone at Voice123.com). Anyway, the combo of all that accomplishment in a short amount of time and all those plans coming to fruition and nothing being forgotten or left out makes me realize that I'm really streamlining my process and as long as I can always plan a few days in advance and adapt last minute (I do things like I always keep deodorant in my yoga bag and have taken to packing a change of clothes in case I decide to do a class right before work as opposed to going and coming back before work), I will always get things done. I'm at a place in my life where I feel like if I can plan it, I can accomplish it.
A couple of things have resonated with me in the past 24 hours in all these articles I've been reading and I'll share them with you. One of them someone posted on Facebook earlier today, an article titled:
"How to Start Over (Hint: It’s Never Too Late)"...and while it was a brief article and kind of broad, it made me stop and think. Especially, this quote:
"It also REALLY helps to set a deadline for yourself—a date to take the leap—and work toward that…"
A lot of what the article (and some of the comments) suggest, I'm already doing. Working on my career while at a day job, resurfacing from the ashes of a divorce (6 years ago now) and a slump in a career in TV, slowly but surely reinventing myself (granted by leaps and bounds in the last few years), and starting a new career in Voice Over to support and supplement my music career that I've wanted since I was a child. But one thing I have never thought to do is to set a date for when I should be able to quit the day job (mainly because I'm a little afraid of taking that leap unprepared). I certainly have financial goals and personal/professional goals that I am requiring myself to meet before I can quit my day job but I've never said to myself, necessarily, that I'm going to do it by, say, the end of 2013 or in 2 years, or anything like that. Inevitably, what would follow would be an intricate plan with stepping stones to meeting those goals that are prerequisite to taking the leap.
I've thought about this too:
http://thevoiceoverguide.com/voicetalent-accounting-and-taxes/you-inc/
and that's the first article that has really summed up the why's and the why not's. I've been slowly devouring that guy's blog. He works with Voice123.com as a community manager. So much pertinent info to sift through and so concisely explained, but this particular article hit me today. I've heard, but also sort of glossed over, the pros and cons of incorporating but the way this article is written makes it so much clearer when and why you would want to do it. And no, I'm not ready.
Maybe that's a goal I could work towards once I've quit the day job or if/when I get to a point where I'm making the kind of money where it would make sense to do so. Either way, I've got a lot of planning to do still. But if I can figure out how to work a day job, while pushing forward on my voice over career, rehearsing with a band, doing stuff like this, and still have time to squeeze in yoga and the occasional drink with friends, I'm pretty sure I can make a plan this year to build even more on what I've done so far.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Inversions...
Been thinking a lot lately about my inversion practices in yoga class and how they relate to my life as a whole. The headstand, the hand stand, forearm stand, tripod handstand...I always feel like I'm right at the point where I could leave the support of having the wall behind me when I kick up and actually practice them in the middle of the room. But then I start to settle in to the safety of the wall as a support and a backup and I'll spend months not advancing at all with any one particular pose. For example, I may have gotten to where I can balance for a few seconds in a handstand but, without the wall there behind me, I can't come up without risking toppling over on my way up. In headstand I've grasped and put into practice the concept of using my core strength to lift myself up versus using momentum from kicking up but lately, though I can get up, I haven't been able to stay up for very long for fear of, once again, toppling over. Either way, with any of the poses, I always hit a wall. And I don't advance until I sit back and examine what I need to do to get to the next level.
As with music and voice over, I feel as though I get to one point and can't get any further until I fully examine the nature of my obstacles. Regrouping and examining my methods and their results is key at these points.
Having this insight from yoga is great, too, because I can apply what that practice teaches me across the board. Which is this: I find that, in yoga class, and lately, especially with headstand, it's most effective for me to not feel bad if I have to come out of the pose for fear of losing my balance. I just allow myself to make several attempts at it before accepting that I've tried hard enough for today, no matter how far I've gotten. I also avoid looking around the room at the damn yogi rock stars that are up and balancing the whole time. It's not about competition. Even if the voice over and music stuff can be at times, it's still helpful to import this line of thinking into that arena. After all, I have to acknowledge with both that I can only do so much and that there are only so many hours in a day. The important thing is that I try and I'm not idle. If I try something and it doesn't work, I keep going and I try the next thing. And when I've had enough: rest in child's pose.
That having been said, I am definitely making strides with both but there's never an uninterrupted stream of progress. I must always contend with obstacles. Trying not to let this discourage me is the trick.
And the amazing thing is that, with both areas of my life, I will often pass a milestone in a very noticeable way. That feeling of weightlessness when you can balance in handstand even for a second equates with that amazing feeling when someone hears my music or my voice and likes what they hear enough to hire me and I realize that the hard work has paid off to some degree. It's that "hey, wait. Maybe I can do this." feeling that's so amazing. And it really does feel like, despite all of the slips and falls and awkward landings, I can balance, at least a little.
So I should keep it going, right? I started this blog sitting at Barbès and typing on my phone while listening to Slavic Soul Party. It's a Tuesday night which means it's my Friday and I wanted to cut loose a little so I headed over there after dinner with my girlfriend in the Village. Work at NY1 has been hectic and I'm really feeling the weight of all the balls I have up in the air right now (At the moment, I'm looking for legal help with the contract from the licensing agency and have several emails out to talent agents and production companies with my voice over demos attached.) and occasionally, it gets a little frustrating waiting for them to land. Though, I'm happy right now that I have lots of work, even if not the paid kind, just yet. I'm finishing a ton of pieces to send off to this licensing agency once I finish looking over the contract and am satisfied. I'm doing some pro bono work for a friend who was helping produce a short PSA and needs music. I'm also auditioning for voice over stuff on an almost daily basis. On top of it all, I got a little bit of a nice pay off from all the hard work I've already done this year when a director I worked with sent me a link to the finished film that I scored. I'm a little unsure about posting it just yet because it was a password protected link but PM me if you wish to hear/see it. It's a 13 minute Sci-fi short titled, "The Feed." You may have heard me talk about it a good bit back in April, May and June if you read this blog at all.
Now, I'm afraid it's time for me to go to sleep for a change. Wish me luck with all of the above, headstands and handstands notwithstanding.
As with music and voice over, I feel as though I get to one point and can't get any further until I fully examine the nature of my obstacles. Regrouping and examining my methods and their results is key at these points.
Having this insight from yoga is great, too, because I can apply what that practice teaches me across the board. Which is this: I find that, in yoga class, and lately, especially with headstand, it's most effective for me to not feel bad if I have to come out of the pose for fear of losing my balance. I just allow myself to make several attempts at it before accepting that I've tried hard enough for today, no matter how far I've gotten. I also avoid looking around the room at the damn yogi rock stars that are up and balancing the whole time. It's not about competition. Even if the voice over and music stuff can be at times, it's still helpful to import this line of thinking into that arena. After all, I have to acknowledge with both that I can only do so much and that there are only so many hours in a day. The important thing is that I try and I'm not idle. If I try something and it doesn't work, I keep going and I try the next thing. And when I've had enough: rest in child's pose.
That having been said, I am definitely making strides with both but there's never an uninterrupted stream of progress. I must always contend with obstacles. Trying not to let this discourage me is the trick.
And the amazing thing is that, with both areas of my life, I will often pass a milestone in a very noticeable way. That feeling of weightlessness when you can balance in handstand even for a second equates with that amazing feeling when someone hears my music or my voice and likes what they hear enough to hire me and I realize that the hard work has paid off to some degree. It's that "hey, wait. Maybe I can do this." feeling that's so amazing. And it really does feel like, despite all of the slips and falls and awkward landings, I can balance, at least a little.
So I should keep it going, right? I started this blog sitting at Barbès and typing on my phone while listening to Slavic Soul Party. It's a Tuesday night which means it's my Friday and I wanted to cut loose a little so I headed over there after dinner with my girlfriend in the Village. Work at NY1 has been hectic and I'm really feeling the weight of all the balls I have up in the air right now (At the moment, I'm looking for legal help with the contract from the licensing agency and have several emails out to talent agents and production companies with my voice over demos attached.) and occasionally, it gets a little frustrating waiting for them to land. Though, I'm happy right now that I have lots of work, even if not the paid kind, just yet. I'm finishing a ton of pieces to send off to this licensing agency once I finish looking over the contract and am satisfied. I'm doing some pro bono work for a friend who was helping produce a short PSA and needs music. I'm also auditioning for voice over stuff on an almost daily basis. On top of it all, I got a little bit of a nice pay off from all the hard work I've already done this year when a director I worked with sent me a link to the finished film that I scored. I'm a little unsure about posting it just yet because it was a password protected link but PM me if you wish to hear/see it. It's a 13 minute Sci-fi short titled, "The Feed." You may have heard me talk about it a good bit back in April, May and June if you read this blog at all.
Now, I'm afraid it's time for me to go to sleep for a change. Wish me luck with all of the above, headstands and handstands notwithstanding.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Compartmentalization…
Compartments:
Voice Over
Regrouping, started up coaching again last Wednesday. Old coach has split from Edge Studio and does her own coaching at a few different studios. Went in to Real Recording on 23rd Street and had an hour long session during which we worked on commercial reads, an area where my training was lacking. I need to have a commercial demo produced this year so that's what I'm working towards. Meanwhile, I'm revamping the web page and making a totally separate page to direct voice over clients to. First establishing my expertise as a voice over narrator before trying to market both music and voice over.
