One Year In Bloomington

I'm not really the sentimental type, but… wait, I'm sorry, what I meant to say was… Since I'm the most sentimental fucker EVER I've been thinking lately about my one year anniversary in Bloomington, Indiana.

August 20th marks one year that I've been here, and I have a few reflections.

Here are some good things:

My life has direction. Each year builds upon the last and I've moving towards something. This was not the case in LA. And I like where I'm headed. I've met some amazing people and I've shared some amazing times with them.

Christie took me to the pumpkin launch. Which was amazing. I can't wait to go back this year.

FARM opened with a great bar in the basement called The Root Cellar, and sometimes my favorite local band, The Fatted Calf String Band play there.

Michael Grove, Gabi, Jen Boles and I started the Mandolin and Banjo society of Bloomington, which implies a little more music making that what really goes on there.

I've started to get CD reviews published: http://blackgrooves.org/

I found a great job which not only gives me a huge amount of responsibility but also provides a platform to meet really fun people. Like this dude, Bill Bailey:

I was at a party in April, at Banjo player Ken Perlman's house with Alan Jabour, Henry Glassie, and Brad Leftwich. This won't mean much to most people, but it was fucking amazing to me! Sadly, I have no pictures.

I got to go to Chicago with Molly, a definite highlight of the year:



The Bad Things:

The bad things I'm not going to dwell on too much. I will say this year has brought a lot of rough times, including points of feeling lost, isolated, dumb, incompetent, heartbroken, broke, and foolish. The fall was stressful, the winter was dreary (goddamned wintry mix) the spring was good, no complaints, (except a $1000 repair on my car!) and the summer was tumultuous and long.

I am glad I made the move. Bloomington is obviously quite different than L.A. but in some ways, it's similar. I think I made a wise move regarding school, as each month I get more comfortable doing what I'm doing. Small town life can be rough, but it can also force you to adapt, and deal with things one might otherwise just avoid living in a big city.

Mostly I miss people. Dustin Hoffman in particular.