First post: why am I starting a blog?

I've never been a good writer, nor have I ever really enjoyed writing.  All the way back in the fourth grade, I failed the creative writing section of Texas' standardized test because I just didn't do it.  I didn't feel like writing anything; let alone two pages of a made up story.  Now, more than 15 years later, I'm finding out the hard way that writing is one of the only skills from school that is actually useful as an adult.  Physics?  Calculus?  Biology?  Psychology?  Geometry?  I haven't had to use any of that since high school, but I regularly find myself writing out grant proposals, trying to sound intelligent dealing with people who book/own venues and other arts organizations, or even just conversing with everyone I know via email.  I'm always having to write, and I need to get better at it, but that's not the main reason I'm starting this blog.

A blog is a better place than social media to organize and articulate my ideas and interests.  I'm all for some lighthearted banter on facebook/twitter/instagram/etc, but hopefully through what I write here and in the comments, there can be a slightly higher level of discourse than what you get in social media.

The different interests I have (namely music, lifting, and jiu jistu) may seem unrelated, but lessons I learn in one subject can inform me in another.  I see parallels between an improvised music performance with a band and rolling with someone in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu).  Another example would be how I use principals from strength training programming in my day to day saxophone practice routine.  I want to show my musician friends the mental benefits of pushing yourself in an athletic endeavor.  I also want to show my non-musician friends why I play music, and help them understand the lifestyle of a musician as well as music itself on a deeper level in general, non-musical terms.  I'd also like to do interviews with some of my teachers in each area.  That means older, more experienced musicians than myself, truly competitive lifters (not just people that compete like me, but people who actually win competitions), Jiu Jitsu Black belts, and other people who have mastered their art.

This is just what I hope to accomplish from my point of view at this time.  I may decide to take this an entirely different direction.  I also may get sick of it just stop.  For now though, I should be posting here at least every week...