Contemporary Music
Tania and I have a few more concerts slated for the upcoming months, at which we will either perform Moon, Tides, Cycles again or a new piece I have in the works. We are also talking about collaborating on an album of my contemporary works to be released next year. Possibly a live album. Not just piano and electronics, the album will feature all electronic pieces, pieces for small ensembles and electronics and possibly one large chamber music piece. A lot of it has not been written yet.
Rock Music
Lacy and I are back performing at open mics, we just played Freddy's and will probably do so again next month. Her album, on which I have played several guitar tracks, is still in the works and when it's released, sometime around May, I will be performing with her at the CD release party in Philly and New York. Really looking forward to both, even though they won't be for months. Meanwhile, I'll be learning parts to all new songs! Some of which I haven't even heard yet.
Film Music
I just finished up the theme music for George Perez' series "The Life," a short 1:30 rock piece featuring a slide guitar and some electric piano, soon to be posted. So far I've seen the temporary visuals that were edited together to give the shooter an idea of what kind of footage they needed. "The Life" is a crime drama series focusing on the growing child prostitution problem in the U.S.
In addition, I'm finishing a song for Mohammad Maaty's production reel, titled "One Day" and featuring the fantastic accordion stylings of the great Crystal Bright. This one is taking up the bulk of my time at the moment because I'm in the final mixing stage and I really want to finish out the project by the end of next week. Especially since there are other projects on the horizon.
And that is how my brain works these days. I find the compartmentalizing is the best way to organize my to do lists and keep ahead of myself. Although, the thought that keeps occurring to me, in some form or another, is that, after all this time, plugging away at all of my various pursuits, it's difficult to make significant headway on any one venture while my attention is so scattered. Even setting clear goals and organizing my thoughts like this can only get me so far. Because on top of it all, I still owe most of my time to a full time job that pays the bills and keeps me sheltered, fed and in good clothes. Such is life.
I've considered, from time to time, diverting my focus to one venture at a time, possibly spending a few weeks on just voice over, just contemporary or rock music, or focusing wholly on my film music. In fact, sometimes, that's what ends up happening by default. When I get a film job that pays, for example, I pretty much have to sideline everything else, because it only makes sense to focus on what is going to more immediately generate income. Voice Over tends to get thrown on the back burner more often than everything else.
All of this is not to say that I'm not making strides. When I look up at where I was even just a year ago, it's obvious that I am making headway. I just have to decide when to push forward with what. And accept that I'm not going to meet all my career goals right away. It's a long haul after all.
Voice Over
Regrouping, started up coaching again last Wednesday. Old coach has split from Edge Studio and does her own coaching at a few different studios. Went in to Real Recording on 23rd Street and had an hour long session during which we worked on commercial reads, an area where my training was lacking. I need to have a commercial demo produced this year so that's what I'm working towards. Meanwhile, I'm revamping the web page and making a totally separate page to direct voice over clients to. First establishing my expertise as a voice over narrator before trying to market both music and voice over.
Contemporary Music
Tania and I have a few more concerts slated for the upcoming months, at which we will either perform Moon, Tides, Cycles again or a new piece I have in the works. We are also talking about collaborating on an album of my contemporary works to be released next year. Possibly a live album. Not just piano and electronics, the album will feature all electronic pieces, pieces for small ensembles and electronics and possibly one large chamber music piece. A lot of it has not been written yet.
Rock Music
Lacy and I are back performing at open mics, we just played Freddy's and will probably do so again next month. Her album, on which I have played several guitar tracks, is still in the works and when it's released, sometime around May, I will be performing with her at the CD release party in Philly and New York. Really looking forward to both, even though they won't be for months. Meanwhile, I'll be learning parts to all new songs! Some of which I haven't even heard yet.
Film Music
I just finished up the theme music for George Perez' series "The Life," a short 1:30 rock piece featuring a slide guitar and some electric piano, soon to be posted. So far I've seen the temporary visuals that were edited together to give the shooter an idea of what kind of footage they needed. "The Life" is a crime drama series focusing on the growing child prostitution problem in the U.S.
In addition, I'm finishing a song for Mohammad Maaty's production reel, titled "One Day" and featuring the fantastic accordion stylings of the great Crystal Bright. This one is taking up the bulk of my time at the moment because I'm in the final mixing stage and I really want to finish out the project by the end of next week. Especially since there are other projects on the horizon.
And that is how my brain works these days. I find the compartmentalizing is the best way to organize my to do lists and keep ahead of myself. Although, the thought that keeps occurring to me, in some form or another, is that, after all this time, plugging away at all of my various pursuits, it's difficult to make significant headway on any one venture while my attention is so scattered. Even setting clear goals and organizing my thoughts like this can only get me so far. Because on top of it all, I still owe most of my time to a full time job that pays the bills and keeps me sheltered, fed and in good clothes. Such is life.
I've considered, from time to time, diverting my focus to one venture at a time, possibly spending a few weeks on just voice over, just contemporary or rock music, or focusing wholly on my film music. In fact, sometimes, that's what ends up happening by default. When I get a film job that pays, for example, I pretty much have to sideline everything else, because it only makes sense to focus on what is going to more immediately generate income. Voice Over tends to get thrown on the back burner more often than everything else.
All of this is not to say that I'm not making strides. When I look up at where I was even just a year ago, it's obvious that I am making headway. I just have to decide when to push forward with what. And accept that I'm not going to meet all my career goals right away. It's a long haul after all.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Get ready...
The tag on my Yogi Tea bag says, "Work, but don't forget to live." Which is exactly what I need to hear right now. It's Christmas Eve and I pretty much have been working all day long. I had my laptop out at work during my down time so I could do some research and think up a plan of action for the start of the new year. What am I researching, you ask? Production companies, ad agencies and talent agencies. Yes, I'm trying really hard to hit the ground running with a much more effective strategy come next week. Proactive is the watchword, something I haven't really been. It's quite frankly been a few cautious half starts for the past year and a half with this VO thing and, while I have been building slowly and making progress with my voice, I feel like I haven't really done the brunt work of truly marketing myself. It's like I've essentially been just dropping business cards in midtown hoping that some ad agency employee will pick it up off the ground and call me.
Anyway, I've spent the better part of the day on this plan, opening up my laptop again upon finishing dinner and continuing the hunt, while admittedly sitting in front of the television. Now it's about 10pm and I've cut myself off. But I did want to type up a blog since it's been a bit, minus the blurb about the concert from the other day.
It's also getting excruciatingly close to the end of the year and you know how I get. Reflective. Reflecting? Reflect-y? I think I was right the first time. Anyway, I always start to look back and see how far I've come and size up where I am, when the new year rolls around. I like putting things in perspective. Life just sort of starts to run together unless you mark time and parse out events and check your progress. It helps to assign meaning to what's going on and remember why I'm doing what I do.
I've also kind of been thinking about something some snooty guy said to me during the first few months I was here in 2009. "It takes about three years to really get it together here. That's the general rule." Whatever that is. Define "getting it together." Who's rule is that? Anyway, despite not fully being there and to some extent still working on what "there" is, I do feel pretty accomplished. In fact, this newfound vigor with which I've been approaching the VO career is actually inspired by a sense of momentum with my overall career, in both music and film, and not by any sense of urgency to make something happen by that three year mark that could be defined as "getting it together" or "having gotten it together." At the beginning of last year, I had this sort of existential "I'm turning 30" thing driving my reevaluation of my career. It was a sort of franticness that didn't wholly lend itself to results, just a lot of flailing around…controlled flailing around, mind you, yet flailing nonetheless. I job hunted, I reconsidered my approach to voice over, I considered a dozen different scenarios to make more money than I'm making now. But it was all too rushed.
Now, I'm suddenly struck by a focused and rigid tenacity that's driving me to finally do something I haven't really truly been doing (at least not to any high degree). And that is truly betting on myself. A month ago I finished my new narration demo, taking some cuts from the old one, and also finished a documentary demo both of which I'm satisfied with, perhaps even proud of. And now, I'm ready to get out there and really promote myself.
On top of that, I have music and film jobs lining up, (two on the docket and maybe two more lined up), Tania and I have several collaborations planned and I'm starting off the new year with a recording session in Philadelphia for Lacy's new album. I'm feeling pretty excited. A new year and I feel poised to really take some steps forward. So step back and watch out because 2012 is going to pretty awesome. Merry Christmas all!
Anyway, I've spent the better part of the day on this plan, opening up my laptop again upon finishing dinner and continuing the hunt, while admittedly sitting in front of the television. Now it's about 10pm and I've cut myself off. But I did want to type up a blog since it's been a bit, minus the blurb about the concert from the other day.
It's also getting excruciatingly close to the end of the year and you know how I get. Reflective. Reflecting? Reflect-y? I think I was right the first time. Anyway, I always start to look back and see how far I've come and size up where I am, when the new year rolls around. I like putting things in perspective. Life just sort of starts to run together unless you mark time and parse out events and check your progress. It helps to assign meaning to what's going on and remember why I'm doing what I do.
I've also kind of been thinking about something some snooty guy said to me during the first few months I was here in 2009. "It takes about three years to really get it together here. That's the general rule." Whatever that is. Define "getting it together." Who's rule is that? Anyway, despite not fully being there and to some extent still working on what "there" is, I do feel pretty accomplished. In fact, this newfound vigor with which I've been approaching the VO career is actually inspired by a sense of momentum with my overall career, in both music and film, and not by any sense of urgency to make something happen by that three year mark that could be defined as "getting it together" or "having gotten it together." At the beginning of last year, I had this sort of existential "I'm turning 30" thing driving my reevaluation of my career. It was a sort of franticness that didn't wholly lend itself to results, just a lot of flailing around…controlled flailing around, mind you, yet flailing nonetheless. I job hunted, I reconsidered my approach to voice over, I considered a dozen different scenarios to make more money than I'm making now. But it was all too rushed.
