(Untitled)

[e_m_k]

I'm so behind in all of this that nothing that I know I should write about seems relevant anymore... but I still feel like I have to, if only because I like having a record of life. I think this is partially because I don't have a very good memory sometimes, and I worry that I'll forget who I am or where I've been.

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So last month I went to the

Comments

[kishenehn]

I can definitely relate to the family visit. I'm generally very happy with what I am, and what I'm doing, and what I believe ... but when my family's around I get the strong sense that they're either less approving, or that they're just befuddled by it all. Either way, they've become carpetbaggers in my day-to-day life, and trying to integrate them into it is basically pointless, at best.

But so it goes. All for the best, probably.

[john1082]

Family, like fish, smell in three days

[e_m_k]

Well said!

[e_m_k]

Agreed, integration IS almost pointless, and honestly when they're here they only trace the outlines of what my life is. Nevertheless, they feel compelled to attack it for whatever reason. Oh well.

[byzantinespy]

Is there any one Murakami book you would recommend? I've heard his name kicked around for a long time now, but I haven't read anything by him.

[e_m_k]

This is a tough one, because I feel that they are all so different. You might like 'Hard Boiled Wonderland,' although I think that 'Kafka on the Shore' is a good first read too. On the other hand, you might really like 'The Wind-up Bird Chronicles,' but it's probably not worth slogging through 700+ pages off the bat.

[john1082]

I'd like to catch a concert this summer, but not something heavy. Do you folks play a pops schedule?

[e_m_k]

Sadly, we're inactive from near the beginning of June until late August. The musicians mostly go to as many summer festival obligations as we can to try and make ends meet, and survive off savings from the year. I'll be playing in the greater Ojai area next month, and Santa Cruz in August.

[saxyfreaktess]

I'm sorry, we highschoolers are like that now. I am so tired of the disrespect fellow classmates show towards music it makes me sick. All they want to do is screw off and not give a shit till their on the line and even then they still don't fully care. Its so cool you're doing an educational outreach though, I totally wish our bands would do that. And I'm glad you're continuing to write in this, although I just started I cant imagine not continuing after all i've wrote (if you read it you'd understand) and yours has gone on so long! Nice to hear what you've been up to...keep it up!

[e_m_k]

Well, Tillamook is a small town, and I think that the problem is that nobody reached the high schoolers when it was crucial. But I have a good feeling that the elementary schoolers that we worked with will have a better understanding and appreciation for music. I also think that it's just a small part of a national (international maybe?) epidemic of general apathy and sarcasm. Very few of the students that I talked to thought it was important to have something in life that they were deeply or passionately interested in. I don't know entirely how to solve it, but I think it explains in part why so many young people are depressed.

ANYWAY - I'm going way off on a tangent. Nice to hear from you!

[saxyfreaktess]

I dont think there is anyway to solve it. I have a deep passion for music (and sports) but yet I have managed to become depressed and no passion of mine could pull me out of it either. But then again, the cases change for evey person. Its shocking that you say very few have strong interests, it absolutely stuns me how lame kids are becoming. But on the positive, there are still some that have the drive and passion to become someone. I hope to someday. Wow, I think we could sit and talk of this for days... Its great hearing back from you and I am counting down the days to band camp (71, obsess much?) I really want to make wind ensemble this next year so I have to pull my act together so I can pass the sight reading (you know how great I sightread.... ) Until then-

[ironwrought]

My family is at arm's length, which keeps me out of their drama, or at least I'm unaware that my name ever even comes up. But even spending the day with them on their turf is a trying thing, if for no other reason than I've outgrown the suburban conservatism I was raised with and now it's just painful to listen them talking about the things they believe in. (at a dinner last year, my aunt confided in me "Obama is a Muslim", which aside from being untrue, isn't something I find relevant. It was amusingly ironic coming from a Catholic though.)

I think the important thing is that you survive these encounters with them intact.

Considering your remarks, I think school is probably the worst place to try and reach high schoolers. Just you being there probably lowers their estimation of how worthy of their time you are.

[saxyfreaktess]

Thats not necessarily true. It is not him showing up that lowers their estimation it's the tasks being done and such. Being a highschooler myself, I try to introduce positiveness for music and learning experiences by helping students not judge and participate. And also, not a lot of students judge how worthy people are of their time, it's more of them not wanting to participate from a haughty, arrogance of themself instead.

[ironwrought]

I was a highschooler myself once, and I know some people who were themselves 2-3 years ago, and I have to say, you're the exception rather than the rule. It's more reflective of how our schools lack credibility, not Evan or music.

Anyway, I wasn't trying to be a downer, I was trying to suggest there may be better places to reach people of high school age. Unfortunately I'm not prepared to make a suggestion as to where would be better.

[saxyfreaktess]

:) ok then. yeah, i have 3 painful years left... i just wish our band would do this!