Currently listening to: Don’t Stop The Music – Rihanna
Do you know what you started?I just came here to partyBut now we’re rockin’ on the dance floor, actin’ naughtyYour hands around my waistJust let the music playWe’re hand in hand, chest to chest, and now we’re face to face
If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?
To be honest, I can’t think of a word. They all have a meaning behind it.
What do you feel lucky about?
Prompt pulled from: TCMC
I was an orch dork through and through. Between piano and violin, my level of geekdom was truly unmatched. In this particularly tragic concert photo, I look like a child bride playing a duet at my own wedding. Honestly, I’ve completely blanked on my partner’s name (not that it really matters now), and for the life of me, I can’t remember if we were playing Brahms or not.
I’ve been playing piano since I was four, and by high school, I had evolved into a full-on concert pianist. Violin entered the picture in the fourth grade because, well… I’m Asian, and there’s an unspoken rule that you must play at least one instrument, but preferably two. Given the choice, I would have picked guitar—something with a little more rizz—but my parents were traditional, and string instruments were non-negotiable.
I can’t imagine my life without music. It was my entire world for years. I lived and breathed it, spending countless hours perfecting each repertoire my teacher challenged me to master. Every contest won and every flawless recital performed, I was rewarded with a tiny bust of a composer in a blind box—my Austrian teacher’s way of keeping me engaged. I wanted to collect them all.
I also passed multiple theory examinations that tested everything from analytical and written skills to aural perception and functional keyboard proficiency, including transposing, harmonization, and sight-reading.
But like all things, it came to a quiet end. By senior year of uni, I stepped away from playing. Between school, playing in a band, and work, I simply didn’t have the time to dedicate to it anymore. Unlike my teacher’s other prodigies, who pursued PhDs in Music Performance or Doctorates of Musical Arts and went on to play in world-class symphonies, I knew that wasn’t the direction I wanted to pursue.
Side note: why are Steinway baby grands so ridiculously expensive? One day, when I win the lotto, you’ll catch me in a sunlit room with one, playing Rachmaninoff for no one but myself.
Anyway, I won’t bore you with more of my retired musician lamentations.
And no, I don’t just listen to classical music. My playlist is chaos in the best way—old and new, foreign and domestic, from the depths of obscure indie to mainstream hits. Music isn’t just something I played; it’s something that shaped me, and I don’t think I could exist in a world without it. I’m truly lucky for being able to appreciate music to this degree.
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