Now, I'm suddenly struck by a focused and rigid tenacity that's driving me to finally do something I haven't really truly been doing (at least not to any high degree). And that is truly betting on myself. A month ago I finished my new narration demo, taking some cuts from the old one, and also finished a documentary demo both of which I'm satisfied with, perhaps even proud of. And now, I'm ready to get out there and really promote myself.
On top of that, I have music and film jobs lining up, (two on the docket and maybe two more lined up), Tania and I have several collaborations planned and I'm starting off the new year with a recording session in Philadelphia for Lacy's new album. I'm feeling pretty excited. A new year and I feel poised to really take some steps forward. So step back and watch out because 2012 is going to pretty awesome. Merry Christmas all!
Friday, November 4, 2011
A room with a view...
I would just like to point out that I live in an apartment with a view of Manhattan. Partial view, but still. I dub that cool. I probably spoke at one point about things happening so slowly that you don't realize that your life is getting better or that you are getting closer to achieving your goals. Sometimes, though, one little thing changes in a big way and you start to look around at other things to see what might happen next.
I just keep working at all this stuff I do hoping that one day things will come to fruition, but not always being able to tell whether or not the things I'm doing are having an effect. I spoke about the voice over thing a while back and how I had one or two people tell me I was doing all that I should be doing. Same with music, when I met with that composer who's a friend of a friend. Just keep plugging away was the advice I got in both instances. Of course, they were a little more specific than that but that was the gist.
Now, seeing myself finally land an apartment that I love, here in New York, makes me realize that good things can and do happen. Granted sometimes there's a hefty dose of luck involved. But in all honesty, when I look at this situation, yes there was luck, but there was also action on mine and Katrina's part. We saw, we agreed, we moved, we seized and then we moved in. And I don't think we could have pulled it off had we not had all the previous experiences we've had with apartments and apartment hunting in this city. No one gets it right the first time.
In the same way, the strides I'm making in music and voice over are stacking up and it's because I'm doing all these small things and gaining experience that I'm opening myself up to other opportunities. Building a foundation, as it were. I find excitement sometimes in that I don't know where it's going to lead but I have a strong feeling that it's somewhere good or at least somewhere interesting.
Sometimes, I think back on my life before New York (and by before I mean, before I even hatched the idea of moving up here to pursue a career in music and film). Back then I was practically at a standstill paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of what I wanted to achieve and how little I knew. I had to learn a lot. But without that despairing feeling of knowing what I wanted but not knowing how to get it, I wouldn't have even been able to begin.
It's probably pretty normal, at the beginning of an endeavor like this one, or at the beginning of any difficult career course, to feel it's pretty massive. But I think the more you work at it, the less overwhelmed you feel. Because you're not trying to do it all at once. You begin to understand that it has to be bit by bit. That's the only way anyone can handle anything this size. And the more you build on it the more you start to feel you're on the right track after all, even when you can't see the end. And because no one can see the end, you come to terms with the fact that you have to go at it with faith that you can accomplish it against the odds. You obviously can't go at it thinking, "this may or may not work."
So anyway, I'm feeling a little more strongly about the fact that I might be on the right track here with a lot of things. But right now, I'm so incredibly tired I think I might just sleep. Now.
I just keep working at all this stuff I do hoping that one day things will come to fruition, but not always being able to tell whether or not the things I'm doing are having an effect. I spoke about the voice over thing a while back and how I had one or two people tell me I was doing all that I should be doing. Same with music, when I met with that composer who's a friend of a friend. Just keep plugging away was the advice I got in both instances. Of course, they were a little more specific than that but that was the gist.
Now, seeing myself finally land an apartment that I love, here in New York, makes me realize that good things can and do happen. Granted sometimes there's a hefty dose of luck involved. But in all honesty, when I look at this situation, yes there was luck, but there was also action on mine and Katrina's part. We saw, we agreed, we moved, we seized and then we moved in. And I don't think we could have pulled it off had we not had all the previous experiences we've had with apartments and apartment hunting in this city. No one gets it right the first time.
In the same way, the strides I'm making in music and voice over are stacking up and it's because I'm doing all these small things and gaining experience that I'm opening myself up to other opportunities. Building a foundation, as it were. I find excitement sometimes in that I don't know where it's going to lead but I have a strong feeling that it's somewhere good or at least somewhere interesting.
Sometimes, I think back on my life before New York (and by before I mean, before I even hatched the idea of moving up here to pursue a career in music and film). Back then I was practically at a standstill paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of what I wanted to achieve and how little I knew. I had to learn a lot. But without that despairing feeling of knowing what I wanted but not knowing how to get it, I wouldn't have even been able to begin.
It's probably pretty normal, at the beginning of an endeavor like this one, or at the beginning of any difficult career course, to feel it's pretty massive. But I think the more you work at it, the less overwhelmed you feel. Because you're not trying to do it all at once. You begin to understand that it has to be bit by bit. That's the only way anyone can handle anything this size. And the more you build on it the more you start to feel you're on the right track after all, even when you can't see the end. And because no one can see the end, you come to terms with the fact that you have to go at it with faith that you can accomplish it against the odds. You obviously can't go at it thinking, "this may or may not work."
So anyway, I'm feeling a little more strongly about the fact that I might be on the right track here with a lot of things. But right now, I'm so incredibly tired I think I might just sleep. Now.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
I did it!
I actually slept past 2pm after an overnight shift! Even despite hammering outside my apartment that woke me up at around 1045am, I still managed to finally sleep it off like a rock star. It takes a rainy day, with the lack of direct sunlight to make the conditions just right for uninterrupted sleep. Simple fact of the matter though is that I'm not sure how much longer I can do this. Although an odd schedule like mine can be conducive to creating sometimes, having the apartment to myself when I'm off work at odd times, it sort of drains you. And being drained is not conducive to creating. I can't keep my focus and I start to get a little bedraggled.
This has all kind of gotten me thinking about success and how you measure it. I harp on a theme on this blog a lot, that I often forget, or that often moves to the back of my mind. I have already accomplished a lot just by moving up here and sometimes it can help me when I'm feeling overwhelmed to remember this fact. But I can't stop at that obviously. Sure moving up here was an accomplishment but there's still more to be done. I'm semi-comfortable in my routine and am happy with the individual things I've done so far but I'm always trying to get to the next step. And sometimes, figuring out what that next step is can be a step itself. So, I find myself at a bit of a crossroads. Or maybe it's more like a river crossing. I can see the other side. I just can't quite find a way to cross over yet.
Specifically, I'm trying to get from a place where I know confidently that I can do the kinds of jobs that I'm after to a place where I'm able to prove that to the people who might hire me to do those jobs. I've met people who are doing what I want to be doing and I'm getting the impression that I'm not far off. The thing I keep hearing is that I just need to keep working. Writing every day. Networking. Working on my web presence. Etc.
I guess I just need to keep my head up and accept that it's not the kind of thing that happens overnight. It's good to check every once in a while to see if I am, in fact, on track. I've done a lot this year. But next year I want to do way more. I mean way more. I've already got designs on performing my electronic music and I'm getting closer to logistically being able to do that (learning how to make Mainstage do what I want it to do and buying that one last piece of MIDI equipment that I need). One place I'm wanting to increase my activity even more, though, is my contemporary music. Tania is sure to be performing more of my pieces next year and we may even be doing Moon, Tides, Cycles again in the fall. My goal is to write more not just for her but to get one of my new chamber pieces finished and performed. Specifically, the one with electronics. This will be an undertaking of mass proportions however.
On top of all that, the most important goal of mine is to score more films. And I realize that that one requires more networking than anything else. I could apply to scoring jobs online until my face falls off but when it comes down to it I haven't done all that much and I'm up against so many other candidates who either have or at least look like they have done way more. So I have to work on making the kind of connections that I've made with George and Mohammad and bank on the recommendations from the work I have done. Once I build up work like that, then I'll have a more bloated and impressive portfolio that I can use to apply to jobs with directors that I don't know yet. That's the idea anyway. I think I've spoken before on here about breaking things down into manageable steps. Step 1 in this case would be network.
Funny enough, I'm going to a Celiac Disease meetup next Monday and while I was trolling around meetup.com, it occurred to me to look for filmmaker groups. Found a few and joined but not all of them have meetups scheduled, nor does it look like they've even been active recently. I'm already a member of the IFP filmmakers group on Facebook but I've yet to make use of that membership. Either way, over the course of the next few weeks, and once the music for the trailer for Sides of the Track is finished, I intend to be networking like gangbusters.
If I can get some sleep. Speaking of Facebook, they've been doing this thing lately where your status updates from this day in whatever year appear on the sidebar. The one from this day in 2010 said something about sleeping in until 5pm and that I guessed my body needed it. Sort of puts in perspective how long I've been enduring such a crazy schedule. It'll be two years this January.
Update to the first paragraph of this blog. The hammering was coming from the apartment above. They're finally working on fixing all the water damage. The woman who lives above me wanted to show me all the work they were doing because her apartment was in shambles, all her furniture moved out into the main room while in the bedroom the walls were completely stripped of plaster. She was complaining in broken English about what an upheaval it was. Let's just hope that I don't have to endure the same thing in a week. Why? Because I'll be sleeping all day again.
