The Trivial Pursuit of Happiness

I am sure the lady in the minivan behind me earlier today was annoyed that I was barely going the speed limit. I didn't really care either, I had nowhere to be. And even if I did, I always leave with extra time to spare. Besides, I was having a deep conversation with myself inside my head. For a brief moment of time, I was without worry and stress, because I was determined to figure this hypothesis of mine out with the proof to explain it to you.  What if? What if, it is possible to fall in love with a piece of music? The conditions would have to be absolutely perfect, I suspect. The melody, the timbre, tempo, and the connection to the piece the performer conveys. To demonstrate this point, I think back to a voice lesson I had to prepare for my audition at the University of Miami. I has chosen two musical theater pieces: Wishing you Were Somehow Here Again from the Phantom of the Opera and I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables (Les Miz as the cool kids called it back then). I wa...

It's true. We never forget our first love. Although, sometimes we should. The first time I saw her I was working at the circulation desk at the Music Library at the University of Miami. I'm not certain what score she checked out, but I made sure to make a note of her name. She was cute in an androgynous sort of way. Later that day, I emailed her at what I guessed was her University email address. I tried to be very non-descript just in case it wasn't her email. Her response was only "Are you the girl who works at the Music Library?" Busted. Next began a brief, whirlwind relationship. We spent all of our free time together. She was a classical piano major, but every time I had walked by the practice room she was playing in, she would stop to open the door so in two months, I never really heard her play an entire piece. A friend of mine, Dave, who was a Journalist in the Coast Guard stationed in Miami, took our photos in the Art quad on campus. Alana threatened to...