New And Updated! Apartment Hunting in Boston, Volume II

Welcome to Volume II of TRUE (and slightly embellished) STORIES ABOUT BOSTON APARTMENTS! Since many of you are likely starting to think about accommodations, we thought we'd bring up a few pertinent conversations.

STORY 1: We Are The Makers of Music
Once upon a time, an enterprising flute player inquired about a lovely, two-bedroom apartment in an ideal location. The owner of the apartment responded to her inquiry by calling her the next day. "I Googled you," said the owner, accusingly. "You're a musician." The flute player responded with somewhat shocked silence. "We can't rent to musicians, even if you never practice in the apartment," continued the owner. "Too many noise violations."
"Fine," thought the flute player. "I will look elsewhere."
So she did.
And she found a big apartment in an even better neighborhood, where the upstairs neighbors play guitar and are fond of music in the home.

House plus Piano equals FUN!

Lesson: Don't lose hope! While some landlords don't want musicians in their buildings, period, this isn't the case for all of them.
In our experience, the best bets are to
a) move into a bedroom in an apartment where there are already musicians living.
b) move into a large building rented by a company so huge that they won't care if you are a musician.
c) don't say anything, and keep your practicing at school.
Obviously all of this gets more complicated if you have a piano, but there are many, many situations where moving a piano into an apartment is just fine, and the neighbors love it.


STORY 2: Steps to the Green Line

*This is not at all what Boston looks like.

Long ago and far away, a BU graduate student was looking for an apartment with easy public transit to BU. Lo and behold, she came across a Craigslist ad for an apartment just "steps from the Green Line!" She immediately called a realtor, and the next day was off to see the apartment. Unfortunately, while lovely, the apartment was approximately 2,134,680 steps from the Green Line, which the graduate student considered to be TOO MANY steps.

Lesson: Ask your Realtor/landlord to point out the bus or train stop to you while you are looking at the apartment. If you are attending BU, you will likely be looking for an apartment on the B-Line of the Green Line subway. Keep in mind, however, that there are bus routes that also run directly to BU from Brighton and parts of Watertown. Apartments in these neighborhoods can be slightly more cost-effective, and the transportation can be just as fast (or faster).

STORY 3: Defining Terms
Once a young graduate student was beginning his apartment hunt. He called a realtor to get the process started.
"Great, what neighborhood would you like," said the Realtor.

So many questions!

"Uhh," said the young graduate student.
"Well... how many bedrooms?" asked the Realtor.
"Some?" said the young graduate student.
The Realtor paused in confusion. "Do you have any pets?" she finally asked.
"Mm... maybe?" said the young graduate student.

Lesson: Know what you want. Define your apartment hunt. Write some questions down, and answer them: How much time do you have to look for an apartment? Is your move-in date flexible? What is your budget? Do you want to live alone or with others? Are there any make-or-break considerations? Do you want a porch? Do you want utilities included (and does this affect budget)? Are you bringing a furry friend?

Once you have decided what is most important to you, you can structure your apartment hunt much more effectively. If budget is most important, things like space or location can be more flexible. If location is a must, maybe your move-in date can shift slightly.

New And Updated! Apartment Hunting in Boston, Volume I: Finding A Place To Sleep At Night

Boston is a great city, and a great place to live. One of the things that makes it so amazing is all the people who move to Boston because it's such a great place to live. The downside to this wondrous bank of shiny new friends is that moving to Boston can be a nightmare. While one blog post can't totally alleviate the difficulties, we have tried to provide some useful tips to help ease the process. Welcome to Volume I of Apartment Hunting in Boston: Finding A Place To Sleep At Night.

Hunting for an apartment in Boston is tough. If you are a musician, your livelihood can add another layer of complexity to the search. For the student new to Boston, here are a few stories (and lessons!) to help with your apartment search.


STORY 1: DON'T BANK ON IT
There once was a bright and beautiful apartment with two (TWO!) living rooms. The owners seemed a little cagey about the cost of utilities, though, and when you mention bank account numbers for your security deposit, they comment that "we don't really do that. We'll just keep the deposit and return it to you when you move out."