This has all kind of gotten me thinking about success and how you measure it. I harp on a theme on this blog a lot, that I often forget, or that often moves to the back of my mind. I have already accomplished a lot just by moving up here and sometimes it can help me when I'm feeling overwhelmed to remember this fact. But I can't stop at that obviously. Sure moving up here was an accomplishment but there's still more to be done. I'm semi-comfortable in my routine and am happy with the individual things I've done so far but I'm always trying to get to the next step. And sometimes, figuring out what that next step is can be a step itself. So, I find myself at a bit of a crossroads. Or maybe it's more like a river crossing. I can see the other side. I just can't quite find a way to cross over yet.
Specifically, I'm trying to get from a place where I know confidently that I can do the kinds of jobs that I'm after to a place where I'm able to prove that to the people who might hire me to do those jobs. I've met people who are doing what I want to be doing and I'm getting the impression that I'm not far off. The thing I keep hearing is that I just need to keep working. Writing every day. Networking. Working on my web presence. Etc.
I guess I just need to keep my head up and accept that it's not the kind of thing that happens overnight. It's good to check every once in a while to see if I am, in fact, on track. I've done a lot this year. But next year I want to do way more. I mean way more. I've already got designs on performing my electronic music and I'm getting closer to logistically being able to do that (learning how to make Mainstage do what I want it to do and buying that one last piece of MIDI equipment that I need). One place I'm wanting to increase my activity even more, though, is my contemporary music. Tania is sure to be performing more of my pieces next year and we may even be doing Moon, Tides, Cycles again in the fall. My goal is to write more not just for her but to get one of my new chamber pieces finished and performed. Specifically, the one with electronics. This will be an undertaking of mass proportions however.
On top of all that, the most important goal of mine is to score more films. And I realize that that one requires more networking than anything else. I could apply to scoring jobs online until my face falls off but when it comes down to it I haven't done all that much and I'm up against so many other candidates who either have or at least look like they have done way more. So I have to work on making the kind of connections that I've made with George and Mohammad and bank on the recommendations from the work I have done. Once I build up work like that, then I'll have a more bloated and impressive portfolio that I can use to apply to jobs with directors that I don't know yet. That's the idea anyway. I think I've spoken before on here about breaking things down into manageable steps. Step 1 in this case would be network.
Funny enough, I'm going to a Celiac Disease meetup next Monday and while I was trolling around meetup.com, it occurred to me to look for filmmaker groups. Found a few and joined but not all of them have meetups scheduled, nor does it look like they've even been active recently. I'm already a member of the IFP filmmakers group on Facebook but I've yet to make use of that membership. Either way, over the course of the next few weeks, and once the music for the trailer for Sides of the Track is finished, I intend to be networking like gangbusters.
If I can get some sleep. Speaking of Facebook, they've been doing this thing lately where your status updates from this day in whatever year appear on the sidebar. The one from this day in 2010 said something about sleeping in until 5pm and that I guessed my body needed it. Sort of puts in perspective how long I've been enduring such a crazy schedule. It'll be two years this January.
Update to the first paragraph of this blog. The hammering was coming from the apartment above. They're finally working on fixing all the water damage. The woman who lives above me wanted to show me all the work they were doing because her apartment was in shambles, all her furniture moved out into the main room while in the bedroom the walls were completely stripped of plaster. She was complaining in broken English about what an upheaval it was. Let's just hope that I don't have to endure the same thing in a week. Why? Because I'll be sleeping all day again.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Fame and success...
I had some more thoughts about fame and success versus the potential personal enrichment of a music career/hobby and wanted to articulate them. They were thoughts mainly continuing on about how fame is not the best goal for a musician. I suppose I should also qualify success, for one thing, since it's relative to one's own ideals. I mean the kind of success that is defined outwardly by society (i.e. making money and being stable) and not necessarily one's own personal ideal of success. Of course, I want to be that kind of successful, the success that says you acheived the goal you set out to acheive (in this case to write music and get it heard).
Anyway, I guess I'd be lying if I said I'd never imagined fame or even remotely fantasized about it. But I have to tell you that mainly, when I daydream about my music, it's typically just me enjoying what I'm doing, whether it be getting a job composing a film score or performing live with a band and really rockin' out. I think it's important in this kind of pursuit not to get caught up in the idea of fame.
Every time I finish a project, the question immediately becomes "what next?" (I seem so tireless, I know). I've noticed that I can tell when I'm getting caught up in the idea of being famous one day because my thoughts turn to what kind of musical endeavour will garner the most attention and make me the most money instead of what will I enjoy doing or what I have proven to be good at. These are all, obviously, valid concerns but in the end, I have to take a step back and ask myself, "am I enjoying doing it?" and, more importantly, "is it genuinely me?" More so than personal enjoyment, the notion of genuineness is increasingly important to me.
I think back on the days when I really wanted to be the lead singer to a band. I would write really horrible lyrics and was too squeamish to try and mold those words into some kind of vocal lines and sometimes too shy to coax my bandmates into playing the songs. Other times when I was attempting things musically that seemed fun or seemed like they'd be enriching: Trying to write atonal choral music in grad school, trying to write weird avant garde solo instrumental pieces in grad school and trying to busk in Prospect Park or singing at open mics in Cary, NC. None of these things are really me and I've decided I'm okay with that. Some of them were actual exercises in grad school to hone my compositional skills that just turned into informative episodes that helped me figure out what I didn't want to do. Others were probably influenced more by what I saw other people doing than what I really wanted to do myself. I can tell because I've caught myself doing this a few times and I finally just looked deeply at it. Those times I've wanted to try singing or felt I had to start a band that instant, for example, I'm quite sure most of those episodes happened after having seen a pretty good local band or upon hearing a good song and imagining myself playing it live with one of my old bands. I guess you could call it "rock-out envy."
Invariably, though, the music I would write (or attempt to write) after such an episode would come out feeling contrived and rushed. So perhaps, one needs other motives for wanting to create. Not just because it looks fun or because I want to be on stage again. Seeing a band playing and thinking, "I remember doing that, that was fun, I wanna try that again," is probably not a terrible reason to want to continue playing music. It can't inspire real creation though.
Nor can a desire for fame. I find myself quoting the great Henry Winkler these days and I'm going to do it again. "Do you need to do this thing? Or does it just sound exciting? Because if you don't then maybe you should just go sell Buicks or something." (Sidebar: when did I hear Henry Winkler say all of this? 7 years ago at Chapman University, Henry Winkler came to speak to a group of high school kids that I was assistant teaching during a summer film program run by Duke University. I was there, I taped the whole thing and man, do I wish I still had the raw Mini DV tape).
Do I need to do this? At this point yes. I can't imagine myself not writing music or doing something musical. The depression I went through as a younger adult was at its worst when I couldn't see for myself a future that contained music. When I was a year from graduating high school and the panic about what I'd do upon graduating set in, the only thing that popped into mind to do was to study music. I didn't even have a back up until I started my film major. When I was 11 I was listening to classical music and film scores and I think, then, I first hatched the idea to become a film composer. When I was 9, I picked up a Magical Musical Thing, a cheesy toy from the late 70's (By Mattel, I think), and took to it instantly, prompting my parents to buy me a piano, extricate me from Cub Scouts and get me into piano lessons immediately.
All of these things that led me on this path to where I am today were instances of genuine interest in playing or creating music. To taint that with a wish solely to be famous for what I do would be foolish. Fame couldn't be nearly as rewarding as creating music. Not that I speak from a great deal of experience with fame or anything. I can't say that it wasn't invigorating to have my music heard by forty or fifty people at my recital back in 2008...and how cool was it to have people tell me they saw my name on NBC 17 on the credits for REX on Call? And don't forget the handful of times I've been recognized at film screenings for my work scoring. But I can tell you that the most enjoyable experiences I've had with music have been the unstructured unseen improvisatory times. Playing and laughing with my band mates from Brilliance as a Fashion in the 10' X 20' aluminum practice space in West Greensboro as we jammed and tweaked our songs. Sitting in my dorm room Sophomore year, messing around with loop creation software and making songs to the utter annoyance of my poor roommate who had to listen to each loop cycle over and over as I honed the ideas. The summer after 8th grade that I spent carrying my new electric guitar with me just about everywhere, practicing chord changes and learning new songs. Or just sitting at my piano, on any given day, with the window open solo improvising, losing track of time. This is why I do what I do.
Anyway, I guess I'd be lying if I said I'd never imagined fame or even remotely fantasized about it. But I have to tell you that mainly, when I daydream about my music, it's typically just me enjoying what I'm doing, whether it be getting a job composing a film score or performing live with a band and really rockin' out. I think it's important in this kind of pursuit not to get caught up in the idea of fame.
Every time I finish a project, the question immediately becomes "what next?" (I seem so tireless, I know). I've noticed that I can tell when I'm getting caught up in the idea of being famous one day because my thoughts turn to what kind of musical endeavour will garner the most attention and make me the most money instead of what will I enjoy doing or what I have proven to be good at. These are all, obviously, valid concerns but in the end, I have to take a step back and ask myself, "am I enjoying doing it?" and, more importantly, "is it genuinely me?" More so than personal enjoyment, the notion of genuineness is increasingly important to me.
