As Promised

I can't believe the year is basically over. Wow...Where did the time go?

I promised a big entry, so here we go!


Semester One of Eight:

My first semester at Berklee was pretty good. I met a lot of great people, made a lot of great friends, and jammed with some really awesome musicians. I need to work on Ear Training a lot more this next semester. That was definitely my weakness. I also didn't jam enough. Need to do more of that. Networking as well. I also want to go to the Songwriting club more often, and by more often I mean actually go. I signed up at the beginning of the year with a friend and we had planned to go together, but it didn't happen. We also planned on starting a band, that didn't happen, either. Anyway.

One Wednesday evening in October, I went to the Music Business Gala thing. It wasn't a gala, but I can't remember exactly what it was called. Chris Carlson (here's his blog, good stuff), the President of the Music Business Club at Berklee gave a little speech. I already wanted to join the Music Business Club, but Chris's speech made me feel like I had to join it. So I did, and I met even more awesome people and learned a lot, too. A lot of kids in college were once (like me) overly-involved in high school. Sports, student government, community service, National Honors Society, etc... But once they get to college, they stop doing that sort of stuff. I didn't want that to happen to me, and it did at first, but like most things, I fixed it.

I think the highlight of my semester wasn't even related to Berklee. I went to eight Red Sox games. Eight. That's a lot for someone without season tickets. The John Mayer thing was pretty cool, too, but lately I haven't been Mr. Mayer's biggest fan. Nonetheless, his clinic rocked, but the Sox games were great. I went to seven of them alone, but you're not really alone at Fenway. There are 39,927 other people there. And I'm not even counting the staff or the players.

I didn't write as much as I would have liked to. I only wrote one song really. Lots of ideas, but they were just ideas. That's another thing I need to work on.

(I'll put a whole list of goals/resolutions/things to do at the end of this. I will also write them down. Goals are manifested by being written down. Anyone can talk about doing stuff, but how many actually do it? My guess is not many. I'll admit to being a bit of a talker (not a close-talker like in Seinfeld), but I say I'm gonna do stuff, and I don't do it. Well, that's gonna change, too.)

I saw a fair amount of shows at Berklee, too. Oh yeah, and they were amazing and either free or two dollars. Can't complain there!

Here are the "Academic" Berklee Resolutions/Goals:

--Spend an hour a day at a piano
--Practice Ear Training daily
--Get all A's
--Play more guitar. Let's shoot for an hour a day--at least.

Here are the "Non-Academic" Berklee Resolutions/Goals:

--Get a band together. First thing.
--Write a song a day.
--Meet two new people a week.
--Actually GO to the Songwriters Club at least once a month
--Keep my room as clean as I have been


Looking back, 2008 was a damn good year. Between all the concerts (Elton John, Alicia Keys, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, John Mayer, Bruce Springsteen, the Who, and all the Berklee shows), the Red Sox games (eleven total, counting the three over the summer), and traveling, it rocked. As I said earlier, I met some really awesome people, and Berklee was good. I really can't complain.

As for non-Berklee Resolutions/Goals:

--Run three days a week; workout twice a week
--Eat healthier
--Look/Feel my best everyday
--Sleep better (haha)
--Find a good, upcoming artist every week
--Twitter better

I'll think of some more, I'm sure, but for now, I'll stick to those.

Happy New Year!