The Best New Hobby

Everyone loves good piano rock. I have to put my foot down. But if you don't like good piano rock, the problem is with you. Every girl I know who sees a guy rock out the room's favorite song on the piano is impressed. Any one can appreciate a true pianist that can pound out piano concertos and Mozart, Beethoven, and Mozart. But if you can play crunchy tunes off the radio like Ben Folds, Elton John, Billy Joel, Journey, or John Legend you are a mac.
Now that we agree that chicks dig piano skills, dancing skills, and knunchuck skills it is therefore desirable to acquire them. Unfortunately, most of us are not like my friend Ben who can play almost any song you request off the by ear with hysterical fidelity. Although a few more people went through the trouble to actually learn piano, I know individuals that went through a decade of piano and could not play a single entertaining tune today. In January 2008 I went with my friends to the brand dueling piano bar, Ernie Biggs, in Westport. That night I went on YouTube and searched, "How to Play Don't Stop Believing Journey Piano," and watched this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF_QrJgJGaA. Obviously it can't be as hard as it looks, so the next day I went to Best Buy and bought my Yamaha YPT-210 Electronic Keyboard. Within an hour I was playing something that resesmbled Don't Stop Believing.
It's almost been a year since I started this hobby. I had to take a couple of months off when I went to out of town this summer to MN and OH. Really it's just mimicking. But it's fun and I've accomplished the ultimate goal of learning piano, to play cool songs, without actually learning piano.
These are the songs I've learned since 1/07

Don't Stop Beliving by Journey
The Scientist by Coldplay
Clocks by Coldplay
Let It Be by The Beatles
Layla by Derek and the Dominoes
Love Lockdown by Kayne West
Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's
Careless Whisper by Wham
Mad World by Gary Jules
Karma Police by Radiohead
Beautiful Life by Ace of Base

There are bits and pieces of other songs I learned or tried to learn. But otherwise, this was a rewarding experiment, well worth the 100 bucks I spent on the keyboard. There are so many more songs left me to learn from YouTube. The only problem now is that at one of my upcoming interviews, they make anyone who lists piano as an interest play in their office. Yeesh.