There and Back Again

So I’m back in St. Louis.

”At least we’re out of the tree.”

You know, I was sort of living both here and my parents’ place for that nebulous month betwixt Bowling Green and Kansas City. This time, however, I’m not looking to leave the St. Louis area. I’m interested in networking with the local scene, finding a way to do the music thing like I couldn’t do in KC. If you read that sentence three times, you will get a nosebleed.

Besides the job sweep and the wait to hear back from a music job that I should be interviewing for any time now, I’m also going to be keeping busy feeling like a musician again. I’ve started composing for Josh Kalichman’s resources. He has access to pretty much any instrumentation I want, including an Orff ensemble. He has been a church music director in BG pretty much since I left, and only now did we discuss the potential to exploit—er, cater to that. It’s good to feel productive and in demand. In return, I am guaranteed recordings of everything.

As part of the process of settling in, I immediately began scouting for “key locations.” For example, I Googled (and later accidentally drove right past) Picasso’s Coffee in the St. Charles historical district by the Missouri River. Hopefully it will suit my purposes.

Also, Sensei Banks recommended me to a dojo in Ballwin (run by a sensei who also studied under Nishiyama, which is essentially all I ask for), but I doubt I will become a regular there. I’ll go when I can, but it’s a matter of inconvenience. In the mean time, I need a gym membership where I can just use a racquetball room or something.

Church groups can wait (indefinitely). I don’t expect to find anything in the vein of FCGS or Metro here.

I visited my old high school buddy David “Snake” Isgrig, who has been living in the area for quite a while. We’ll be hanging out at least once a week, which is already more social than Kansas City was.

My brother and his wife are pretty busy with Caleb, who’s a month old now. I do what I can, which usually amounts to keeping the dog entertained. They also showed me their new house under construction. I toured a “sample home” to get a feel for what it will look like when it’s finished this summer.

I finally bought The Hobbit and have started reading it for the first time. It’s really good.

Lotta new stuff goin’ on here.