Boston, Music and the Pursuit of Happiness

Its been a while since my last update. I've been applying to music schools; indeed I auditioned at Berklee College of Music a fourtnight ago. It was an interesting experience, with the College balancing brilliance with chaos as I had expected. Our tour guide, slim and pale he was the archtyptal music nerd, related how he just cought a cold on the way from the dorm to the admissions office. This has given me pause to look firsthand at the life of a musician should I become one. I would be able to finally find out what I'm made of, see if all my supposed musical insights are valid and get some music done. I know I've potential, I'm not looking for validation. What bothers me is that the audition was all over so quickly; I played my two pieces (Given to Fly and an original work), took the ear test, jammed blues in E, gave it my all and hardly a word out of the examiner. Such is life.

Boston seemed like a great city, the same impression I got visiting seven years ago. The streets were wide and clean, the people were friendly and from our cabbie's radio station, pleasantly eccentric when it came to footbal (go Patriots!). Berklee doesn't have a campus per se, rather scattered buildings here and there, but there were loads of music stores with it must be said spectacular selection of guitar makes & models. An assortment of student coffeshops and dives were evident, and the presence of tall office buildings promised wealth and power to hardworking students (always important in cold climes to keep away a suicidal impulse). I got a great vibe from the recording studios and practice rooms at Berklee, and the performance hall looked stunning.

Would my life change, if I became a proffessional musician? Now I shall get philosophical as I am wont to do. The key difference is this: a musician's future is in the present. Don't worry about what you'll do tomorrow, but think of what you're doing today, look at it from all possible angles. Musicians are leaders without mandate. If you want to change the world, you are either a musician and/or music itself. Before my audition, my dad & I had seafood at a local restaurant, Summer Shack. I was preoccupied with tomorrow's audition and was looking for sustanance, but when we sat down it became just a night in Boston with good company, and pretty soon I felt like I was already at Berklee.
The rush of travelling to Boston has not yet worn off; my hope, weather true or fanciful, shall keep me through the dark days of winter.