Concerts and late nights

I've been doing a lot of fun things lately, and music-related things, but this week in particular has been hard trying to imagine when I'm going to have the time to work on other projects that have deadlines coming up. I hate to complain, because I've totally gotten myself into all of it!

Wungsten played at the "Best in the Burgh" show last weekend and though we didn't win, we played well and got some great response from the hosts of the event (and then we went out to Sonic to treat ourselves to a job well done and our waitress was on rollerskates). I'm also singing in an improvisatory vocal group late tomorrow night, and then Wungsten is performing again on Friday and on Monday! How do other artists find the time to do it? Oh, right. Amphetamines.

I'm currently writing a chamber piece for Vassar's Mahagonny Ensemble which is due at the end of August, and then right after that I'm writing a piece for the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, due in December. Very exciting! I'm also trying to make a 15-foot-tall sculpture for a gallery, but that's due in December as well. In the meantime, I'm editing a book for a professor, which brings in a couple dollars and is great for my brain, and though it's not until a time crunch, I like to be prompt about my work. My next assignment is to watch the Godfather Trilogy and mark all the timings for music cues. Not a bad way to clock in a couple hours of work!

Here's the complainy part: working 8:30-5 takes up a lot of the day! With a 45-minute commute, and then eating dinner, sometimes I feel like there are two hours left on the day to accomplish anything. Plus, every once and a while, I do enjoy spending time with the boyfriend, and maybe sitting down for five minutes before bed. I had to quit singing in the choir because the time for rehearsals was just too intense- a lot of the people who sing in choirs are retired, or this is their only "extracurricular" activity, whereas me, I have about ten outside activities at any one point. And don't forget about teaching piano lessons, every Tuesday evening.

The good thing is that all my random tasks are enjoyable, and good for my artistic life/career arch/whatever I'm calling my resume nowadays. I don't think I'd give by up. But someday I hope that all my artistic projects will pay a living wage, and then I can stop working the office jobs. I think I also need to learn to say no to events and concerts sometimes, and just stay home not doing anything. It's good for my brain to have some downtime. But sometimes, a great concert is too good to pass up, or Brüno calls, and I just have to see what all the füss is about!