It really does seem that I only update this blog every few months. Despite having nothing much to do most days, writing a blog doesn’t really cross my mind all that much. Here’s what I’ve been up to:
Minor Stars hit the road again in late February/early March – this time for 2 weeks. To sum it up, let me put it this way. The first week was AWESOME, with many great bands supporting and playing with us, along with meeting new friends and old alike too, and we definitely partied hard but never let it get in the way of our rocking out! The second week was pretty good fun, the quality of bands we played with weren’t as good unfortunately, and although I think we were all a little drained by the end we still did well (and I picked up a really nasty cold that didn’t want to shake itself off at all.)
I’m glad to say that all 3 personalities on the tour meshed together really well, and I’m really happy to have found 2 great bandmates and friends. In fact, some of the best times of the tour were actually on the road, when we were just being goofy people and bantering on about random stuff. The homecoming gig at the end of the tour was VERY hard for me, the cold/flu was at its worst, and after the show, I headed straight home and I felt like I was about to genuinely pass out, and I was hallucinating when trying to sleep also. Not so fun times, but you gotta do it for the music!
I’m still woefully unemployed – at this stage I’m just about ready to give up hope. I’m applying for jobs that I SHOULD be able to get, whether it’s due to job experience or my musical experience, but I either don’t hear back from the job people at all, or get as far as an interview and for one reason or another it doesn’t work out. Case in point – I was being interviewed for what seemed like a perfect job for flexibility and interest – it was teaching music to kids after school. I applied and let them know I was a DRUM teacher, the interview happened for about a minute over Skype and they said they were looking for string teachers only with experiences in band and orchestra teaching. Not me!
It really is not the best time to be looking for a job in this country when you’re not American; they’d rather give the job to one of their own citizens first before giving it to a foreigner. Don’t get me wrong, I understand their thinking, but it’s frustrating to me. It’s been an almost 2 year stretch of applying for jobs since getting the green card, and it’s now been almost 4 years since I was an actual employee somewhere. That might work against me, but it’s the ultimate catch 22 – how are you supposed to get a job, and therefore experience, if a workplace won’t give you a chance?
Some of you might be thinking – why don’t you go into retail or another stinking job like that? The answer to that, my friends, is very simple. I worked in retail, for over 2 years. Never again. Retail made me go from liking people to hating everybody that I was around (excluding my friends of course, but the general public I mean.) On top of that, they would definitely not give me the flexibility I would need in order to keep doing what I love. Just gotta keep on keeping on I guess.
Also, some of my friends have been asking me about what the situation is regarding where I am living in the future. After much discussion, and one or two compromises along the way, Colette and I have decided to move back to Northern Ireland in 2012; so Colette can obtain her Masters Degree in Conflict Resolution from Trinity College Dublin, with this campus and course being taught in Belfast. So, obviously that means that I’ll have to sadly leave the band I am in (unless we happen to get signed by then…) and also leave the friends I have made here, on top of probably having to leave behind many personal items too, as it’d be too expensive to ship over.
We’re still hoping to eventually ship our dog Moose over there, but we have a few concerns about that. First of all, it’s going to cost around $3,000 – money that we probably won’t have, unless something lucky comes our way. Even if we DID have that money, he isn’t exactly the most calm and confident dog, and we think and worry he might have a panic attack or worse because he’d be confined for so long without getting to see us. And apparently you’re not allowed to drug up the animals before flight, so unless we get a special exception we’d have to deal with it, and hope for the best. So as of right now, we’re probably going to have to keep him here with a family member until we can afford to ship him over. We just really hope that we don’t have to give him up – he’s been through a hard enough life as it is, moving to another home or none at all would just really mess him up.
Still, despite being sad that I might have to leave my band and friends here, a small part of me is really excited about going back home for a little while. There’s just something about Northern Ireland (and I guess anywhere you’re from) that I love so much, that is not so existent here in America. I guess it is the practicality of things like travelling. You don’t NEED a car to get around (although it is helpful for grocery shopping.) You don’t HAVE to tip in bars/restaurants. Things and people just generally, at home, seem MUCH more simpler and less annoying, obnoxious and complex. I’ll definitely miss a few things about the US, but I miss far more things about home. That said, I am happy that I have found two great homes, and while I’d consider America my home for the meantime, in my heart Northern Ireland will always be home to me.
Anyway, I think that’s all for now.
