I haven't posted in awhile due to some major changes in my life over the past three months. Nothing bad and mostly good, (my wife and I bought a new house, some big changes going on at my job), but it's kept me from updating my blog on a regular basis.

I thought I'd post someone more on a personal note this time. If you've read some of my other entries, you'll know I work in the medical profession. I generally enjoy my job though the reality is that practicing medicine has become less in terms of patient care and more in dealing with paperwork and bureaucratic red tape on a daily basis which will only get worse if nationalized health care ever gets passed (a topic for another day). While now as for most of my life, I couldn't imagine doing anything else, there was a brief period in college when I seriously considered pursuing something completely different.

Like almost all pre-meds, I majored in biology, though more for convenience sake rather than having a real interest in the subject. After fulfilling the core science requirements medical school, I was already more than half-way towards completing the major, so I figured, like most pre-meds, I might as well finish it. But as a change of pace from all the science courses, I was taking, I was also a music major with a focus in composition. While I was not a particularly good performer (I played the violin but was a violist in the orchestra which means I wasn't a particularly good violinist), music theory came to me very easily and I had a fantastic music professor that really pushed and helped me maximize my opportunities to cultivate this talent. I had one of works published commercially. One of the biggest thrills of my life was conducting the school orchestra in playing one of my pieces. It was the biggest rush of life. Towards the end of my college career, I started thinking about pursuing an advanced degree in music composition rather than going to medical school.

Ultimately, I quickly came to my senses since any stable career with a music degree would be really tough (also, not surprisingly, my parents weren't exactly thrilled with the idea). In addition, I had a very conservative composition style, basically neo-classical that actively tried to emulate the old masters such as Bach and Brahms which didn't necessary endear me to the "avant garde" approach in many of the higher level classes (I personally think 90% of modern classical music is crap). I saw that even I were really inclined to pursue this seriously, I wouldn't fit in.

Unfortunately, with the demands of medical school and now my medical career, my music has fallen a bit on the wayside and over time, I hadn't really though about it much until recently As my wife and I were moving in to our new place, I came across some of my old stuff including my violin that I haven't touched in years and a pile of music I wrote, most of it unfinished, which brought back some of those memories and some regret for not having kept up with it. Having kept in touch with friends, far more talented than I, who did move on to pursue such a career and seeing their struggles, I'm fortunate that I had the option of entering a far more stable occupation. Lately, though I've felt that medicine perhaps is being too much of my life and I hope get back in touch again with my artistic side to get some balance in my life and a more constructive outlet for my downtime beyond video games. Wish me luck!

For anyone interested, I uploaded some of my old music into midi files. The quality of the playback will be dependent on how good your sound card is.

A fugue in the style of Bach

Dies Irae movement from a Requiem I started awhile ago

Lacrimosa movement from the same Requiem

A movement from a Sonata for Violin and Piano

A piece for string orchestra (my only published work)

A flashy showpiece for Violin and Orchestra