A Good Lighter

Jon and Carey Kruetz are moving to Connecticut. Jon is actually already there, and has been for a while; Carey is staying in KC just long enough to sell the house. The dojo will be much emptier without them. I met them (and they met each other) at the Shotokan Karate Club at Truman. It’s probably only a matter of time before I, too, head for New England.

I am starting to approach something that resembles decent balance and time management. I have a white-collar job with normal human being hours. I’m composing music, instead of thinking about composing music. I’m replaying Final Fantasy VII a little bit each night. I read during my lunch break. I’ve surrendered completely to the karate routine. Unfortunately, I have to postpone relearning Japanese for a while.

Simplify, simplify. That’s the key to contentment… (insert reference to Calvin & Hobbes… “I hate it when they look at me that way.”) The rest will figure itself out, I guess. Who knows… in a few months, I could be living in St. Charles after this office project ends. By March, I could even be living with the K-man in Bowling Green for a few weeks or more, since he invited me to be his roommate with all the extra space he has now (wow, that was a badly written sentence). I’m gradually working out a plan for the next year, taking stock of who I know from BG and what they’re doing. I may end up going into music publishing. I would like to be somehow affiliated with a university just to have that environment (lots and lots of performers around). I may end up joining ranks with Aaron Marx, Noah Taylor, or Scott Blanchard. I could “settle down” for the next several years in Ohio, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, North Carolina, or even Australia. Maybe someday I’ll have a cottage in the woods with a Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Tobey. Who knows. My head is spinning from the possibilities.

I had better figure it out over the winter, though. I feel like I need to make a major career move, a major life choice—and soon, or I’m going to be left behind. That’s ludicrous, of course. I’m here in Kansas City for reasons that are being fulfilled.

My friend Sarah Ashcraft said in an email: Sometimes the path from A to B shouldn’t be straight. It’s more fun on the curves, and you end up learning more about yourself/what is important to you. Enjoy what you can.

Whatever happens, happens temporarily. Ah, such an adventurous, yet humble life... that’s what you get for choosing music as a profession. For now, at least, I’m safe. I’m kind of just along for the ride. I’ll keep doing my thing, and you keep doing yours.

See you around.