Back online!

Ok, so it's been a long time, so what? I had a busy & rough few months in my personal affairs. Since the last post I have been de-girlfriended. After a laborious summer, frustrating to the both of us, Tatiana and I elected to cash in the chips & go our separate ways. It was a relief, but very sad and not easy to do, and she's a wonderful girl who's not easy to let go of. I hope I can maintain at least a semi-close friendship with her over time, and that I can remain gracious & a gentle-man in dealing with our transitional phase. And that's all I have to say about that.

In September I began what I knew would be my final year at MCC, but it's turned out to be possibly my final semester there as well. Yesterday I went out yet again to visit SUNY Fredonia, my primary perspective college of transfer . My fellow jack-ass friend TJ, accompanied me. The purpose of our trip was two-fold: so TJ could meet the sax professor and look around the music building, and so I could get a lesson with the trombone professor. By having this lesson he gets to hear me before an audition, and make some playing suggestions. When I go back to audition and he hears his suggestions implemented & various improvements made, it would likely give me a leg up. Pretty shifty, huh? Well, Kilpatrick, the trombone guy, liked what he heard, and heavily recommended that I audition as soon as Dec. 6th, for admission this spring! He mentioned "bass trombone" multiple times, and I was painted a clear picture. He said that the school wasn't "swimming in trombonists," and that his only bass trombone principal is graduating this fall. His desire to have me start there immediately and groom me into this fellow's successor was fairly apparent to me. The only other bass 'bonist is a euphonium player, so it's not even her primary instrument. If I wind up there this spring I'd be surprised if a bass trombone weren't thrust into my hands before the end of the semester. Another great result of this lesson was a lengthy talk on embouchure and my afterwards being able to play a solid, nice-sounding high A. Range is good. (Loud is good too.) Lastly, a friend who went there informed me that as a bass trombonist, I'd play my face off. The school will only have 1 or 2 actual bass bone players (most likely I'd be the only one though) & they're heavily in demand, so I'll be kept pretty damned busy, but it'd probably be good for me.

When I told Kirk, he was about as excited as I, since he's been pushing me to bust my ass and get my degrees. As I suspected, he told me not to even worry about the lease at ol' B-18 and to just go for it while it's hot. He maintains that if the trombone teacher wants me out there now, to take him up on it.

The only thing that could throw a wrench in the works is if the college is full & they don't accept any transfers for the spring. It's already pushing late October, after all. But I'm going to apply early this coming week, and start playing my ass off to get my audition pieces ready (which I'll also need for recital & jury at MCC). The worst that can happen is that I'll have to wait till fall, but at least all my paper-work & audition will be done. But I'm really excited. Psyched, actually! At first I thought it may be better to finish the music sequence at MCC, but now I say "fuck that noise, yo!" If this can be done, it'd be the best thing for me. Although it could be a lonely start to the spring, as I won't know a soul there. But to hell with it. I will run this situation by Mr. Shaw at school to see if he can come up with any truly compelling reasons why I'd want to turn this opportunity down. I bet he can't though.... this prospect looks like a winner.

So to summarize:

•I'm back
•no girl-friend
•yes trombone
•maybe Fredonia in the spring
•will be a busy bass 'boner.

Check ya later, kids.