Out of all the different art forms, I have to say that poets and musicians have the highest hit ratio of being "not quite right in the mind."  One of my favorite musicians, Jeff Buckley,I found out two weeks ago was a classic NYC drunk musician.  My current guitar instructor would go to venues where Buckley would play, and as the night went on, he would just keep playing while getting drunker and drunker.  Then finally while he was recording an album down south, he got drunk one night and took a bet to "swim" in the Mississipi river.  Guess what happened to him?

Elliot Smith, depressed and killed himself.  Kurt Kobain, took one too many drugs and killed himself.  Sid Vicious, also took one too many drugs and killed himself.  I see a pattern.  Hendrix had nine sleeping pills in one night with lots of alcohol.  Elvis, need I say more?  Drugs + Musicians = High Percentage of Suicide.  I still have yet to figure out why people think drugs are a good idea.

Then just today, i found out that one of my favorite french band, Noir Desir, the lead singer/band leader was in jail for the past four years for manslaughter because he punched his girlfriend, famous french actress Marie Trintignant, one too many times, putting her in a coma, and she died a few days later.  WTF!?

*sigh*  Must great art marry great tragedy?
My only consolation is that most musicians do survive. 

*groan* i have a terrible head ache right now. I need sleeeeep.  I slept five hours last night cause I had to get up really early in the morning so I could mix sound for church, which was uber fun as it always is.  I love live sound cause it's the one time I can mix and not have to worry about the long term outcome.  Once I'm done, I'm done.  Whereas when I'm mixing for a recording, I'm slaving over every detail and I spend hour upon hours just listening to the same thing.  It's fun, but it can be a bit tedious sometimes.  Live mixing is my destresser.  Unless something goes terribly wrong of course as technology does tend to get at times.

Funny enough, mixing sometimes makes you tune out from all the words cause you have to pay so much attention to the balance of the sound.  A lot of times, I'm only listening to frequencies and trying to pinpoint odd freqs here and there so I can get rid of it.  But usually by the second song, I've got a good grasp of things and I tweak it very little through out the rest of the time.  I just make sure the actual levels are all right, and I ride the faders (lower or up the levels) when I feel like dynamics need a little more punch.

Man, I'm such a nerd.  All my posts are about sound.  @_@  I can't help it since I spend most of my days in front of my computer programming music, WHICH IS WHY I HAVE SUCH A BIG HEADACHE!  @_@  *faints*  I just finished some preproduction work (arranging stuff), and I'm so excited for my studio session on Friday.  Hopefully I can get my prof to play accordion for our session cause he's really good.

On the other hand, good news.  I got another song written today with the help of my friend Chris.  Woohoo!  We're gonna play a show on friday.  Yes...session and gig are both are friday.  Ack!

I go from studio session to gig, and possibly back to studio session again. @_@  Paaaaain!  Fun! but painful.

Also, in the span of next week alone, I also have to score and program an entire 20 min short film.  The week after, I have to finish a final research paper and study for a huge psychology final.  Lots of prayers people.  I'm gonna need it if I want sleep.

Oh my goodness, it's sooooo cold outside.  I could not believe it.  I was in most of the morning programming stuff for my take home assignment, which is part of my final for Programming Class.  So at the apartment, it's all warm and cozy cause I've got my heater, and I drink tea like a mad woman.  (Tangent: I bought these Mango Black Teas that are just soooo delicious.  I'm in love with it.  I can't stop drinking them.)  Anyways, I dress up in my new Holister jacket, which has soft teddy bear (not the real teddy bears) fur in it, and I thought it would be enough to keep me relatively warm through the day cause I've worn it for the past 3 days and had no problems with it.

So as the day wore on, It just got colder and colder, and I was like "How is it this cold?" and I got home and checked the weather.  It was 27 degrees, and accounting wind speed, it was like 17 degrees outside.  Eek!  I really hope I don't get sick because that would be awful especially just before Finals.  I'm slightly worried, but I think I'll be okay.  My friend Julian let me borrow a windbreaker and scarf on the way home, so that made me much warmer.

Anyways, aside from the weather, I had a relatively nice day.  I performed at this Air Guitaring Competition (though I didn't air guitar), and did three songs.  One of which I just finished writing last night.  I wrote bridge two nights ago, and did the final verse last night.  It's great!  I'm so excited because it's seriously THE best bridge I've ever written and I'm really proud of it.  Of course, five months down the line, I may not think anything of it, but for now, it's my personal baby.  It's also Donovan's Christmas present, so that's exciting that I get to work on that for him as a recording and/or video. :D  Anyhoo, I didn't perform my best today cause I got a bit nervous, but I think people still enjoyed it overall.  And I did get a complement on the bridge!!!(that was the most exciting part)

Anyways, busy day.  I still have more to tell.

I did preproduction/just recording and listening to Grace and Julian (the band that I manage but also will be recording and producing in the studio) with Alan (my project partner) around 6ish.  Then after that, I ate dinner, and met up with the photographer that's going to shoot for Grace and Julian tomorrow.  Adam, the photographer is the roommate of John Lui, who is a great friend of mine from church.  Anyways, Adam is one of the nicest guys I've ever met.  He's 28 and he just has all these really fascinating tales.  I'm slightly jealous cause he's got immaculate skin, he's so easy going, and he can take beautiful photograph.  And I wish I was all those things.  Well, we picked out wardrobe for both Grace and Julian, and now I'm back in my apartment.  That was my day!

Now, I'm gonna brew more tea, and do a nice long bible study to unwind the day.  Sleep heavenly tonight for tomorrow will be another adventurous day of sound mixing and song writing.  Will write more tomorrow.

My Christmas Wish List

-Socks (ones that are useful and not furry though they are fun)
-A sturdy backpack that's not too big or too small
-HP Vivera Ink (92 and 93s)
-A Polaroid Camera and some film to go with it
-Thermal Undergarment
-A cookbook that you think I would like
-Hugs and Loving
-For Everyone to be Happy and Love Each Other

I'm looking at the calendar, and I have 20 days exactly until I go back to Texas again.  In retrospect, I've gained a lot of grounds this year musically and I've progressed quite a bit in school in my opinion.  I feel like I've learned much more in this semester than I did all of last year, but more than ever, I've been feeling homesick.  After a whole summer of fun, all I want is to go back to warm weather, good friends, and family dinners.  There are some terrific people here in NY, but the city is so damn cold, and in more ways than one.  Even when you want to spend ample amount of time with your friends, you can't because everyone has different schedules and it all has to line up.  The people I see most constantly are the people in my classes, but as far as personality goes, there are only few people that I'm compatible with (to be really good friends is what I mean).

So here I am, on a lonely, freezing friday night writing a journal entry, counting down to the day I would pack up and leave this city for a real home.  No, New York is no glamour city.  It just has a nice outfits and makeup, kind of like models.  When dressed up, they look wonderful, but when bare without makeup or clothes, there's really not much to look at.

No matter, It's time for me to work on more music.  I'm being called in for an interview on Dec. 19th for work at a post-production studio.  At last, good news.