The Now-Annual Placeholder Post

Long day today. Terrible day for blogging. Sometimes the end of the semester clubs you over the head, and other times it's death by a thousand cuts. It's the latter case this time around: no big projects or papers, no flurry of recitals or gigs, just a seemingly endless list of one-time menial tasks (like, uh, writing a blog entry every day for a month). I have to admit, though, that it beats the alternative. Overcommitment is a problem all college music students face at some point, but I have to think CalArts is about the most dangerous place for it ever created. There is a clear pattern among the MFA students: smorgasbord first year, retrenchment second year. Guilty as charged, I am. It was a productive semester, though, and this is where I'm supposed to say I can't believe how quickly three semesters passed and I can't believe there's only one left. Actually, I can totally believe it. The school year runs from September to May; two years of school is bound to feel like less than two calendar years because, well, it is. That's as much a reason as any why I didn't apply to masters programs my last year of college, and why I'm not applying to doctoral programs right now. It can ruin your entire school year. I'm suspect I'm watching it happen to a couple of folks right now, unfortunately. Too bad. There will be plenty of time for that kind of thing after I've squeezed every last drop out of this this place. It's privilege that a lot of people don't have, and I wish more people here behaved that way.