CCC

Columbia is alright I guess, I mean this is my second year here and i've had some fun. Last year was great because I was living with a band I was playing with over in the wicker park area and it was just a lot of fun. we rock'n'rolled, partied, fucked things up but we also took two things very seriously. Despite all the craziness we took part in we also really wanted to learn and do good in school and also get our band launched as a legitimate touring force. We were all totally excited about pursuing our education and working really hard to do well but sometimes that was also hard because to be perfectly honest we really just wanted our band to go somewhere because we all were so sure it would. We had been told all throughout highschool by everyone that we were destined to be a world famous band and with our first studio album and out of state gigs behind us we thought we were almost there. We had a massive following, literally thousands of myspace friends and we had just moved to chicago from our home town in the suburbs to finally make it happen. we had made the commitment and we were ready to see it through. This is why I hate columbia, it is the reason that my band broke up. Suddenly we were too busy with school and whatnot to make things happen. needless to say the shows stopped, the creativity was silenced and we were disintegrating slowly. this was a truly sad thing for me. This year my former band/roomates are in montana for school due to their willingness to study different things in different places. Unfortunately for me, what I want to study is not offered at missoula in montana, where they now currently are enrolled. It just wasn't a possibility for me. We simply could not manage the feat of being a serious band and going to college at the same time. Since then it has been hard to even concentrate on school or academics, which were never really my strong suit in the first place. However, I don't think that my lack of things to say about columbia as far as academics is a bad thing because for me my experience so far has been so much more than that. I mean of course I've taken some really sweet classes for my major (Audio Arts and Acoustics concentration audio design and production) that i really really enjoyed. They were definitely something that will truly help me with what I want to do with my life. Which is not really be a recording engineer and record bands all day long, but what I want to do is make music. I am a musician ,and also i feel, somewhat of a creative artist, and I desire to be able to make great sounding recordings of awesome rock'nroll because i see no other way. I am excited to learn as much as i possibly can about recording techniques and skills because it is something that brings me more joy than anything else. I love the feeling of writing a song and piecing together the different parts on each instrument and just making it rock. Recording and modern audio equipment gives us more and more room to experiment as time goes on and i am so happy to be a part of such an awesome time for independent musicians. This aspect of columbia was fantastic and i am so looking forward to expanding my knowledge as far as audio. then there are the dreaded gen eds. I mean yeah i've had some sweet gen eds and really cool teachers so far but some of them haven't been so sweet. at all. But I mean i wish i could get more of the classes i want and not have them all filled up in oasis and shit. that shit sucks. yeah but i mean i really just have a hard time in my gen eds when i don't really enjoy them because it suck, you know. I don't like writing papers and the workload is so much and (chet, don't worry, not you, our class rocks and is totally legit.) and all the stuff that is so hard like math and reading all these long books  is hard when i've got dreams that don't deal with that stuff you know. it is so difficult to manage, especially when you consider how not very intelligent i am. I don't quite meat the specs of a brightest crayon in the box type. college is actually hard for me. it totally sucks cause i kn ow lots of people all around me will laugh and mock at how easy classes are for them. "this is just like highschool" they'll say. or junior high. Unfortunately for me it is not. I have a hard time despite how hard i work. and working hard is hard for me to begin with but i try and and try some more. I guess i really just have a hard time when i get last pick of classes and get stuck with some crappy gen eds or when i have to do some of the requirements that aren't exactly my cup of tea. I just try to remind myself not to get too stressed out about school and life and money and the whole "oh my, but what will you do, where are you going to work, whats your plan in life?" thing. It's like icelandic singer Bjork says, or sings i suppose..... "I don't know my future after this weekend, and I don't want to." I just don't exactly know what i am doing in life. I am a lost cause. totally unaware of how to get by. I don't have any real aspirations other than to find new bandmates for now. that's all i'm really concerned with. Columbia is great but it would be better if i was back in the studio or on the stage with new musician friends eager to join in the totally ecstacy that is making music in a rock'nroll band. I am desperately looking for people to help support my solo act. If columbia had provided me that then it would be perfect. Til then i'll keep looking. I really think the most valuable part of life at columbia is just the life experiences you know, the school is great and important and i love it, sure, but the life experiences are important too. and i love them too. It's the whole package. It's life, darling, and its magical. Enjoy it wherever you are. columbia or otherwise. it's all fun, don't you think?