I think back on the days when I really wanted to be the lead singer to a band. I would write really horrible lyrics and was too squeamish to try and mold those words into some kind of vocal lines and sometimes too shy to coax my bandmates into playing the songs. Other times when I was attempting things musically that seemed fun or seemed like they'd be enriching: Trying to write atonal choral music in grad school, trying to write weird avant garde solo instrumental pieces in grad school and trying to busk in Prospect Park or singing at open mics in Cary, NC. None of these things are really me and I've decided I'm okay with that. Some of them were actual exercises in grad school to hone my compositional skills that just turned into informative episodes that helped me figure out what I didn't want to do. Others were probably influenced more by what I saw other people doing than what I really wanted to do myself. I can tell because I've caught myself doing this a few times and I finally just looked deeply at it. Those times I've wanted to try singing or felt I had to start a band that instant, for example, I'm quite sure most of those episodes happened after having seen a pretty good local band or upon hearing a good song and imagining myself playing it live with one of my old bands. I guess you could call it "rock-out envy."
Invariably, though, the music I would write (or attempt to write) after such an episode would come out feeling contrived and rushed. So perhaps, one needs other motives for wanting to create. Not just because it looks fun or because I want to be on stage again. Seeing a band playing and thinking, "I remember doing that, that was fun, I wanna try that again," is probably not a terrible reason to want to continue playing music. It can't inspire real creation though.
Nor can a desire for fame. I find myself quoting the great Henry Winkler these days and I'm going to do it again. "Do you need to do this thing? Or does it just sound exciting? Because if you don't then maybe you should just go sell Buicks or something." (Sidebar: when did I hear Henry Winkler say all of this? 7 years ago at Chapman University, Henry Winkler came to speak to a group of high school kids that I was assistant teaching during a summer film program run by Duke University. I was there, I taped the whole thing and man, do I wish I still had the raw Mini DV tape).
Do I need to do this? At this point yes. I can't imagine myself not writing music or doing something musical. The depression I went through as a younger adult was at its worst when I couldn't see for myself a future that contained music. When I was a year from graduating high school and the panic about what I'd do upon graduating set in, the only thing that popped into mind to do was to study music. I didn't even have a back up until I started my film major. When I was 11 I was listening to classical music and film scores and I think, then, I first hatched the idea to become a film composer. When I was 9, I picked up a Magical Musical Thing, a cheesy toy from the late 70's (By Mattel, I think), and took to it instantly, prompting my parents to buy me a piano, extricate me from Cub Scouts and get me into piano lessons immediately.
All of these things that led me on this path to where I am today were instances of genuine interest in playing or creating music. To taint that with a wish solely to be famous for what I do would be foolish. Fame couldn't be nearly as rewarding as creating music. Not that I speak from a great deal of experience with fame or anything. I can't say that it wasn't invigorating to have my music heard by forty or fifty people at my recital back in 2008...and how cool was it to have people tell me they saw my name on NBC 17 on the credits for REX on Call? And don't forget the handful of times I've been recognized at film screenings for my work scoring. But I can tell you that the most enjoyable experiences I've had with music have been the unstructured unseen improvisatory times. Playing and laughing with my band mates from Brilliance as a Fashion in the 10' X 20' aluminum practice space in West Greensboro as we jammed and tweaked our songs. Sitting in my dorm room Sophomore year, messing around with loop creation software and making songs to the utter annoyance of my poor roommate who had to listen to each loop cycle over and over as I honed the ideas. The summer after 8th grade that I spent carrying my new electric guitar with me just about everywhere, practicing chord changes and learning new songs. Or just sitting at my piano, on any given day, with the window open solo improvising, losing track of time. This is why I do what I do.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Things calming down, Coney Island and my inability to take care of electronics...
Good morning. First day off in seven and I'm just finishing laundry and eating lunch. Also finally working on a piano piece that will be part of a cycle that I intend to submit to the SCI 2010 conference. August 1st is the deadline. I have the first piece in the cycle written and the second piece is in the works. Three is the magic number so I'm planning on writing a really simple ending piece in the next week while simultaneously finishing the current piece.
Distractions have subsided a little bit. The basketball goal is no longer outside so I've been sleeping a lot better lately and learning to chill the #$%&*@ out. I realize that, in the wake of my little freak out about my rent, it was too easy to find reasons to hate this place and convince myself that the only possible solution was that I needed to get out, no matter the cost. But now, I'm trying to look at things in a different light now that they've calmed down a bit. I'd be much better off sticking things out then adding more complications to my current situation. After all, I do like living alone, for now, and this neighborhood is not nearly as bad as I make it out to be. Let's face it, when you're the only one you have to bounce your own thoughts off of, there's no one to tell you that you're over reacting, over thinking, or just plain off the mark except yourself. And it's really hard to be honest with yourself at these times. The simple fact of the matter is that things could still be a lot worse. In fact, these hard times of having to scrimp by are teaching me, as they should be teaching the rest of America, how to live within your means. This is a valuable lesson and honestly, if I had a little bit more money and were a little bit more comfortable, my first thought would be that I had license to spend more and then I'd probably end up right back where I am now, through my own carelessness. If this is instilling in me a certain sense of caution then maybe this is the best place for me to be right now.
I'm not saying I wouldn't mind having a little more money to work with here. I've figured how long it would take me to pay off my debt if I were working full time hours...10 months. But it would require me to be working full time. There is good news on the job front, on all sides actually.
First, I got called for an audition for some paid extra work today and I'll be going in for that tomorrow. Second, Part time vs. freelance employment is on the horizon potentially at one of my jobs (I won't say much more because I don't know anything yet for sure). And third, a co worker recently asked me to help him finish off a score for his short film. So I'll start that soon.
Good things come to those who wait.
In the meantime, I went to Coney Island finally yesterday. I am twenty minutes away from the beach and I haven't even realized it all this time. I was certain it was at least a thirty minute train ride. Karishma and I basically walked up and down the boardwalk, purchased some disgusting cheese fries from Nathan's Hot Dogs, walked out onto one of the piers and finally dipped our feet into the ocean before heading back. Coney Island is dirty by NC standards but nowhere near as bad as some Florida beaches I've seen. I'll have to go back now and ride a few of the rides, though. Seems fun. Here are some pictures from the occasion, taken with the camera I've owned for about two years which has, regrettably just been fatally wounded while riding in my bag. Nice big crack in the middle of the LCD screen. And this is one of those cameras that has no viewfinder. I was heartbroken. As I was when I sat on my 8GB iRiver MP3 player a few weeks ago. Do I have some kind of problem with taking care of my electronics? Here are the pictures:
Distractions have subsided a little bit. The basketball goal is no longer outside so I've been sleeping a lot better lately and learning to chill the #$%&*@ out. I realize that, in the wake of my little freak out about my rent, it was too easy to find reasons to hate this place and convince myself that the only possible solution was that I needed to get out, no matter the cost. But now, I'm trying to look at things in a different light now that they've calmed down a bit. I'd be much better off sticking things out then adding more complications to my current situation. After all, I do like living alone, for now, and this neighborhood is not nearly as bad as I make it out to be. Let's face it, when you're the only one you have to bounce your own thoughts off of, there's no one to tell you that you're over reacting, over thinking, or just plain off the mark except yourself. And it's really hard to be honest with yourself at these times. The simple fact of the matter is that things could still be a lot worse. In fact, these hard times of having to scrimp by are teaching me, as they should be teaching the rest of America, how to live within your means. This is a valuable lesson and honestly, if I had a little bit more money and were a little bit more comfortable, my first thought would be that I had license to spend more and then I'd probably end up right back where I am now, through my own carelessness. If this is instilling in me a certain sense of caution then maybe this is the best place for me to be right now.
I'm not saying I wouldn't mind having a little more money to work with here. I've figured how long it would take me to pay off my debt if I were working full time hours...10 months. But it would require me to be working full time. There is good news on the job front, on all sides actually.
First, I got called for an audition for some paid extra work today and I'll be going in for that tomorrow. Second, Part time vs. freelance employment is on the horizon potentially at one of my jobs (I won't say much more because I don't know anything yet for sure). And third, a co worker recently asked me to help him finish off a score for his short film. So I'll start that soon.
Good things come to those who wait.
In the meantime, I went to Coney Island finally yesterday. I am twenty minutes away from the beach and I haven't even realized it all this time. I was certain it was at least a thirty minute train ride. Karishma and I basically walked up and down the boardwalk, purchased some disgusting cheese fries from Nathan's Hot Dogs, walked out onto one of the piers and finally dipped our feet into the ocean before heading back. Coney Island is dirty by NC standards but nowhere near as bad as some Florida beaches I've seen. I'll have to go back now and ride a few of the rides, though. Seems fun. Here are some pictures from the occasion, taken with the camera I've owned for about two years which has, regrettably just been fatally wounded while riding in my bag. Nice big crack in the middle of the LCD screen. And this is one of those cameras that has no viewfinder. I was heartbroken. As I was when I sat on my 8GB iRiver MP3 player a few weeks ago. Do I have some kind of problem with taking care of my electronics? Here are the pictures:
 |
| Coney Island best |
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Music Music Music...
More on what I've been composing. I just finished re-recording a track for the end credits that's meant to parody the scene at the end. The director wanted something upbeat to sort of give a sense of irony to the whole piece. So I listened to a lot of Beach Boys before writing this piece and churned out something that he actually really liked...though, the more I play it to myself, the sicker of it I get. I guess it's like that.
At any rate, finding a director who knows what he wants, though he may not always be able to articulate it, has made for some challenging work but in a good way (let's face it, challenges are rarely bad things). I likened it almost to a different kind of composition lesson with a teacher who is not a composer. Kind of makes me realize that the people who teach you things don't always have to be teachers themselves, nor do they need to be setting out to teach you something specific. It sort of just happens sometimes that you learn from a scenario without anyone trying to cram knowledge down your throat.
