Who am I

When I was a sophmore in highschool, I was assigned to write a paper on the subject of "who am I." This is what occurs in catholic highschool religion classes. I wrote a paper telling the teacher to bug off, it was none of his buisiness. When I was a junior in highschool, I was assigned to write a personal statement which would be useful for college apps. I started it with "'I am gay.'" explaining that my previous year's paper should have started with that sentence. When I was a senior, I borrowed the phrase from Socrates that "the unexamined life is not worth living." In college, they quit making us write these papers.

Maybe that's why I have so little sense of self now. I was talking with Amy, former housemate, on the phone today and she asked who I was without Christi. I have no idea. So I'm giving up on self-loathing, because I'm not even sure who I'm mad at. I used to rant about how individuality is over emphasised in Amerikan culture. I still think this is true. "Rugged individualism" is a myth put forth by people who want to renig on the govt's role in the social contract. But maybe some individuation is a good thing.

I've had a very crappy couple of years. My mom died. My marriage broke up. I think that I can't live for other people. Other people are unreliable. They die or leave. I have to live for myself (whoever that is). This is, of course, tempered by the idea of community. There's a fine line here. I need to be self-reliant, and I need to be conscious of how my decisions affect other people.

My plan was to explain the aimlessness of my mid-twenties by explaining that I was "finding myself." Unfortunately, I wasn't looking hard enough. Jean says that by the time my Saturn Return is done (I've got one year left), I'll be an entirely different person than I was before, so I'm guessing it means that it's ok that my sense of self is somewhat confuddled.

My friends and neighbors that I've been talking to all tell me "hey you look good!" Like I've undergone some sort of change. And a positive one at that. I was thinking that I've finally met my goal of becomming mellow as fxck, but then someone told me that it was having short hair. Alas, still angsty. Not yet mellow.

Saw Autmn and Stephen and my dad tonight at a show at 21 Grand. It was groovy, especially the first tow acts I saw, most especially the second one. Beforehand, I played my new tunes for my dad. He heard the triad one and asked if I was going to see a shrink at school. I enjoy this reaction, actually. I want people who hear the piece to think of throwing themselves in front of trains. I want it to sound more melancholy. I want people who hear it to feel the crushing pain of existence bearing down on them from all sides. I want them to realize that in two short years they can lose the two people who are most important to them. That love doesn't conquer all. It doesn't conquer anything. Everything that they have faith and hope in will eventually crumble and come to naught and trying to stop it is like trying to stop the tide. I want listeners to taste their own mortality.

So far, I have not come upon exactly the right sound design to get these reactions.

when next I post, I'll be back on the east coast.