we all came from dust

Hi, I’m Jo.

... a hopeless idealist, a pragmatic optimist, and an honest hypocrite who has been spinning crap er, waxing poetic for as long as she can remember. A sound junkie who also happens to be a classically-trained pianist, flutist, bassist, vocalist, and percussionist, I played vibraphone in my middle-school jazz band, where I received my semi-suggestive thevibegirl handle. I'm a first-generation Canadian who grew up in a colourful inner-city district before moving to Toronto's outskirts.

In August 2013, I traded wind chills for sunburns and headed for the San Francisco Bay Area where I completed an undergraduate degree and then worked in American law and politics around a rather pivotal election cycle. This year, I've adopted a third home: the appropriately world-class Amsterdam.

As for this blog, it's been on-and-off for about a decade. From 2007 to 2009, it bled red, white, and black as a hockey blog titled Hearts That Bleed, built on Blogger’s Minima template, the Ottawa Senators, and the rumblings of a sixth grader. For a brief, awkward year after, Forgetting Anna housed an indecisive blend of Canadian music news, hockey qualms, and the angsty poetry of youth.

Following yet another wipeout and revamp in 2010, Drop me in the middle became centered upon music of all genres and origins, with moments of personal reflection and poetry during which musical themes continue to run rampant. You'll find traces of both previous blog titles across this site and my persona, and yes, there's some crazy dated (and naive) content between now and seven years ago when I quit deleting the entire blog at each revision. Enjoy and thanks for reading, eh?