Anyway, basically, there was the one bit of underscore in this drama (that barely even exists) that was written to punctuate the one scene that needed something (not that it needed it terribly, the actor's work was fine) and then there was a piece of source music for a party and the end credits tune I was just talking about.
The underscore was the most straight forward part. It had to be subtle but was just something to help in the absence of dialogue where the two characters. I worked the least on this bit, mainly because it was the shortest. Ultimately, a light guitar strum (which we decided to fade in) and some distant organ, some guitar harmonic triggered by slapping the strings lightly, all very faint. You almost don't realize it's there.
The End credits, as I said, was inspired by some Beach Boys tune, which I will not identify and consists of an acoustic guitar strumming some upbeat and happy chord progression with a few changes for the minor key area (flat 6th and 7th chords as well) and an electric guitar with a chorus effect playing a really cheesy melody over top. Bada-bing, bada-boom.
The source music has been quite the project though. We've been through several permutations of it. This is a case where any big budget project for a Hollywood film would just buy the rights to a couple of Jay-Z songs or something but I decided I could knock out a few beats and we could switch between them. Well, we've sat here and agonized over what kind of music would actually be playing at this party and tweaked my synthesizers and my beats as much as we thought possible and still haven't quite hit the mark. So, that's the last remaining challenge. At this point, the first thing I did that was almost approved, I've gotten sick of listening to and we're starting to dismantle it even and try to get at the root of it all. But last night I punched out two more beats with basslines and just left it at that. Until the next time I get around to working on it, at which point I will try and figure out what kind of sound should go in the mid and high range frequencies of the song. The target is somewhere before my synthesizers start to make it sound techno. I wrote one song that I may post on my myspace page later today to let you hear it. I was listening to Gin and Juice by Snoop Dogg and I just dropped everything and wrote this tune. Then, when the director arrive last night I wrote two more beats with him sitting here, trying to get an idea if we were hitting the mark or not, going back and forth between listening to my stuff and then calling up mp3s on Grooveshark.com of various rap songs to get inspiration.
It's been quite educational. If left to my own devices, I'm liable to get going with an idea and run with it in one direction, which may or may not be the right place to go. Having the director come over and listen from time to time helps out immensely when he's looking for something specific. So I don't get too far off track. Also, what I'm gleaning from working with a director is a sense of what works and what doesn't work generally, that I can more than likely apply elsewhere.
The lucky thing is that I get to do all this without a deadline. So I have time to actually try again whenever something doesn't work and maybe next time when I do have a deadline, I'll work more efficiently. So this has really been a blessing getting to do this project with a friend at a time when what I really need is experience with the whole process.
I'll keep you updated on this as it progresses and when it's finally complete. I just checked and that piece I worked on last night is up on my myspace page.
At any rate, finding a director who knows what he wants, though he may not always be able to articulate it, has made for some challenging work but in a good way (let's face it, challenges are rarely bad things). I likened it almost to a different kind of composition lesson with a teacher who is not a composer. Kind of makes me realize that the people who teach you things don't always have to be teachers themselves, nor do they need to be setting out to teach you something specific. It sort of just happens sometimes that you learn from a scenario without anyone trying to cram knowledge down your throat.
Anyway, basically, there was the one bit of underscore in this drama (that barely even exists) that was written to punctuate the one scene that needed something (not that it needed it terribly, the actor's work was fine) and then there was a piece of source music for a party and the end credits tune I was just talking about.
The underscore was the most straight forward part. It had to be subtle but was just something to help in the absence of dialogue where the two characters. I worked the least on this bit, mainly because it was the shortest. Ultimately, a light guitar strum (which we decided to fade in) and some distant organ, some guitar harmonic triggered by slapping the strings lightly, all very faint. You almost don't realize it's there.
The End credits, as I said, was inspired by some Beach Boys tune, which I will not identify and consists of an acoustic guitar strumming some upbeat and happy chord progression with a few changes for the minor key area (flat 6th and 7th chords as well) and an electric guitar with a chorus effect playing a really cheesy melody over top. Bada-bing, bada-boom.
The source music has been quite the project though. We've been through several permutations of it. This is a case where any big budget project for a Hollywood film would just buy the rights to a couple of Jay-Z songs or something but I decided I could knock out a few beats and we could switch between them. Well, we've sat here and agonized over what kind of music would actually be playing at this party and tweaked my synthesizers and my beats as much as we thought possible and still haven't quite hit the mark. So, that's the last remaining challenge. At this point, the first thing I did that was almost approved, I've gotten sick of listening to and we're starting to dismantle it even and try to get at the root of it all. But last night I punched out two more beats with basslines and just left it at that. Until the next time I get around to working on it, at which point I will try and figure out what kind of sound should go in the mid and high range frequencies of the song. The target is somewhere before my synthesizers start to make it sound techno. I wrote one song that I may post on my myspace page later today to let you hear it. I was listening to Gin and Juice by Snoop Dogg and I just dropped everything and wrote this tune. Then, when the director arrive last night I wrote two more beats with him sitting here, trying to get an idea if we were hitting the mark or not, going back and forth between listening to my stuff and then calling up mp3s on Grooveshark.com of various rap songs to get inspiration.
It's been quite educational. If left to my own devices, I'm liable to get going with an idea and run with it in one direction, which may or may not be the right place to go. Having the director come over and listen from time to time helps out immensely when he's looking for something specific. So I don't get too far off track. Also, what I'm gleaning from working with a director is a sense of what works and what doesn't work generally, that I can more than likely apply elsewhere.
The lucky thing is that I get to do all this without a deadline. So I have time to actually try again whenever something doesn't work and maybe next time when I do have a deadline, I'll work more efficiently. So this has really been a blessing getting to do this project with a friend at a time when what I really need is experience with the whole process.
I'll keep you updated on this as it progresses and when it's finally complete. I just checked and that piece I worked on last night is up on my myspace page.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
This week...
Strangely, I can't seem to sleep past 8:30 am these days. No matter when I've gone to sleep. This morning I woke up to a distant thunderstorm and the subsequent noise of street construction going on outside. Not that that's what woke me up. I just wake up at 8:30 am like my body says, "All right, that's enough. Get up."
And anyway, who am I to complain? I'm off for three days and I have friends visiting town. I spent the morning, after I typed these first few lines working on an old piece of electronic music that I'm transforming a little along with a couple of others. They're bound for my new facebook music page, which I'll have up as soon as I can...I just have to verify I'm me. They make you upload an ID. No biggie, Karishma has a scanner so I can take care of that this week.
Some interesting news has sprouted up in addition to what else I was going to write about today. I got a rather random email from a clarinetist in Phoenix, Arizona who stumbled on my professional web page by accident while Googling someone with a similar last name to one of my players. He liked the piece Of Slowly Falling Rain and Autumn Chill and was wondering if he could get a pdf copy of it because he frequently programs new music with his orchestra. I'm extremely flattered but want to make sure all of the copyright business is in order as well so that my butt is covered. So that was a nice thing this morning to find out that someone in Phoenix likes my music.
I keep meaning to write about this but I recently stumbled on an article by a fellow composer that is currently changing my life. Alex Shapiro is writing in the article about making an asset out of one's self. The article is chock full of great advice for using the internet to your greatest advantage when promoting your music. Stuff I had never even thought of doing but seem so incredibly obvious now. Like, generating buzz with your website, thinking of your website as a store front and the notion that there has to be someone out there who likes our music and will pay for it. There's an underlying theme of self esteem and knowing what we want to present to the world buried in the article as well. So, it was very uplifting when I read it weeks ago and, occasionally, I even refer back to it when I'm feeling down or I'm just thinking about what to do next and I'm lost.
I even contacted her by email to thank her for sharing such an inspiring article with the Society of Composers, inc. list serv. We corresponded for a bit as well. She was very nice and not the least bit haughty. The scope of her career is quite impressive as she's written contemporary music, pop music and film scores and done well, even garnering acclaim in each area.
Great stuff.
Anyhow, I'm also quite excited this week because:
I have three different out of town friends visiting on different days, throughout the week.
A good friend who lives in Queens has tickets to a show Friday night so we're having dinner and a show after I get off of work.
and speaking of work, they're shooting a film at work called Morning Glory this week (unfortunately the bulk of filming will happen when I'm off work this week) and none other than Harrison Ford, Jeff Goldblum, Rachel McAdams and Diane Keaton will be in my studio all week long. (Today, I just talked to my boss, and they're filming a scene out in the newsroom with Jeff Goldblum and Rachel McAdams).
And anyway, who am I to complain? I'm off for three days and I have friends visiting town. I spent the morning, after I typed these first few lines working on an old piece of electronic music that I'm transforming a little along with a couple of others. They're bound for my new facebook music page, which I'll have up as soon as I can...I just have to verify I'm me. They make you upload an ID. No biggie, Karishma has a scanner so I can take care of that this week.
Some interesting news has sprouted up in addition to what else I was going to write about today. I got a rather random email from a clarinetist in Phoenix, Arizona who stumbled on my professional web page by accident while Googling someone with a similar last name to one of my players. He liked the piece Of Slowly Falling Rain and Autumn Chill and was wondering if he could get a pdf copy of it because he frequently programs new music with his orchestra. I'm extremely flattered but want to make sure all of the copyright business is in order as well so that my butt is covered. So that was a nice thing this morning to find out that someone in Phoenix likes my music.
