Monday, Dvorak, and being Inspired

Monday, Oct. 04, 2004 at 2:02 p.m.

I just had my Sensation and Perception exam.. Eh. The Prof was right though - it isn't the kind of material that you can study the night before the exam and expect to do really well on. I don't think I completely blew it, as it was only about the first third of the exam that really gave me a problem... But suffice it to say that I'll heed his advice for the next one. God, what a bitch.

At least I only have one more class today though. Too bad it's not til 4:15!! I don't know what I'll do for the next 2 hours. I don't have any of my books with me...

Joe gave me Dvorak's "Slavonic Dances" disc to listen to.. incredible! (Um... for those of you unfamiliar with Antonin Dvorak, he was an 'orchestral' composer. Read: Classical) It's beautiful though. It's really kind of inspired me and put me in a beautiful mood today.

I think I'm ready to take up piano again. Part of what's stopping me are really silly reasons.. 2 of them, actually. The first is not SO silly - I don't have a piano to practice on. But I could easily get a wicked good keyboard (Daddy is always looking for something specific that I want for Christmas/my birthday/etc, and even though a really top-line one would cost between $1000-2000, even if he just gave me SOME money towards it, I could get one) And, oh yeah, UAlbany HAS a music department. I could go to one of the practice rooms with the piano in it, if I chose. The second reason, the silly one, is that.. I don't know. I'm always afraid of failure. Kind of stupid when it comes down to something I've always loved though, huh? I guess it's like, I'm half expecting that at least initially, I should start remembering some of the things I learned years ago when I first started taking piano lessons. But then I know there's so many kids who are half my age who will always be better than me... Which in itself is a dumb thing to worry about anyway, because my goal of taking up piano again is strictly this: To learn classical piano, and then from there jump to jazz piano, since most of my favorite jazz musicians are pianists. I don't want to 'play out' (gig) or anything like that. But I can't help but think that it would be nice to learn how to do something I love so much, plus being able just to play, and maybe evening playing with Joe eventually. (In the comfort of our own home)

I'm also, incidently, debating about whether or not to take up dance again as well. I'd really, really, love to do tap again. Tap and jazz were the two things I loved most when I was little (alongside music), so they're the most logical to pick up.

Of course, this also leads to me thinking about getting a second job. Just something on the evenings during the week, doesn't have to be fancy. 'Cause I can get money/gift certificates from friends and family to put towards lessons. But I really need to take care of my credit issues ASAP, and if that means working a second job, then so be it. Besides, it'll force me to manage my time better, and from past experience alone, I do work better when I HAVE to, when I'm under pressure. So we'll see about that!

OK. Nothing else is too exciting to talk about. Hope everyone is having a good Monday!

Much Love,
YjaxieY

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