This is what I decided to do after Graduate School. . .

So, I recently received a Master of Music in Cello Pedagogy. For the 99% of people that don't know that last word, it's the art of teaching. In this case, it is the art of teaching cello. Graduate school was lovely, and. . . well, actually, it was just really stressful, and at times left me wishing I were dead. I know, I'm a total emo-tard. I did learn a lot of things in graduate school. . . most of which were about myself as opposed to the art of teaching the cello.

I do not want to work at one job for 40 hours a week. Ever.

I actually already knew this about myself. . . that I don't find a 40 hour work week acceptable. 25 hours? That is acceptable. This is a realization I had in my early 20's. When I was in school I worked nearly full time and attended school full time. Which was a lot of work, but also, a variety of work. I thought there would be no problem entering the world with they typical 40 hour job, especially working in music. I was kind of bummed to find cello was no exception for me. sad. *sigh*

At Gold Bluffs Beach.

I am just beginning to discover who I am and what I want.

Fuck, I'm 33 years old and have no idea who that person is in the mirror. I always thought I would learn so much about myself and somehow thought that one day I would wake up feeling "grown up" through my college years. But I didn't. I just studied and stressed out, and twenty damn years later, I still feel like a stupid 13 year old kid.

The good news is that the stars seem to have aligned themselves as it were, affording me a much larger flexibility in my life. A flexibility that has provided me the space to think slower and more thoroughly. And one day about three or so months ago I thought, "I think need to get out of Boise for a bit." The best part was, I realized I could totally do that, and in a very reasonable manner because. . . 

I don't mind being poor. One of my favorite things to eat is beans and rice. good+ cheap=RAD!

I do not currently have a partner. I don't know that I could bring myself to leave my partner for extended months. So, even though my bed is colder in the winter, I feel like this is a really good thing for me.

My employer actually cares about self improvement and discovery. Besides teaching a little bit of cello, I work at a great little hole in the wall pizza job that has incredible flexibility in scheduling, so I could leave for months and still have my job and shifts intact. Thank you,  Guido's Pizzeria.  If anyone reading this is in Boise, you should eat there. Despite my intolerance for gluten, Guido's is still my favorite pizza, and they have always treated me well. They rule, and their business practice rules.  Go. Now.

So I decided to work in my friend's hostel for two months.

My friend Brandon Follett is quite the character. He is a super goof. And so great. Sometimes I think he has more stories and adventures in his memory banks than the library does. He now owns the Bridge Street Inn, a hostel in Cambria, CA. In order to help him maintain his madness in just the right order, he hires interns that can work 1-2 months at a time. Volunteers work about 15 hours a week in exchange for housing, and are required to do something (anything!) creative while you are in residence. So, I decided that I would load up the car with my sewing machine, cello, guitar, a borrowed looper and amplifier. Thank you to Dave Manion for loaning me your looper, and also thank you to Thomas Paul for the amp. If you are in the market for a guitar teacher or badass performers, these guys are both great. You can find them both at Old Boise Music Studios, along with other great musicians in the Boise area. Thomas also writes really great songs. You should check him out.

I, of course decided to throw just one extra thing on my plate and write a blog about this experience per the suggestion of my friend, Ted Apel. Ted is a brilliant electronic musician, and he is about a million times smarter than me, so I pretty much do anything he tells me to do, which hasn't failed me yet.  Right now Ted has an installation at Enso Artspace that will be up until October 11th. You should totally go. At least go for me, because I can't. 

Hey, I know some pretty great people in Boise. I love that town.

So, yeah. I guess that was a really long way of telling you that this silly little blog is my way of sharing my thoughts and adventures with you for the next two months. And I suppose I didn't even have to tell you all of that, especially because most of the people that might be wasting minutes of their time reading my rambling drivel already knows this. . .