I keep meaning to write about this but I recently stumbled on an article by a fellow composer that is currently changing my life. Alex Shapiro is writing in the article about making an asset out of one's self. The article is chock full of great advice for using the internet to your greatest advantage when promoting your music. Stuff I had never even thought of doing but seem so incredibly obvious now. Like, generating buzz with your website, thinking of your website as a store front and the notion that there has to be someone out there who likes our music and will pay for it. There's an underlying theme of self esteem and knowing what we want to present to the world buried in the article as well. So, it was very uplifting when I read it weeks ago and, occasionally, I even refer back to it when I'm feeling down or I'm just thinking about what to do next and I'm lost.
I even contacted her by email to thank her for sharing such an inspiring article with the Society of Composers, inc. list serv. We corresponded for a bit as well. She was very nice and not the least bit haughty. The scope of her career is quite impressive as she's written contemporary music, pop music and film scores and done well, even garnering acclaim in each area.
Great stuff.
Anyhow, I'm also quite excited this week because:
I have three different out of town friends visiting on different days, throughout the week.
A good friend who lives in Queens has tickets to a show Friday night so we're having dinner and a show after I get off of work.
and speaking of work, they're shooting a film at work called Morning Glory this week (unfortunately the bulk of filming will happen when I'm off work this week) and none other than Harrison Ford, Jeff Goldblum, Rachel McAdams and Diane Keaton will be in my studio all week long. (Today, I just talked to my boss, and they're filming a scene out in the newsroom with Jeff Goldblum and Rachel McAdams).
Monday, March 30, 2009
Money for money's sake...
Lately, as previously mentioned, I have been spreading myself incredibly thin across a wide spectrum of income-generating endeavors and have yet to begin narrowing my pursuits to those most crucial and most lucrative of efforts. Until today, that is. I had a bit of an epiphany today. I realized that the reason I'm having trouble with the idea of all of these side gigs in addition to the day job and the musical endeavors is that I have strong feelings about the notion of pursuing something solely because it will generate income. That strong feeling being that pursuing something solely based on the amount of income it will generate is detrimental to a fulfilled life and is also, not me.
Perhaps it's that when pursuing something because of the money it would generate, you are often, in fact, pursuing money and not the thing itself, therefore your dedication to becoming good at that thing can only be halfhearted due to the sheer wont of laziness and leisure that more than likely has generated such a strong desire to pursue money as a thing in itself in the first place. For what does money allow us in the end? Leisure. To spend your life pursuing only money, or money as fulfillment, and not something more wholesome such as a career doing something you enjoy, is to spend one's life pursuing laziness and leisure. These are great things at the right time, no doubt, but a life with only laziness and leisure is not a fulfilled life.
That having been said, if I'm not enjoying a pursuit, or I don't feel I'm going to enjoy it, then it's not worth continuing to pursue, regardless of how much potential income it could generate and regardless of how easy it is, or may seem.
I already know that I don't find life enjoyable when I'm not pursuing my main interest of composing. Nay, I feel quite hollow if I'm not pursuing music. And pursuing music successfully is something that one could only do because one loves to.
So why am I wasting my time trying to find ten dozen ways to generate income while I job hunt, none of which is music related? I'm not in such dire straits just yet that I need to be thinking about thirty different back up plans anyway. Just a few that I can actually, and feasibly, devote time and effort to, and that I enjoy enough to justify devoting a portion of my day to them. But, if none of these is music-related, my supposed area of expertise, then what the hell am I doing?
So, new goal: find out ways to generate income doing something you enjoy while scaling back those things that you can identify as a waste of your time. Oh, abundant free time.
I'll keep doing the ChaCha thing because I was accepted as a guide today but I'm going to have to get good at it for it to be worth my time. The thing I like about it is that, on their website, they don't tell you that you'll make so much money, or that you'll be able to quit your day job. They're honest and up front that it's just a part time side gig for even those who devote a great deal of time to it, so it's easy for me to be realistic about it. And you can get paid whenever you like, not when you reach $100 or anything like that. I also like the research part of it, when it's a decent question. I could write an entire blog entry on the questions, ranging from silly to stupid that I see, but...another time.
I'm going to also keep pursuing finding a job here and there pet sitting as well. I got some hits on the web site for jobs in and around Manhattan. I still need to finish my profile and once I do, I'll start applying. I like pets.
The movie extra thing, I decided, is not for me. Never mind that Talent 6's website was not very useful and I was unable to find any paying extra gigs. And I don't think I'll check out the other casting agencies either because it occurred to me that if I'm going to spend an entire day waiting to be in one scene, even if I get paid for it, that's a huge waste of my time. Doing any other "work-at-home," set your own hours type of gig, I'd be able to stop and write music if I got inspired. As an extra, though, I'd be stuck on a movie set for 8 hours and unable to bring work with me. Meanwhile, I'm sure I'd be going crazy waiting for it to be over. I hate being idle, unless I planned to be that way. It might have worked if I knew I was going to be unemployed for a long period of time and I knew I wouldn't be potentially spending my entire weekend on a film set, when I could be writing music at home.
Really, though, the point is that I'm going to give myself more time to write by slowing down all of this frantic searching for semi-lucrative side gigs. I'm incredibly frazzled for most of the day and I feel like my time is mostly devoted to half baked schemes, none of which ever comes to fruition, like a perpetual to do list where nothing ever gets checked off, and I'd much rather be hurling that frantic energy at some creative endeavor, whether or not it's going to make me instant money that I can spend on groceries and beer.
So without further ado...
Perhaps it's that when pursuing something because of the money it would generate, you are often, in fact, pursuing money and not the thing itself, therefore your dedication to becoming good at that thing can only be halfhearted due to the sheer wont of laziness and leisure that more than likely has generated such a strong desire to pursue money as a thing in itself in the first place. For what does money allow us in the end? Leisure. To spend your life pursuing only money, or money as fulfillment, and not something more wholesome such as a career doing something you enjoy, is to spend one's life pursuing laziness and leisure. These are great things at the right time, no doubt, but a life with only laziness and leisure is not a fulfilled life.
That having been said, if I'm not enjoying a pursuit, or I don't feel I'm going to enjoy it, then it's not worth continuing to pursue, regardless of how much potential income it could generate and regardless of how easy it is, or may seem.
I already know that I don't find life enjoyable when I'm not pursuing my main interest of composing. Nay, I feel quite hollow if I'm not pursuing music. And pursuing music successfully is something that one could only do because one loves to.
So why am I wasting my time trying to find ten dozen ways to generate income while I job hunt, none of which is music related? I'm not in such dire straits just yet that I need to be thinking about thirty different back up plans anyway. Just a few that I can actually, and feasibly, devote time and effort to, and that I enjoy enough to justify devoting a portion of my day to them. But, if none of these is music-related, my supposed area of expertise, then what the hell am I doing?
So, new goal: find out ways to generate income doing something you enjoy while scaling back those things that you can identify as a waste of your time. Oh, abundant free time.
I'll keep doing the ChaCha thing because I was accepted as a guide today but I'm going to have to get good at it for it to be worth my time. The thing I like about it is that, on their website, they don't tell you that you'll make so much money, or that you'll be able to quit your day job. They're honest and up front that it's just a part time side gig for even those who devote a great deal of time to it, so it's easy for me to be realistic about it. And you can get paid whenever you like, not when you reach $100 or anything like that. I also like the research part of it, when it's a decent question. I could write an entire blog entry on the questions, ranging from silly to stupid that I see, but...another time.
I'm going to also keep pursuing finding a job here and there pet sitting as well. I got some hits on the web site for jobs in and around Manhattan. I still need to finish my profile and once I do, I'll start applying. I like pets.
The movie extra thing, I decided, is not for me. Never mind that Talent 6's website was not very useful and I was unable to find any paying extra gigs. And I don't think I'll check out the other casting agencies either because it occurred to me that if I'm going to spend an entire day waiting to be in one scene, even if I get paid for it, that's a huge waste of my time. Doing any other "work-at-home," set your own hours type of gig, I'd be able to stop and write music if I got inspired. As an extra, though, I'd be stuck on a movie set for 8 hours and unable to bring work with me. Meanwhile, I'm sure I'd be going crazy waiting for it to be over. I hate being idle, unless I planned to be that way. It might have worked if I knew I was going to be unemployed for a long period of time and I knew I wouldn't be potentially spending my entire weekend on a film set, when I could be writing music at home.
Really, though, the point is that I'm going to give myself more time to write by slowing down all of this frantic searching for semi-lucrative side gigs. I'm incredibly frazzled for most of the day and I feel like my time is mostly devoted to half baked schemes, none of which ever comes to fruition, like a perpetual to do list where nothing ever gets checked off, and I'd much rather be hurling that frantic energy at some creative endeavor, whether or not it's going to make me instant money that I can spend on groceries and beer.
So without further ado...
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Why I moved to New York...
I've been here over a month and it still hasn't hit me. I mean, really hit me. I guess that's not true. It hits me just about every time I go over the Manhattan Bridge on the way to work. It hits me every time I turn around on Sixth Avenue after getting out of the West 4th Street Subway station and I see the Empire State Building towering above everything else. It hits me when I realize I don't have a car and how much I enjoy that (Yesterday, I bought groceries a short walk from my apartment, Saturday, I did laundry and picked up some things at the hardware store across the street; A car was not involved in either of these things).
I'm trying to take it all in. I'm trying to make sure I remember to stop and smell the roses. I'm trying not to take it all for granted. I'm trying to remember how hard I worked at getting here in the first place. But, I'm also trying to remember why I came here.
