Well, it's been about three years since I've done anything to this account, so out of nothing else but summer boredom, I've decided to start updating it again. I still do some "art" (if you can call it that) out of fun sometimes, so I figured I would get back into it.

But as I've been gone for a while, here's what I've been up to for the past couple of years:

1. I ended up loving California.
2. I got REALLY into the whole music/percussion thing. I studied with a teacher named Robert Slack of the Pacific Symphony, ended up playing in a couple youth orchestras, went to a seminar at the Juilliard School, was a part of leadership in my high school music program, took AP music theory, and generally just threw myself into that.
3. I auditioned for 7 different music schools for college: the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, Rutgers University, Indiana University, and UCLA.
4. Of those, I was accepted to four schools and decided to go to the Cleveland Institute of Music, where I just finished my first year studying with Richard Weiner of the Cleveland Orchestra. Next year, I'll study with Paul Yancich of the Cleveland Orchestra.
5. Throughout high school I slowly came out to my friends, and on June 4th, 2006, I came out to my family. In July 2006 I met an incredibly talented, intelligent, and cute guy named Mark who I've been with ever since.
6. I'm happy!

So yeah, that's basically what's been happening. I'm going to try and keep up with this a little bit more. I deleted a bunch of old stuff that I didn't like, and little by little I'll start adding new stuff as it's created.

Derek