one step closer to a useless future.


yes, useless. totally, utterly and deliciously useless. what do you do with a graduate degree in music perception? save lives? end global warming? teach kids to read? nope, you sit in a lab playing with music and brains. could I do that for the rest of my life? oh yes, with pleasure.


with the GRE behind me, I am now moving on to stage two of Fourth Year Applications: The Sequel. narrowing down my options in schools hasn't been too difficult, mainly because one could count the places that research music perception on two hands with several fingers missing. here is the list so far...


*university of amsterdam. yep, amsterdam! number one on the list because (a) the program is exactly what I want, (b) they teach in english and (c) amsterdam's not here.


*mcgill. one of the two big centers in canada for the study of music cognition. unfortunately, they only accept students who intend on pursuing a PhD - so if I decided to go to medical school afterwards, I would likely have to choose between food and the application fees.


*UC berkeley. dude, california? the deadline is early, though.


*northwestern. I think the program is more or less what I'm looking for, but I keep forgetting what state it's in.


*ohio state university. ahh yes, it hurts me too. it appears to be a major american hub for music cognition, though, assuming I could survive a couple years in midwest yankeeland.


*university of rochester/eastman school of music. the joint program looks interesting, but there is a serious problem - it's in rochester.


*...and utm. the other big canadian name in music cognition, but I'd rather live in central buttcrack, ohio than missisagua.


so there you have it. my sister says I should be looking into studying something practical, or at least getting some work so I can pay my way through my some of my senseless dreams. meanwhile, I am busy coming up with back-up plans for my back-up plan. urban splunking is one alternative. holing up in a mountain cabin and writing books is another. and professional nomad still has a nice ring to it...