So, here it is. Another entry in the series, "Why I moved to New York," or simply "Why NYC?"
I moved here to network. Sure I could have done that in NC. Just the other day I got an add from an NC based production company on two separate social networking sites that I frequent, one of them itself based in NC. I'll probably contact them at some point and check out their work. Since moving here however, I've met two different film makers, another composer and found out that a good piano player friend of mine has moved here too (On a whim! The crazy son of a gun just picked up and came here, and here I sat planning for 9 months!). I also already have a gig lined up writing music for a short film of a friend who goes to NYU. Imagine the networking opportunities there! How many film students do you think will see his film and hear my music?
And also, the luckiest thing of all, the best "right place, right time" story of this whole episode is the job I've been working for the past three weeks. If I get it, it could be the best networking opportunity of all of them. The job with Technicolor is, if I haven't mentioned to you all, a job working as a projectionist for their theater rooms which serve all of their clients who come there for film processing and coloring. These clients have included the likes of Marty Scorsese, Ron Howard, Woody Allen, and various other stars. I saw freakin' Meryl Streep the other day (Didn't meet her though as she was sitting in the theater room watching dailies of her hair and make-up test reel for some movie that is still being filmed). Still, that's just cool.
Anyhow, not to get all star-struck or anything. Point being, this could be invaluable. So, I'm really hoping I get it and I want everyone to be thinking about me in the next week as I cross my fingers. My last day with them is Friday and after that they should let me know soon, hopefully. Meanwhile, a friend that I've made since moving here is going to be on her spring break next week so maybe I'll get a nice break and have someone to show me around the city a little more. And maybe it won't rain every day.
I'm trying to take it all in. I'm trying to make sure I remember to stop and smell the roses. I'm trying not to take it all for granted. I'm trying to remember how hard I worked at getting here in the first place. But, I'm also trying to remember why I came here.
So, here it is. Another entry in the series, "Why I moved to New York," or simply "Why NYC?"
I moved here to network. Sure I could have done that in NC. Just the other day I got an add from an NC based production company on two separate social networking sites that I frequent, one of them itself based in NC. I'll probably contact them at some point and check out their work. Since moving here however, I've met two different film makers, another composer and found out that a good piano player friend of mine has moved here too (On a whim! The crazy son of a gun just picked up and came here, and here I sat planning for 9 months!). I also already have a gig lined up writing music for a short film of a friend who goes to NYU. Imagine the networking opportunities there! How many film students do you think will see his film and hear my music?
And also, the luckiest thing of all, the best "right place, right time" story of this whole episode is the job I've been working for the past three weeks. If I get it, it could be the best networking opportunity of all of them. The job with Technicolor is, if I haven't mentioned to you all, a job working as a projectionist for their theater rooms which serve all of their clients who come there for film processing and coloring. These clients have included the likes of Marty Scorsese, Ron Howard, Woody Allen, and various other stars. I saw freakin' Meryl Streep the other day (Didn't meet her though as she was sitting in the theater room watching dailies of her hair and make-up test reel for some movie that is still being filmed). Still, that's just cool.
Anyhow, not to get all star-struck or anything. Point being, this could be invaluable. So, I'm really hoping I get it and I want everyone to be thinking about me in the next week as I cross my fingers. My last day with them is Friday and after that they should let me know soon, hopefully. Meanwhile, a friend that I've made since moving here is going to be on her spring break next week so maybe I'll get a nice break and have someone to show me around the city a little more. And maybe it won't rain every day.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Driving in the city, a story of frustration and patience
Driving in this city is nothing less than a huge and needless hassle. One with which I came face to face only after I had done most of the driving that I had needed to do. Why? One simple thing: parking. You may have seen the photo in my slide show that I posted, evidence of my desperation to find somewhere to leave that beast of a vehicle, so that I could go to sleep. Despite what you might think, the actual act of driving in this city is not that difficult as long as you keep your wits about you...something I was already doing because of the sheer size and reduced visibility of the vehicle I was driving. Parking a vehicle without paying is damn near impossible because of the number of people who reside here to whom it is necessary to own a car or who still think it's wholly necessary to own a car despite the vast offerings of mass transit in this city.
When I arrived back on my block, back from my cousin's, I found, to my surprise, a spot in front of someone's house and parked there despite the no parking front of driveway sign. Minutes later, from my kitchen, I could hear someone half a block away laying down onto their horn. Immediately, I assumed, they must be looking at the obviously-foreign-to-the-block rental vehicle parked in their usual spot and that they must have wanted me to move ASAP. So I ran down the street in just a sweater to get the car out of the way. Luckily, there was no confrontation but unluckily when I finally did find a spot it was questionable whether it was far enough away from the hydrant, and it was also four blocks away and the snow was just starting to blow in and I was just wearing a sweater, like an idiot.
I planned on keeping the Uhaul until I could use it to transport a dresser that one of Farah's friends was going to sell me. However, the friend got sick with the flu and couldn't meet me to pick it up at his old apartment Monday night (I only had the van until Tuesday). So, I figured I could arrange pick up of that item later and I would just take the Uhaul back when I got off work on Monday.
Well, every Uhaul dealer that I had looked up on the internet was either closed up for the night and I couldn't drop off or they just didn't exist anymore. Frustrated and cussing as I drove around the neighborhood, I decided that I would just take it back the next morning to the one that I did find that was closest.
Grumble though I may and curse though I might at stuff like this, I did find some insight in all of this. The root of most of my frustrations this weekend is not, as I might have wanted to believe, bad luck. Rather, it is impatience and inattentiveness. I bought the wrong ticket because I was probably not paying enough attention and just wanted to get it taken care of. I didn't take the time to print out a proper map of my drive on Sunday because my dad's printer was messing up the google map, so I contented myself with just the directions. Had I printed the map, I might have had something to which I could refer when I got off track, without having to call everyone freaking out. I was so frustrated about the Uhaul because I had been too impatient to really seek out the places where I could have dropped off the van. I mean, actually call them all, and not just one of them, and find out if I would have been able to drop off late at night. I could have saved myself a lot of trouble this weekend if I had only been patient.
And that can stretch to just about every area of my life right now, even composing. Often, the composer's dilemma is that he hears music in his head and immediately wants it to be a full blow piece of music but he must be patient, write down what he hears and take steps to develop it into something musical. And idea is just the beginning. Sometimes he must write something and leave it alone for a while until more inspiration comes.
Incidentally, the same thing could be said for my career, that I have to be patient at it. It could be long stretches of time where it seems like nothing is happening. Surely, something is happening but it won't always be apparent. These are the times I'll need to be patient with myself and just keep doing what I do regardless of my frustrations.
That's enough for now. I think I'm going to do some laundry and run some errands as it's my first full day off of work since I moved into my new apartment. I'll update later about the job and about some rather surprising run-ins earlier this week and yesterday.
When I arrived back on my block, back from my cousin's, I found, to my surprise, a spot in front of someone's house and parked there despite the no parking front of driveway sign. Minutes later, from my kitchen, I could hear someone half a block away laying down onto their horn. Immediately, I assumed, they must be looking at the obviously-foreign-to-the-block rental vehicle parked in their usual spot and that they must have wanted me to move ASAP. So I ran down the street in just a sweater to get the car out of the way. Luckily, there was no confrontation but unluckily when I finally did find a spot it was questionable whether it was far enough away from the hydrant, and it was also four blocks away and the snow was just starting to blow in and I was just wearing a sweater, like an idiot.
I planned on keeping the Uhaul until I could use it to transport a dresser that one of Farah's friends was going to sell me. However, the friend got sick with the flu and couldn't meet me to pick it up at his old apartment Monday night (I only had the van until Tuesday). So, I figured I could arrange pick up of that item later and I would just take the Uhaul back when I got off work on Monday.
Well, every Uhaul dealer that I had looked up on the internet was either closed up for the night and I couldn't drop off or they just didn't exist anymore. Frustrated and cussing as I drove around the neighborhood, I decided that I would just take it back the next morning to the one that I did find that was closest.
Grumble though I may and curse though I might at stuff like this, I did find some insight in all of this. The root of most of my frustrations this weekend is not, as I might have wanted to believe, bad luck. Rather, it is impatience and inattentiveness. I bought the wrong ticket because I was probably not paying enough attention and just wanted to get it taken care of. I didn't take the time to print out a proper map of my drive on Sunday because my dad's printer was messing up the google map, so I contented myself with just the directions. Had I printed the map, I might have had something to which I could refer when I got off track, without having to call everyone freaking out. I was so frustrated about the Uhaul because I had been too impatient to really seek out the places where I could have dropped off the van. I mean, actually call them all, and not just one of them, and find out if I would have been able to drop off late at night. I could have saved myself a lot of trouble this weekend if I had only been patient.
And that can stretch to just about every area of my life right now, even composing. Often, the composer's dilemma is that he hears music in his head and immediately wants it to be a full blow piece of music but he must be patient, write down what he hears and take steps to develop it into something musical. And idea is just the beginning. Sometimes he must write something and leave it alone for a while until more inspiration comes.
Incidentally, the same thing could be said for my career, that I have to be patient at it. It could be long stretches of time where it seems like nothing is happening. Surely, something is happening but it won't always be apparent. These are the times I'll need to be patient with myself and just keep doing what I do regardless of my frustrations.
That's enough for now. I think I'm going to do some laundry and run some errands as it's my first full day off of work since I moved into my new apartment. I'll update later about the job and about some rather surprising run-ins earlier this week and yesterday.
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