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About This Author
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La Bene Vita
I am a professional musician  , worship leader , small business owner , songwriter , aspiring author and freelance nonfiction writer with a chemical engineering degree .
But that's just my resume.
My profile of qualifications is only one of the ways in which I am unique. Here I chronicle my personal and professional goals and my efforts to achieve them. Occasionally I fail. Mostly, I take daily baby steps toward all my long-term goals. Much like the stories I pen, the songs I compose, and the businesses I run, I am always a work in progress.
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I'm so sorry! I hate blog posts like this! So I'll keep it short.
Blah.
I took off work today, though I'm playing the Mexican restaurant tonight. I've done exactly zero with the time off. Tomorrow, I have to work. Friday, I'm taking off. Saturday, I want to work. Sunday is church, then I'm on vacation! Except for Ohio Idol next Tuesday. And Senor Patron Wednesday night. And a staff meeting and work day Friday morning. But other than that, I'm on vacation. |
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C'mon, lagging enrollment counts! At this point, I'll be happy to clear 250 again. We're at 247, where we've been for what seems like forever.
I am BURNED OUT. I am so very much looking forward to break next week... and then we don't have another one until Thanksgiving. My parents are coming, we'll have the kids, we're camping, and I have one MTMS workday to plan and one Ohio Idol judging day already planned. It doesn't seem like much of a break. I'd like to work on websites, but I don't have reliable WiFi at the campsite, and I'll have all these people around. The trouble is, I can't work on big projects like that without big, uninterrupted chunks of time. They don't exist in my life except during breaks, but I have to spend that time with family, because I need big, uninterrupted chunks of time for that, too.
I'm going to start taking Fridays off again. Especially now that Senor Patron has moved to Wednesdays; Friday will be a legitimate, nowhere-at-all-to-go, day off. I may take Saturdays off, too, on non-summer camp weeks. Fridays will be work-at-home days. Saturdays will be hang-with-family days.
...and I'm going to lose 30 pounds this summer. And hell is going to freeze over due to the flapping of all the wings. You know. From the flying pigs. |
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Must learn some Harry Connick Jr. by my 6pm gig tomorrow (Sunday) sans piano or big band (neither of which the client has on hand, and neither of which will fit into my Jeep.) I'm not sure what that's going to sound like on a guitar, but when I figure it out, I'll let you know.
Speaking of new music, I've been on an Elton John kick, which I haven't done since... oh, senior year of high school? Primarily on piano. I'm also trying to learn requested "I Don't Want to Wait" by Paula Cole; it sounds fantastic on a piano, but I'm working out the translation to guitar, again, for portability's sake. That stupid piano just won't fit in the Jeep (especially alongside the new sound system I just purchased!), and I'm afraid the wheels will break off if I try to tow it.
On a related note, my weekly Senor Patron gig is moving from Fridays at lunch to Wednesday nights effective next week, so I ought to see a much better crowd (and a slightly higher paycheck.) I'd still like to find a lunch gig closer to the music school for branding purposes. Much like I'd like to create a custom database for the school, update the websites for the school and church, and implement about fifty neat-o ideas I stole on Pinterest.
Alas, I'm too busy trying to get enrollments back up over 245. At least I'm writing. And learning new music. And gigging. Especially that last one, because it pays the bills, seeing as how enrollments are so ridiculously low. Pardon me while I go play with my new sound system.
Did I mention I got a new sound system?  |
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In high school, I had a boyfriend who used to make me raise my right hand and repeat after him:
"I am competitive."
It's sad, really. I'm generally a nice person, and I try to do the right thing, but I've always measured my successes against competitors' failures. I suppose that's good for a capitalist entrepreneur. It's bad for an aspiring author, though. Because it's the reason I stopped competing. I got tired of not winning.
We need more competitions like the Prep (preparatory NaNoWriMo challenge I run in October.) First, because I created it, so it must be good. </arrogance> Second, because I need tests of endurance and dedication to keep me in the game. Third, at least if I'm writing, I can still get reviews with helpful feedback. "You win" vs. "you didn't win" doesn't tell me anything about the marketability of my writing.
I'm interested in marketability at the moment. I don't believe in the "write for yourself" dribble that heartbroken twenty-time publishing-house rejectees swear by. I do agree with the recent trend toward self-publishing, but that doesn't mean I'm going to write whatever junk comes out of my head and try to sell it. I'm a businesswoman long before I'm an artist of any kind, which means I care about the sale, and I want to know what resonates with audiences rather than what feels good to get out of my heart and onto a piece of paper.
Maybe I should be an agent.
On the business side: MTMS student count = 244.5 versus a target of... oh, about 290.
Maybe I shouldn't be an agent. |
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Enrollments are still down at MTMS . Last I checked, we were still below 250, which isn't a good thing. This June is in no way repeating last June's performance. But we've cut back on some spending, and cash flow is holding steady.
The past two weeks has been chaotic. At work, the receptionist's dad fell seriously ill, so the office manager and I have had to pick up a lot of unexpected work load, including the receptionist's duties and training backup receptionists. Also at work, we're on our second week of summer camps and threw a Graduation Party last weekend, which involves planning, executing (sadly, not by gun squad), photographing and blogging. Related to work, I judged Ohio Idol the past two weeks and saw a lot of really good and really bad performances. Watch for my upcoming blog post: Top 10 Songs Not to Sing in an Audition.
And then the air conditioner went out at my house.
Today, my cranky-o-meter registers a tad lower than it did yesterday. Now two days removed from Idol (at least, until the next round), I feel the tension draining out of my pores along with the sweat. So that's good. The A/C guy should be by sometime this morning.