Lesson: Know your legal rights. Boston landlords are required by law to put your security deposit into a savings account which accrues interest. That way, your deposit can be returned to you along with the interest if the apartment is in good shape when you move out. This is for the protection of the tenant. If the landlord will not be putting your security deposit into a separate, interest-accruing account, this is a definite red flag. Massachusetts has different rental laws than other parts of the country. Read up on your legalities to help you as you apartment hunt, and watch out for people who might not be renting legally.

STORY 2: FEE FI FO FUM
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful apartment with a lakeview, and it didn't even smell weird. There were no clumps of dog hair under the radiator, and no Insane Clown Posse blaring from next door. The Realtor says, with a twinkle in his eye, "this apartment is full-fee."

Lesson: What even IS a fee?! In Boston, if you use a Realtor to hunt for your new apartment, you may be charged a fee. The fee essentially pays the Realtor for the work that she/he does for you, and is usually equal to one month's rent. Sometimes the landlord will cover half (or even three-quarters!) of the fee, particularly if the rental date is quickly approaching, or if the apartment is in less-than-ideal shape. The best way to pay no fee is to look for an apartment rented by the landlord her/himself. This makes the search much more difficult, but it might be preferable to paying the fee. You can use Craigslist to filter out search results. If you want to avoid paying a fee, you will likely need to look every day (multiple times) and email or call right away if you see something you love.

STORY 3: I'M ON FIRE (Not really)
In a faraway land (Brookline), in a faraway time (last week), a beautiful apartment was rented to a magical prince. Even though the apartment had major benefits, like windows, floors, and a working refrigerator, there was one thing that made the apartment better and more wonderful than every other apartment the magical prince had ever seen: Heat Included.

Lesson: Some apartments in Boston, especially if they are managed by a large company or are in a large building, include heat and/or hot water in the rent. This seems completely useless as you are moving your sweaty self into the place in August, but in February, when there are icicles forming on your fingertips, you will love it! Be sure to check which utilities are included before you sign a lease to avoid any surprises.

Spring Is Here (Almost); Hurray!

As we all know, Boston has received (almost) record amounts of snow this spring not-spring. We would like to smugly suggest that we were reasonably prepared for such an occasion.

The amount of snow obviously caused difficulties with things like going to school, life, getting places, eating, and being a human. While it was really hard to exist with all the white stuff falling from the sky all the time, there were a few things that were facilitated by the vast amount of cloud dust:

1) Swimming practice.

Can't get to the pool? No problem!

2) Friendly interactions with neighbors.

Day 1

Day 21

3) No need to go to the gym!

No need for you, gym! I get enough of a workout walking everywhere because my bus isn't running!

4) Hilarious jokes in the newspapers!

... This is a joke, right? ... Right?!

Luckily, the sun is shining, birds are singing, and trains are angrily blaring their horns at pedestrians across from the CFA. Here are some awesome things to check out whilst the weather is nicer than it has been (and let's face it, we are REALLY appreciative of basic things like being able to get to parking meters and not having to climb Mount Snow-manjaro to get to an intersection):


1) Visit the Boston Common.
This historic park is probably pretty familiar to all of you, but did you know that it's housed the British army, an execution after a witch trial, and a major Vietnam protest?


2) Take the T.
The MBTA is back up and running! Also, they have announced 15% fare discounts in May, and a FREE RIDE DAY in April!


3) Get bubble tea in Allston.
This bubble tea is, in our opinion, totally 100% worth walking to Harvard Ave. Drink it in the sun!


4) Go to Cold Stone.
10 out of 10 Andy Chaes in the School of Music office prefer Cold Stone.


What are you doing this spring? How are you replenishing your requisite Vitamin D deposits?

Music Music All The Time: Summer Music Festivals All In One Not-Boring List!

Okay, we know that it's only Autumn, that wondrous season where the trees are naked, drizzly and depressing days become the norm, and Daylight Savings ensures that we are suddenly catapulted into complete darkness at 4:00 PM.

Well, good news! It's time to think about summer music festivals! Now you can bask in the thoughts of warm, music-ey comfort that a gorgeous summer festival affords, the hours of peaceful practice while a gentle breeze wafts the edges of the delicate pages of your Khachaturian concerto. And you can think all these thoughts while you make your audition recordings in the dark.

