My First Blog

My name is Michael. I'm 23 years old. I graduated one year ago from a small college on the East Coast, and returned a few months later to Los Angeles, the city where I grew up. Three weeks ago I finally moved out of my father's home. I now share an apartment just north of Culver City with my best friend from school.

I want to be a professional musician. My dream is to make a living playing original music in a band. Which makes me, well, your average Los Angelino, I guess. Just another starry-eyed child with a guitar.

My problem is that I want to do it on my own. I don't want to pursue my dream on someone else's dime. I need to earn it fully, to be its sole investor and reap accordingly. And that means I need to make money and get on my own feet first. Only then, I feel, will I be spiritually ready to chase down destiny wholeheartedly. As though destiny were some quarry for the chasing.

A few days ago I ended my commitment to my previous job. I've decided, instead, to try to make money working full time as a freelance jingle writer. I'd rather be doing something at least tangentially related to music, something that will engage my chops in writing, performing and producing. This, at least, will get me closer. Plus it's relatively self-scheduled, allowing me time for my other (mostly musical) pursuits. The trick, of course, will be holding myself to a daily work schedule. Without discipline, I'm toast.

I decided to create this blog in order to keep me honest. By putting my fears and hopes into writing I commit to them. And by sharing my life's adventure with other people, I hope to escape from the kind of imagining-but-not-doing insularity that has made me waste time in the past (like this last year). I also think there's a chance somebody might enjoy keeping tabs on me from time to time as I document my voyage into the heretofore unknown realms of, first and foremost, financial independence; and, somewhere down the line, total and all-consuming rock stardom.

Alright. One step at a time.