Things don't always turn out the way we imagine them to be, as in a perfect world. And for all the rest of the imperfect times, we call them reality.
Friday night was for opera at the MET. But to add a small twist, I was to leave the opera a bit early to meet a friend I haven't seen since my undergrad audition at Cleveland thirteen years ago. The scheme in my head goes something like this:
I come out of the MET and appeared into the empty square with wind in my hair. As I moved closer to a lone figure leaning on the fountain, he stood up and slowly took a step towards me. When our eye finally met it was as if no time had passed. We smiled and stood facing each other for a long time as if neither one of us wanted to disturb the perfect silence.
In reality, I left the opera in the beginning of the third act, came out of a tourist packed square, saw a bunch of shadows around the fountain but none looked familiar. It was a beautiful night and once again I was alone. 15 minutes passed before my phone rang. He was running late. Another ten minutes later his car pulled up to the steps and I jumped in with the sound of cars honking around us.
It was getting late. The only place I could think of in the neighborhood was the wine bar next to my building. You think we would have lots to talk about after all this time but we didn't. Was it because we just understood each other without further elaboration or was it not that much as happened. I got married and divorced; he's got a 5 year-old daughter. I traveled a little; he traveled much more. I lived in BA for a few months, he lived in Germany for a few years. I got out of music; he's becoming a recognized concert pianist. In many ways we have gone in diametrical directions but in many ways we're still the same. In the grand scheme of things we really haven't changed that much.
I didn't have to explain to him the difficulty of getting out of music. He didn't have to explain to me the difficulty of staying with it. That's the beauty of communicating with musicians. It comforts me.
I was really stomped when he asked me, "how's your personal life?"
Well, I've never evaluated it before. Should I have? It's been two years since I've really dated someone. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I meet people every now and then but no one's caught my attention. I'm single and I'm happy. I guess that's a good thing.
Friday night was for opera at the MET. But to add a small twist, I was to leave the opera a bit early to meet a friend I haven't seen since my undergrad audition at Cleveland thirteen years ago. The scheme in my head goes something like this:
I come out of the MET and appeared into the empty square with wind in my hair. As I moved closer to a lone figure leaning on the fountain, he stood up and slowly took a step towards me. When our eye finally met it was as if no time had passed. We smiled and stood facing each other for a long time as if neither one of us wanted to disturb the perfect silence.
In reality, I left the opera in the beginning of the third act, came out of a tourist packed square, saw a bunch of shadows around the fountain but none looked familiar. It was a beautiful night and once again I was alone. 15 minutes passed before my phone rang. He was running late. Another ten minutes later his car pulled up to the steps and I jumped in with the sound of cars honking around us.
It was getting late. The only place I could think of in the neighborhood was the wine bar next to my building. You think we would have lots to talk about after all this time but we didn't. Was it because we just understood each other without further elaboration or was it not that much as happened. I got married and divorced; he's got a 5 year-old daughter. I traveled a little; he traveled much more. I lived in BA for a few months, he lived in Germany for a few years. I got out of music; he's becoming a recognized concert pianist. In many ways we have gone in diametrical directions but in many ways we're still the same. In the grand scheme of things we really haven't changed that much.
I didn't have to explain to him the difficulty of getting out of music. He didn't have to explain to me the difficulty of staying with it. That's the beauty of communicating with musicians. It comforts me.
I was really stomped when he asked me, "how's your personal life?"
Well, I've never evaluated it before. Should I have? It's been two years since I've really dated someone. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I meet people every now and then but no one's caught my attention. I'm single and I'm happy. I guess that's a good thing.