Now that I'm in the midst of finding some bandmates so that I can start performing regularly again, I've been thinking about the songs I would ideally like to sing. While I am connecting with some folks who want to form cover bands, I figured it would be useful for me to nail down a dream set list so I stay aware of and committed to my performance goals. *** Dream Set List: April 2016 Raise Hell - Dorothy Nothing But A Heartache - The Flirtations Hell on Heels - Pistol Annies Fell in Love with a Girl - The White Stripes You Know I'm No Good - Amy Winehouse Billie Jean cover - The Civil Wars Use Me - Bill Withers Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show version Yankee Bayonet - The Decemberi

GDC is my personal New Year. It's a time of renewal, enlightenment, connection, and reconnection that is hard to replicate anywhere else. I emerge from every GDC with a better sense of what I want to do and who I want to be, and GDC 2016 - my fourth! - was no exception. Now that about a month has passed since the event, I finally feel like I've had enough time to assemble some of my takeaways from the experience. *** I. Fortify Your Network A staple of my previous GDCs has been a mad scramble to exchange as many business cards as possible before the end of the conference. There's a lot of pressure to maximize your networking throughout the week, and, as a result, many of those new connection

Pride Interactive, a junior Digipen student team, made Gaslight(); during the 2015-2016 academic year. I had the pleasure of working with this team in order to provide the voice of their antagonist and the main character's ex-girlfriend, Val. In addition to getting the chance to work with Harrison Barton, a very talented narrative designer, I especially enjoyed working on this project because it centered on distinct and vibrant characters of varying sexuality who exist outside of the gender binary. 2016 Student Game Award winner - Best Spoken Dialogue, 2nd place Val from Gaslight(); While they will continue to work on the project over the summer, here is the trailer for the current iteration

This is a song I wrote for a friend's team game project at DigiPen. The game centers on things lost a found by a differently-abled folk hero in a post-apocalyptic world. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out during the 2016-2017 school year. *** WHERE YOU ARE Where is my home to be? A fire in the distance calls to me Whether you be near or far I will find myself where you are You look at me and I feel brave Like I'm not so far gone and there's plenty to save Ash clouds the sky, but I swear I can see A great winding path guiding you back to me Where is my home to be? A fire in the distance calls to me Whether you be near or far I will find myself where you are Missteps you took made you

Here's a song I wrote about the perils of waiting around for a bad situation to get better. *** DROWNING Not sure what it is you expect of me I never learned how to do lonely The longer that you’re forcin’ me to wait The more plentiful the mistakes I make CHORUS Kiss kiss, pat pat You promise this, you promise that Hands off’a me, let me steer Tied to you, I’m drownin’, dear Kiss kiss, sigh sigh How’d the water get so high? I'm cuttin' ties, free and clear, So I can stop my drownin’ here… You compliment my hair and how my lashes frame my eyes You say “She can’t compare” but now I know you’re spinnin’ lies Your words, light as air but impossible to breathe Tell me why exactly you’re deservin’

My quest to write 5 songs before GDC 2017 continues. Song #3 is about my propensity to break things, and I tried go for something a little more light-hearted this time around. If you want to listen to a rough recording, click here. *** CARELESS Unicorns aren’t s’posed to feel regret But I do But I do I prayed we’d survive all of our debts But I knew And I withdrew Sweat and fear don’t guarantee That I’ll treat your heart tenderly I wish for you that we had never met That this was just a sorry joke that nobody would get I don’t know where you’re going to (I can’t be that responsible) I’ll do me and you do you (It doesn’t have to be so tragical) I was a careless piece of shit And

Here is another song that I wrote on my journey to write 5 songs before GDC 2017. I'm not counting it as one of the five, however, because I do not yet have a melody for it. I wrote this song after a conversation with a long-lost friend that made me think about the things you miss when you wait in the shadows. *** FERMENTED WATER Stills of sorrow are fun to watch with fermented water Slicks my mind so it’s easier to swallow Without much effort, days bleed together So the weather’s just an afterthought, really I didn’t realize that years are gone when they’re gone I guess I’ll just keep blinking Heaven forbid I change my behavior I guess I’ll just keep drinking I am but an observeress I can t