The Live Music Capital

I am definitely enjoying that aspect of Austin since we've been here. I love going to concerts. And I've mentioned before on this blog how important music is to me. That being said, I would love to experience more of the live music scene here in Austin. Somehow I need to figure out how to stay up to date on all the stuff that happens in Austin so we can catch some more great shows. :) If you have the info, please share!

So far, we've been to two great concerts! The first one was Brandon Heath and Jars of Clay. They rocked it! This one was the better overall concert experience. The whole concert was put on much better in terms of flow and lighting and such. Plus, both sets were fantastic. And of course it helped that we had free VIP seats that James got from work. :)

See all the people behind us? :)

Brandon Heath and his band

Jars of Clay

The second concert was just this past week and it was at Shoreline and we were not VIP, but it was ok because we could actually see more of the concert that way. I must say it was not advertised well, nor was it sponsored or run very well. Rebecca St. James opened, which I did not enjoy too much. She only did about four songs, spent a lot of time talking, and the lights stayed on the whole time. I mean, she's got a good voice and I don't mind her music, but it just didn't feel much like a concert to me. Then they spent like 30 minutes promoting a charity. Which is totally great, and I totally support this charity and what they do, but that is not why we came. We came to see MercyMe and you're just prolonging that experience. I just didn't think it was managed very well. Jars of Clay and Brandon Heath were actually supporting two charities, and I didn't have the feeling like I was conned into a fund-raising event there like I did at Shoreline. However, once we finally got to MercyMe, it was awesome! It finally kicked into concert mode, and they were amazing! Comparing the four artists separately, disregarding the details and focusing just on the individual sets, MercyMe blew the other three out of the water! Absolutely made my week and I know James loved it (and killed my voice, which is really what you want out of a concert, right?)!

I really wanted to crop this, but have no editing software at the moment.

MercyMe (and as if I didn't like them enough already, they threw some Beatles and Tom Petty into the mix!)


And they had THE coolest drum set I have ever seen! They lit up!

A big fat pile of....

....now what?

(Probably not where you thought I was going with that title.)

Life right now is a big fat pile of "now what?" Which by the way, sucks. I hate it. I am really really tired of it actually. I feel like a failure. And then I turn around and think, wait a minute, that can't be right. I worked too hard to be a failure! How did this happen?!

Now, some of you may think I sound just a little bit dramatic and even whiny. But let me just catch you up to speed on the suckage that is my career. Well, actually my lack of career would be more accurate. I graduated (with honors, I might add) with a Bachelor's in Education in December of 2008. That would be over two years ago. I spent a semester in denial that my plans were perfect and I didn't need to worry. Then I spent a year applying everywhere within an hour's drive. And trying desperately to get on sub lists and then trying even more desperately to actually get a sub job. Then we decided that wasn't working and we'd try a different market. And, naive me, I thought it was getting better. Got right on the sub lists, and started raking in the jobs. Comparatively at least.

But that brief period of hope is over now. Squashed and not coming back. RRISD started a hiring freeze, and they are really sticking to it. AISD is closing several schools. I think the total number is somewhere around 9, and I'm fairly sure at least 4 of those are elementary schools. HISD just opened a new elementary school for this school year, and will be closing it after this school year because they are over budget. So even though subbing is going better, I am no closer to the ultimate goal of my own classroom and a full-time contract position.

So I am once again back at the question of now what? And I'm beginning to really hate this question. Because I never really seem to get an answer for it. How long do I wait to find out if I have any remote chance of a job for the coming school year before I quit trying? Do I finally give up and find another career? And if so, what in the heck would that be? Do I try to find something that is relatively close to what I actually want, like tutoring or daycare/preschool? Or would that be beneath my degree? Or would that even be good enough? This whole paragraph has been on repeat (with a dash of speed) inside my head all week. And it is driving me crazy. Absolutely totally crazy. And I still have no answers to any of the questions.

Which is a horrible way to end a blog post. But I have nothing better, because I have nothing else to say.