The University of Houston's Texas Music Festival provides all applicants with a scholarship covering tuition, room, and board (valued at $4,000)... so... that's awesome. This festival is open to ages 18-30.

Domaine Forget in Quebec has a number of sessions throughout the summer. Information will be up on their website by the end of November.

The Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina offers a number of programs for college and high-school. The age limit is 29, and specific programs include Orchestral Studies, Collaborative Piano, and Composition.

But what about those of us who are, shall we say, more seasoned? More life-experienced? Old?

This wine tastes like musical
maturity, with slight notes
of a mix CD from 2001.

Dig, if you will, Yellow Barn in Putney, Vermont. With no upward age limit, this small festival is open to individuals and pre-formed ensembles; So Percussion and eighth blackbird are alumni ensembles. Boston auditions are January 28-30.

Round Top is another option with only a minimum age limit: participants must be born before December 31, 1997. This orchestrally-based festival also provides full-tuition scholarships to all participants, so the fee is minimal.

The Aspen Music Festival in Colorado only has minimum age limits as well. This large program offers chamber music, orchestra, and opera theater.

Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine has 6-week and 3-week sessions, and no upper age limit. Pre-formed chamber ensembles are also invited to apply.

You mean... I GET money
to take lessons?!

"Okay," we hear you say. "What about those of us who are legit broke and cannot handle any fees of any kind?"

Might we suggest working for, rather than attending, a festival? Here is a short list of festivals that hire staff:

Interlochen Arts Camp in northern Michigan hires a full staff, from waterfront, counselors, production, front-of-house, and box office, to more specialized positions like collaborative piano, instructor of yoga, and kiln technician. Summer employees can study with faculty and perform on staff recitals.

Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, also in Michigan, hires staff for the summer. They also have a number of advanced graduate students serving as faculty. Staff and faculty play in a number of large, small, and jazz ensembles.

Boston University's own Tanglewood Institute has not only a number of RA positions open to college students who have finished their sophomore year (and older!), but institutes that are open to students until age 20. There are also paid internships available. Students can study with faculty, time permitting, and enjoy the Berkshires (a significant perk!).

Anybody out there enjoyed any of these festivals? Any that we should add to the list?

STRESS SERIES!: Experiment Number One: Throwing a Party

This week, to combat the slow, sneaky stress of the mid-semester stretch, we decided to throw a Halloween party. Why? Because Halloween is so awesome. Who is we? The Royal We. What is going on again?! A party.

Normally at the end of the week, we are basically non-functional.

Figure 1: Non-function.

The idea of throwing a party was daunting at best, and at worst caused our brains to explode. However, we bravely soldiered on with digging the box of Halloween goodies out of the basement and Googling "snarky costumes lol."

Half-way through decorating, we were hit with the tired stick (otherwise known as the "WHAT AM I DOING I HAVE TO STUDY!!!!!!11!!" stick") and ended up taking a twenty-minute coma nap under a cat.

Figure 2: Cat Nap is Incomplete Without Cat

This actually was an excellent idea and left us feeling very relaxed. Cat also seemed to enjoy it.

One stressful and perennial fear is that we will take Halloween more seriously than others. This manifests itself by involved costumes containing a large volume of fake blood, capes, and other props. While it seems like an awesome idea, it is awkward to be the only one at a party who looks thus.

Well. This is awkward.

So we spent some time coming up with a costume made up of one piece of paper that we could take off if necessary (IE, if we were the only ones in costume). We then spent some time making gross food (gross both because of the way it looked and because of the amount of butter present).

It's a HAND-MADE CAKE!!! Get it??!

Finally, we decorated the heck out of the apartment. Spiderwebs everywhere.

I... don't know how to feel.

The party came and went with plentiful food, fun, and ease. Clean-up only took about twenty minutes, and we filled the dishwasher ONLY ONCE (the true definition of a successful party).

While we were worried about costumes and decor, and while making food for an undetermined amount of people was a little difficult, we found this event to actually be moderately de-stressing.

