Listening to Art Tatum. So great. Fast but lyrical piano melodies.

Classes start later today. I'm ready though. My first class isn't until 11, so I can get enough sleep to make the day. But I should go to bed within the next two hours or so. Some philosophy class. Something about logic and sets or such. It shouldn't be too hard. I understand logic well enough.

After that I head out to my math class. It's all about matrices. I should be able to do fairly well in there. It's Calculus that throws me off. But that's the last class, and I'm done by 2pm. Most people would kill to have a schedule like that. They can kiss my ass. I signed up when it was my time.

I feel ready for this semester. I feel as though everything is easier, and I haven't even set foot inside a classroom. Yet, I know I will have trouble sleeping tonight. It always happens no matter how much you prepare. You lay in bed thinking about what is going to happen in 8 or so hours. You can plan out every little detail, but it doesn't make a difference.

I wish I had a music class. I feel that music is just my thing. It's the one thing that I do well. Well, I do a lot of things well. But music is something I don't have to put effort into. I can just put an instrument to my lips, and a very soft tone comes out. Everyone has a different sound on an instrument. When I first started playing French Horn, my instructor had me play a couple of notes for him. The first thing he noticed is that my tone was very soft and round. It was calming, and it didn't biet the ears one bit. When most people start out on a brass instrument, they want to blow as hard as they can to produce the loudest sound the can. I don't think that way. I want people to hear one of my solos and think, "That is the prettiet thing I have ever heard." I want them to want to listen to me.

The same thing happened when I picked up the trumpet. I didn't play loud, but I didn't sound like anyone else in the band. I did not have the range of some of the trumpet players, but I had the tone they wanted. They didn't understand how I was doing it. They just heard it happen.

I'm like that with my voice. I want people to want to hear it. I don't have that happen too often though. I'm quiet. I don't like to talk. I can talk, and I can talk about a great deal of things. I just choose not to. I've never made anyone happy by talking to them. I have only made people happy by listening to them.

Music. It trains my ears. I learn to pick up the slightest detail and figure out why it is. Then I try to understand its purpose. I put the pieces together and form a giant group of groups. It's like something the president could try to do. Know everyone in every state. Also, their names and occupations. It's impossible, you might think.

Well, yea. I'm not talking about that many details. Maybe just a couple thousand. But each bit gets attention. And I think that's why people are happy when I listen to them. The attention...