I was talking to a friend of a friend the other day and the inevitable question came up:

“What do you do?”

These days, there are few things I don’t do- and before you say at least I’m not resorting to the world’s oldest profession, you should try getting a distribution deal for a book sometime.

After I finished the 4 minute seminar on the strange ways I cobble together a living, she chuckled to herself and said, “So you’re the Carrie Bradshaw of the cello world! Your success comes from writing about your failures. Hahaha.”

Ha.

 

 

Ha?

 

If you go back and read this blog, you’ll know the essence of her statement is true. One thing teaching has given me is a huge appreciation for the human condition. I also fully accept that I am not an exception. You would not believe how the past 2 years have savaged my ideas about who I am and what it means to be relevant and successful. I fall for all of the same tricks everyone else does- I’m just lucky enough to deal with people who are so similar to me that they actually help me get my head correct long before I otherwise would be able to.

Still, being characterized as a marginally articulate failure served as motivation for me. Some of you may be aware that I’m in the pre-production phase of an instructional DVD project. The next week will see the completion of the video for the Kickstarter campaign to fund the DVDs. In case you don’t know about it, Kickstarter is a grass-roots operation where people go to fund independent projects. There are levels of pledging, from small amounts like $5 all the way up to $5000. The neat thing about Kickstarter is that the project only gets the green light if the required amount is pledged. If the pledge amount falls short, there’s no risk of people having sunk money into something that will never happen.

I’ve decided to go with Baltimore-based C-54 Productions, who have given me an estimate of $5000 for 2 DVDs (one beginner, one intermediate) all in. That’s including shooting and all of the accoutrements plus editing, sound, voice over and B-roll. I came to them through a friend, and they are being beyond generous to offer their services for this amount. Add in an additional $1000 for duplication, and we’re ready to rock.

Oscar Wilde always offers me comfort and a grin when I feel encumbered by the weight of my insecurities. In this instance, I particularly enjoy “Ambition is the last refuge of failure.” Maybe I am the Carrie Bradshaw of the cello world. I certainly have the right shoes for the part.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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7 Responses

    1. Sorry your google is broken. I’ve added a link for your benefit, and those who have not been as chronically attuned to HBO programming as I’ve been for far too long. 🙂

      Plus, if she had been a cellist, wouldn’t she already be the Carrie Bradshaw of cello?

  1. Haaa. For a good second my cursor went for the *like* button. How pathetic.

    Dude. You make me want to kick my own ass. Your “failures” are as valuable and inspire me just much as the next person’s successes.

    You have true grit. The thought of someday being even a little bit like you keeps me sawing away.

    Also, so like… where can we give you money for this project?

  2. Your blog keeps me motivated as I gingerly return to playing the cello after putting it aside for decades. I had made a new year’s resolution to get a teacher when a snowshoeing mishap landed me in knee surgery. Now I’m looking forward to resuming practice when they take the damn brace off my knee… and will go back to page one of your book.

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