My next feat is to replace my weekly lunch gig. Senor Patron is getting on my nerves. They're super nice guys, don't get me wrong. But I have to chase down payment every damn week. And last week, I ended up not getting paid because he thought we were ahead, I told him we were ahead the previous week but were now caught up to even, he said are you sure? I looked it up on my fancy-schmancy new Quickbooks App for Android and said, I could have sworn, but by golly, you're right. Yeah. He was wrong. Android App FAIL. So now I'm out a week's payment because I already said he was caught up. If the freaking proprietor would just go on autopay or keep decent records, the discrepancy wouldn't have happened. And frankly, I don't like asking someone to hand me a check. That's my office manager's job. She sends out an invoice, people pay her, she puts the money in the business account. This whole standing-around-with-a-guitar-in-one-hand-and-amplifier-in-the-other-waiting-for-my-check routine is getting old.</rant>
If I had a little more time, I'd invest it in browsing for something closer to the music school, just for branding purposes. Senor Patron is close to home but far from work, and I'd like to make it convenient for customers and students to come see me. So that should go on the alive-and-thriving goals list.
I'll get right on that. |
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auric posted a cute captioned photo on Facebook referencing Monty Python , right after I spent some time browsing around about the Creekside Blues and Jazz Festival going on this weekend in Gahanna (home of MTMS ), and I got all philosophical. I thought to myself, "Self, how many hyperlinks can I cram into one sentence?"
Kidding. Haha.
I got to thinking about how much time, effort and money people invest in entertaining themselves. Which is probably suicidal thinking, since I'm in the entertainment business on pretty much every count. But it's impractical. Why do people bother with leisure? Biology dictates that we do everything we do for survival purposes in one way or another. From a strictly biological standpoint, does playtime serve any purpose?
My dog seems to think so.
My best conclusion is that we use playtime to develop relationships, which give us a sense of comfort, because if we're ever - you know - dying or something, people will actually care about us. I'm reminded of something a character from the Dresden Files told Harry when a bad guy cast an evil death curse on our hero: The secret is, we all die alone. We can't take anyone with us when we cross over, regardless of the number of supporters kneeling at our deathbeds.
I'd like to thank auric for leading me down this delicious train of thought toward my own mortality. |
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I've always been the quintessential "Jack of all trades and master of none" that you hear about, and I'm kinda tired of it. I wanna be master of all trades. Okay, fine, maybe just master of two or three: Music, Entrepreneurship, Writing. But apparently, that's still too many.
I've been surreptitiously entering writing contests. Don't try to find my entries; they're hidden, they're gone, you won't find them. It's an experiment, and one that requires anonymity to tell me the truth about my writing. It's been awhile, but I entered a lot of contests when I first joined WDC, and I discovered at the time that I wasn't Number One. I wasn't even Number Two or Number Three most times, where three places were there to be had, at least not in the opinions of the judges whose opinions mattered. Apparently, I'm still not Number One, Two, or Three. Well - occasionally I am, but not nearly often enough to be called "Master."
I've also been reading a lot in the last year or so, and I'm noticing things that make good writing superior. But I can't remember them by the time I get to the end of the book. I'm getting old, I'm not taking notes (mostly because I read in bed and in the car - with headphones, don't get excited), and I have too many other things in my brain.
This is why you can't be master of more than one trade. You have to FOCUS on one trade to really master it. You have to study it. Dissect it. Emulate it. Do it over and over and over again.
I honestly can't decide if I would want to be a professional writer. At times, I think, I want to create something like that awesome book I just read. I have the imagination, but the execution isn't there, and it won't be without practice - the kind you get with an eight-hour-a-day job. Do I want to invest that kind of practice?
Obviously, I don't want to right now. If I did, I'd be doing it. I'm doing other things, as many of you know. But I'm a project girl - and shhhh, don't tell my staff - but I'm the kind of girl who would establish a company and then walk away and let it run itself. I'm still in project mode, because while the first campus is a success, I haven't expanded into multiple campuses yet, and that's a project in itself, and one that I intend to tackle in 2013.
But after that... I just don't know. I've got the writing itch. I don't know how long it can simmer on the back burner before boiling over.
(Look at that - cliche and alliteration all rolled into one! Who says I'm not a master writer?) |
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Student count: 244. Yep, it's that bad. Summer camps have yet to break even, which is more good news. The first one starts next Monday.
On the bright side, I may be writing again. A snippet or two, anyway. Because that's what I need. More unedited, incomplete original work.
And now, back to my regularly scheduled web updates... |
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Must... eat...
That is all. |
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Thanks for sharing!
Even better if she can whistle to the tune of Mozart or something. 
Comment 
, also known as Michelle Tuesday, is a musician, educator and writer hailing from Columbus, Ohio.![Merit Badge in Music
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To a dear friend whose talent for writing music is sensational. May you have a fabulous New Year, (((Brandi)))!!! *^*Kiss*^*
Big hugs,
Sherri *^*Heart*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Music-1050.gif)
![Merit Badge in Organization
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I don't know how you do it, but I assume there's magic involved *^*Bigsmile*^* I have really enjoyed this month of planning and preparation for NaNoWriMo and I love how organized it all is. Thank you for hosting a great challenge and for your dedication to helping so many of us prepare with confidence and trepidation for National Novel Writing Month (known to sane folks as 'November' *^*Laugh*^*) at your [Link To Item #1474311]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Organization-1150.gif)
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For your hard work, commitment, talent and innovation in running the October NaNoWriMo Preparation each year, which helps many of us get our scattered thoughts together for November's novel-writing. And also because this badge has ducks on it.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Leadership.gif)
