pizza

I just got this joke in an email:

what is the difference between a pianist and a medium pizza? a medium pizza can feed a family of four.

Now I have something to tell people to justify my change of careers when people harrass me about quitting music. No one outside of the music industry realizes how competitive music careers are! All these people tell me to "follow my dreams" and all that stuff, and they might think I'm a good pianist and they might have faith in me and all that, but I just don't think they understand how many other good pianists there are out there who are a lot more passionate about encouraging other pianists to pursue their dreams while, in the back of their head, they know these people will never make it. They just want to keep their jobs, so that's what music teachers do. Not all, but most. (I'm 26 and I've got the world all figured out.)

There was a job posting from Kansas City KS Community College about an opening for a piano instructor to teach class piano, applied piano, music theory, music appreciation, and other stuff. Here's the requirement: "Master's degree in Music, Music Education, Music Theory, Piano, or a related field is required. Graduate level training in piano and music theory with a demonstrated ability to teach in both areas is required." So here I am--probably perfectly qualified, having done the exact same thing at SMU. I have a master's in piano performance and pedagogy (study of teaching) from SMU, where I taught class piano, applied piano, and was a music theory GTA. I have a bachelor's in music education. The catch: They don't pay jack. It's ridiculous! Just imagine if I were equally and specifically qualified in business as I am in piano. A business would pay me twice as much... at least!... for a full-time position. Why did I waste my time in music school?

Well, if it was God leading me to my wife, then that sounds good to me. Really--if I hadn't done everything I did in music (and ended up at SMU and met people from my current church) I wouldn't have met Alicia. And she's frickin' AWESOME! So that works.

(This is all from an email I sent a friend. I'm lazy.)