DE-STRESS SCORE: 6/10

Surprisingly, after we were done cleaning up and had had a good night's sleep, we were refreshed because the party broke up the monotony of the weekly homework routine. It was nice to prioritize hanging out with friends, eating nasty, buttery food, and putting spiderwebs on the cat.

I'm still here.

We would definitely recommend taking a break to spend time with friends during this crazy season. Lucky for you, Halloween isn't over! Grab a vat of fake blood and enjoy the most wonderful season of the year.

And Now for a Non-Musical Interlude: STRESS! and How (and Why) You Should Care

So we are quickly hurtling toward the end of the semester and you feel stressed.

Big deal. Everyone is stressed. 

WHY IS EVERYTHING RED?!

Okay, maybe yes, everyone IS stressed. But stress is not good for our bodies or brains, both of which we need to play musical instruments. This article says the following scary things:

- 75%-90% of all visits to the doctor's office are for stress-related complaints.
- Stress costs American industry more than $300 billion annually. That is enough to pay off EVEN OUR student loans.
- 43% of all adults suffer adverse health affects from stress.

So it seems fairly clear that this is bad. But WHAT KINDS of bad things happen from stress?

Short-term stress.

Annoying, and kind of no big deal. BUT, over time, stress can have long-lasting and unpleasant effects.

Long-term stress, :-(

Yuck. Does not want.

A number of questions arise when we realize how bad stress is: how can we stop the inevitable? Can we avoid stress? How can we not panic when we have so much STUFF to do and practice for and write about?

Even THIS could be stressful (if you sunburn easily)

We'll be making a stab at some stress-busting case studies over the next months, where we will implement the following three steps:

1. Find a thing that is supposed to be a de-stressor.
2. Do that thing.
3. Think critically about its impact on our selves. Blog about it.

Stay tuned! And in the meantime, let us know if you do anything in particular to de-stress!

Handy Ways To Not Be Injured Safely On A Bike

We all know that city biking is a rewarding and wonderful way to get around, not to mention that in many cases it is also faster than other modes of public transportation (*cough* the green line *cough*). It is also, however, a dangerous undertaking. Here are some tips to stay safe on your bike this summer and throughout the school year.

1. BUY A HELMET. Riding without a helmet is so dangerous, you guys. Musicians need our heads (and faces, and brains) so protect them with a GOOD, HIGH-QUALITY helmet. Don't buy a used helmet; cracks can be invisible but significantly impact the quality of the helmet.

Where to buy a helmet? Here, here, or here. How to buy a helmet? By exchanging money for goods and services. Why should you spend money on a good helmet? Because of the brain thing previously mentioned. Will you look like a dork in your helmet? No.

The following picture illustrates how good you will look in your helmet:

2. Keep a constant eye on the right. If you bike in the bike lanes (WHICH YOU SHOULD) you will notice that cars, busses, and other sundry traffic pass through the bike lane. One particular hazard is opening car doors, as shown below:

3. Ride at the same speed as traffic. If you are riding faster than traffic, there is a chance that a car could miss you, cut over quickly, and cause an accident. As tempting as it is, don't speed past the poor, unfortunate cars stuck in traffic.

NO.

4. DO obey all traffic signs, lights, and signals. Bicycles are moving vehicles on the road and are therefore subject to all the same regulations and rules as cars. This also means that you can act all snooty when people tell you that you should bike on the sidewalk. Which you shouldn't.

Also, police have been pulling people over for riding unsafely. So, you don't even wanna mess with that.

5. Get a bike light! Ideally, these lights should be able to be solid or flashing, and white for the front of your bike with red on the back.

May your bike light reflect your own personal radiance.

The reason for the bike light is two-fold: first, you need to see at night. Sometimes streets are dark and you don't want to ride over (or into) something unpleasant. Second, cars need to see YOU. A light goes a long way toward preventing this:

Obviously this is just a basic guide for biking in Boston. For more information, or to get involved with bike activism in Boston, you can visit the Boston Cyclists Union, where you can sign a petition for protected bikeways on Commonwealth Ave., sign up to volunteer, and take a class on things like winterizing your bike.

Just remember, even though riding a bike is awesome, taking proper safety measures makes us EVEN COOLER. What do you do to stay safe on the roads?