The Kansas In Him

I've been out of school for 6 months now.  I went back to Boston earlier this week for a lesson and to grab some things from my old house, and I figure this is a good time for a progress report.

Subject: Studio Cello
Instructor: Self
Grade: C+

Being out of school is much harder than I thought it would be.  My idyllic post-grad school freelance life included the occasional (or more than occasional) gig and a vast expanse of free time taken up by focused and diligent practice purely for the sake of self-improvement and learning repertoire I want to learn.  As it turns out, that's not the case.  I thought this would be easier.  I've spent a lot of time rationalizing this, and the most popular excuse is that I needed some time to detox from the intensity and expectation of the last 4 or 6 years.  I think it's time for detox to be over.

The truth is, I need audition experience.  I'm going to Charlotte in a week, and i'm not all that prepared or psyched up about the audition.  I have a week left to prepare and make the best of it, because when an audition comes up that I feel strongly about, I want to know how i'm going to react.  It's been frustrating forcing myself to practice excerpts and the Dvorak/Bach combo for the last month while i'd rather be learning fun stuff like Lutoslawski or Zimmermann or Berio.  The balance has not been found yet between excerpts and "fun music" but I think i'm starting to realize that I need both to excel at either.  Going to Boston was a big help for me to realize this; I had a lesson with my old teacher and I needed that wake-up call.  I had gotten lazy with the basics and I already feel much more confident that i'm listening more closely to myself and actively participating in my praciticing!!!!
Sheesh. Enough shop talk.

Subject: Home Economics
Instructor: Oscar
Grade: A
I'm pretty good at playing with the cat and cleaning up after him.  We have a vacuum now with makes his fits in the litter box easier to manage.  Also i'm pretty good at using the crock pot. Who knew?
Basically, i'm training for a career as a stay-at-home dad.

Subject: Personal Finance
Instructor: iWork '09
Grade: B
I know exactly how much money I spend and what I spend it on. Awesome.
I also know exactly how much money I make and how long it takes for me to make that money go *poof.*  Slightly less than awesome.

Well, that was uplifting for me in a depressing sort of way.  Maybe playing scales will make me feel better.