Nothing new to report on the Esther’s Follies front, unfortunately. I sent them an e-mail earlier, so we’ll continue playing the waiting game till I hear back.

I’ve had a fun week or so, though - went to a birthday party, went barhopping on 6th street the next night as a continuation of that birthday… Saturday was the big Chord Rangers fall show, and that went pretty well. If I get my paperwork in to officially become a member, then in October I’ll be going to Corpus Christi for the big South West barbershop competition, where I’ll be able to see the Vocal Majority (the group that made me want to sing bbshop in the first place) and other big names of the barbershop world.

This week I went to the savers and picked up a big blue sheet to hang on the wall of my studio/office, and since then I’ve been playing around with blue screen effects. I posted one of my experiment videos (me interviewing naked barbie about her negative effect on body image and things) to associated content, but it’s not up yet. When it is, I’ll post a link (I’m testing out their “exclusive content” feature to see how much they’ll pay for it. I posted “A Very Loving Tribute to Nathaniel Jones” using the non-exclusive content mode, and they paid me $8. Nice.)

While you wait for that online entertainment, I recommend you search youtube for Darren Brown, a British “psychological illusionist” - many amazing mind control tricks and the like.

I’ll report more when there’s more to report.

Today I auditioned for Esther’s Follies, and it went quite well. I sang two snippets from the musical I was writing in the spring plus “When You are Old and Grey,” and for monologues I told the story of the Brady Bunch, and the famous “What if Ed Sullivan were Tortured?” monologue from back in the day. The result? I’m called back on Thursday to do some scene work and perform for the director/producer/other people who will decide who makes the cut.

Also, Saturday is the big fall show with the Austin Chord Rangers! It starts at 7pm at the Northwest Hills United Methodist Church. Details here: http://www.chordrangers.org/concerts/ACR_2007_Concert.html

Wish me broken legs!

As you may know if you read my last post, I’ve been doing much thinking and pondering lately about what I ought to be doing with my life, and on Sunday morning I happened to wake up early, and so I decided to go to church, as I had only been once since Easter, and that was in England. So I pulled up google to see when mass was going to be, and saw that there was a noon mass at the big cathedral downtown.

I was planning on taking the 11am bus up there, but on my way to the stop I realized I had no change or ones, so I had to go back to my apartment, the result of which was that I missed the bus. But I was determined to go to the cathedral, and so I waited for the next one. As I waited, a man in a wheelchair rolled up to the stop next to me, and we struck up a conversation. He had just left the little church down the road where I had gone for easter, and was headed home.

I was telling him about my life and what I’ve been thinking about lately, and he told me his story - about four and a half years ago, he had been hit by a train, and nobody thought that he would survive the accident, but somehow he did, although he no longer has control of the left side of his body. It also gave him brain damage, so that he cannot remember who or where he is at a given moment every now and then. His doctors were sure that he wouldn’t live more than a couple years, and they’re now saying that he definitely won’t make it to Christmas. But through this whole conversation, he sounded so positive about everything, and as he was talking about how he’s just going day to day trying to make the most of each day, and living life while he still has the chance to, I started realizing that I should really be focusing more on the way I’m living, as opposed to where I’m living.

Because really the problem I’ve been having is that I’ve felt that I haven’t been living up to life’s potential, but the root of that isn’t where I’m living, it’s how I’m living. If I’m wasting my time in front of a computer in Austin, it’d be just as bad wasting time in front of a computer in Washington or Oregon or wherever else.

So I was talking with this man for about a half hour, till the next bus came up, at which point we both got on, he got off at his stop, and I continued up to the cathedral, getting there just as the first song was welcome song was starting.

And what was the reading for the first time going to church in months? “The Prodigal Son.” I’ve written a few times in this journal about how every now and then I feel like God smacks me upside the head and says “hey - knock it off and pay attention!” and I think this is one of the more blatant of those times. During announcements the priest said that next Sunday there’s going to be a ministry fair at the cathedral, so I’m going to go up there and see what’s going on.

After church I rode around Austin, and realized that this is really a pretty amazing city, and perhaps I really shouldn’t give up on it so soon. Rather than live here as if I know I’m going to leave in April, or a year from April, I’m just going to live each day as I can.

And in other news, I have an audition tomorrow for “Esther’s Follies,” a local vaudeville-type show. So, I’m excited, and hopeful, and things are looking pretty good from where I’m standing right now.

To Be Continued.

Hello, friends, and welcome to another installment in the life of Nathaniel Jones.

When I moved to Austin about five months ago (really? wow), I had an idea that this city would serve as a transition, giving me some life experience that I would be able to take with me to wherever I went afterwards. So far I’ve been trying to make the most of that - trying things I’ve never tried before, figuring out how to survive in a place that is totally new to me, trying to make a name for myself where one does not already exist.

But during my time here I’ve felt that despite the fact that I’m doing things, I’m not actually doing anything - that there’s no point in putting real effort into anything here, since it’s all just temporary. My original plan was to stay here for two years, and then move to another new place for two years, and then another, and another, until eventually I decided to settle down somewhere and live out my days. But at this point, I’m thinking that I would really hate living in a different city or state or country every two years - if everything I do to build myself up in a place I’m going to have to do over again in the next. When I changed schools every two years (from Edmonds Woodway to Federal Way, from USC to WWU), I was always upset to leave just when I started to get really comfortable, and just when I was starting to see possibilities of bigger things than just chorus roles in things.

So now I’m thinking that I’m going to call off this two-year plan of mine, and to start heading down a path towards an actual future, living somewhere that I could actually call home. I don’t know exactly where this place is yet - almost definitely on the west coast, somewhere close to forests and water - but I’m going to start looking now. I think that once my apartment lease is up in April, I’m going to head out of Austin, and find someplace where I can end my pattern of wandering aimlessly in hopes of stumbling upon something I like, and instead focus my energy towards doing something amazing, becoming great at something… learning to fly.