Blogging and Design

Hey guys! So I had planned to write a lot more this week, but it turns out I was rather busy with blogging... just not necessarily my blog!

I ended up helping two of my good friends, Raveena and Isabelle, (who are coincidentally both also flute players!) set up and design blogs of their own this week. It made me incredibly happy to know that I inspired them in some small way and was able to help them achieve something they wanted to do.

I have always wanted to inspire people, and even something as small as Raveena messaging me and saying that my blog made her decide to finally start one of her own, well, that's a great feeling.

Not to mention I have so much fun designing my website and theirs! The design might just be my favorite part of having a blog, and I've even considered being a web designer as a career. At least now I've got more to add to a portfolio, am I right?

If you want to check out their blogs and support them, that would be fantastic, both for me and for them! I'll post the links below so you can check them out. I may even have them do guest posts sometime here, who knows!

And to you out there, if you want to start a blog, what's stopping you? If it's not knowing how to set up and design your blog, you can start by asking for help here. I'm definitely not charging now since I'm certainly not a professional, and I can't promise results will be as good with other hosting websites. But you know, it's a start, right? Right...

Anyway, check out their blogs below!
Raveena: www.artsyreevs.blogspot.com
Isabelle: www.majortreblemaker.blogspot.com

(Also, thanks to www.angiemakes.com because I used a lot of her free graphics on both blogs and they're amazing!)

Why I Blog

Hello readers!

So I'll tell you up front, this won't be that serious of a post. (I do have some more real post ideas in the works, so you'll be seeing those soon!) It's really just me letting you know what's going on with TSM at the moment, but there's a part for you all to get involved, so really, it's worth the read.

I started this blog a little over a year ago, and at the time it was just something to do for fun and for a bit more writing practice, honestly. As you can probably tell by the fact that I only wrote 32 posts all year, I didn't take it that seriously.

However, lately I've thought a little bit more about the possibility of blogging becoming more than a hobby, and it's made me think a bit more about why I blog and what I want to say.

Let me be the first to tell you, there is a plethora of information out on the web about how to start a blog, what sort of posts to write, how your blog should look, how to make money blogging, etc etc etc. I've read a lot of those articles. And I've ignored most of them.

Yes, maybe doing some of those things would make me more popular or get me more subscribers. But then what would set me apart from every other blogger in the world that read those posts and did what they said? What's left to make me original or interesting?

Honestly, I don't like being told what I can and can't do when it comes to things like this. For example, one big tip is to find your niche or topic, and focus on that. I could call myself a book blogger and make that my focus. But is that the only thing I care about? No.

As I think I've mentioned before, I don't like being put in a box. I don't like being labelled. So while the internet tells me to pick one topic, what do I want to do? I want to branch out and write about more. Of course, I'll still write about books. I love books. But I want to write about music, beauty, lifestyle, art, etc etc etc. I want to have variety. That said, I don't want to write about these things because they might get me more page views. I want to write about them because I enjoy them.

So why do I blog? I want to write. I want to combine writing (which I love) and all the other things I love. I want to write about things that are important to me and things that are important in the world. I want to have a voice and I want to have a message. Of course, a message doesn't matter much if no one listens.

And that's where you all come in. You're the ones listening, after all. I have a few post ideas that actually involve hearing from you. I'm planning to start a few Q&A style posts, and so, obviously, I need questions! I'm certainly not an expert, but I'm planning to write about beauty/style, books, and music, so send in your questions on those topics! You can comment below, or contact me using the links in the side bar.

And as a bonus, it's in the works to do sort of a collab/guest post type thing with a Julliard flutist, so if you have any questions for her about music, Julliard, or anything like that, send those in as well!

Falling in Love... with Music

Last Thursday, I talked about how much I love books. And I most definitely do! But since this blog is titled "The Strange Musician" after all, I think it's important to talk about myself as a musician as well as a reader.

Honestly, I think I've loved music all my life, and I think my parents were a huge influence in that area. My mom played music for me when I was a baby, and I would fall asleep listening to music all the time. My dad is a musician himself, having played saxophone, guitar, and currently bass guitar. Growing up, he played in the praise band at my church—still does, actually—and I loved watching him play and listening to the music before going to Sunday school. 

Of course, with my dad being a guitar player, the first instrument I actually tried to learn to play myself... was guitar. 

I don't remember how old I was, probably around eight or so, but I obviously didn't have enough motivation or discipline to actually practice the instrument, and my dad didn't have time for regular lessons with me, so that never got very far. I did revisit guitar again more recently, but encountered the same issues. 

I didn't actually fall in love with music as a musician myself until much later, in sixth grade, when I started learning to play flute as part of a 6th Grade Honor Band. 

Maybe guitar just wasn't my instrument. Maybe it was the type of music. Maybe it was that I actually had  to practice to be able to play in a group setting. Maybe it was because I had lessons. Maybe the chair tests motivated me. Whatever it was, something clicked when I started to play flute.

My love for the instrument, band, and music itself grew as I improved and was able to play more challenging music and take pride in my abilities. Of course, the wonderful teachers and directors I've had along the way have certainly helped as well. 

Now, I absolutely love music—studying, listening, playing, performing, and even writing it. So much so that it has become my dream career to be a professional musician, as a member of a major orchestra. You know, the ones that get to record soundtracks for movies and television shows. Who

knows if it will ever happen, but hey, a girl can dream, right?

What about you? What about music do you love? Let me know in comments!