dreaming of californication

welcome to my blog everyone. i've never kept a blog before, so bear with me as i get used to filtering out random thoughts and trying to keep things concise. i also apologize in advance for non-sequitors, tangents of all kinds, and lack of capitalization.

for those that don't know, i'm primarily keeping this blog as a travel journal for my 9 day trip out to California. I'll be starting a 2 year Masters program in Conducting at UC Davis sept 24, and ever since i was accepted last spring, i knew that i would be driving cross country to get there. I'll try to update it nightly, and post as many pics as possible.

on the way, i'll be stopping by lots of different cities, camping at national parks, and seeing as many friends as possible. i'll try to post the basic itinerary/route on a list somewhere on the blog as soon as i figure out how. but for now, the route i'm planning is something along the lines of: NC to nashville, austin, TX, albuquerque/taos, NM, georgetown CO, Las Vegas, NV, L.A., then up the pacific coast hwy to San Francisco, while driving into Davis the next morning.

right now i am at home in Kings Mountain, NC, right now, packing for the trip while my car is being tuned up at the mechanic. i am almost finished, but this time around it's really hard because i can only take what i really need. i'm leaving my entire vinyl collection (~400 records,) about 80% of my books, about 50 scores, and all of my instruments (9) at home. I usually have a hard time trying to figure out which bottle of sunscreen to leave behind, so i've been having to disengage myself emotionally while packing and think completely about what i'll need out there. I know it's not a big deal, because if i ever REALLY need something, my parents have said they'll be happy to mail it out to me. But still, when i'm done.... you'll have to admit; that is one fantastically handsome packing job.

what's also strange is that i've basically been on the road since i left my job at College Light Opera Company in Cape Cod. i technically could have left the wednesday after the final show opened (since my work as associate conductor was finished,) but i decided to stay around for another 5 days to just hang out (and drive the other associate conductor to manhattan.) so after i left, i spent a few days in manhattan with my good friend ben krauss (and got to see shannon and mike, as well as my friend brian mccune from UNC.) then i spent a night in DC with my older brother jake, which was awesome. after that, i dropped my carload of stuff at home and spent two nights in chapel hill, seeing a lot of people that i don't know i'll get to see again for a while. my sister addie was at home the last few nights, visiting from Philadelphia, but left this morning.

so it's been great to see so many friends and family in the last 11 days, but right now i am just wondering what it'll be like out in California by myself. luckily i am acquainted with a few other grad students (one that's already graduated, a current student, and another first year,) but besides that, i'll be starting fresh. in some ways it feels very liberating... but i can also imagine the first month i'll spend A LOT of time online, blogging maybe, and on gmail and facebook trying to connect with everyone.

ok, back to packing. i have about 600 cds to go through, and i still haven't decided which kind of sunscreen to take with me....