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BIOGRAPHY
Mary-Ellen and Alexander Pistel were two people who should have never met, they should have never exchanged phone numbers nor should they have gone on that single date which resulted in a night of passionate sex, and later produced a child. Two people with minds like theirs should not have formed another life together, it was a bad idea from the get-go but by the time they realized this, it was too late. The child these two brilliant people brought into this world is one who would later need a lot of help in becoming a social part of society. With a name like Misha Pistel, it was obvious they never gave the boy much of a shot. It is one thing to be born out of wedlock, but an entirely different situation when both your parents are then forced into a marriage neither one of them has even wanted, yet are far too respectable of people to ever leave one another. So rather then upset their childs well being, the Pistels have been married for twenty-two years, and not a single day goes by where they don't secretly resent one another as well as the child, but keep it so well hidden that no one would ever suspect they were anything but the worlds happiest family.
His first word at one, first step at one, from the day he was born it was obvious he was unlike most other children. The combination of his parents genes brought forth someone entirely unlike anyone they had ever expected. By the time Misha reached third grade, he had not a single friend, and was forced to move from his basic regular school to a school for the gifted. His parents were convinced that he was a brilliant mind and he needed to be challenged. He spent the next several years of his life being the smartest kid in all of his classes, even the hardest classes at a school for gifted children. By the time he reached high school, he had only had kissed one girl, and decided that he wanted to attend a regular high school. He was sick of the overload of work, he wanted to be normal. He wanted to live a simple life. Against their better judgement, his parents agreed, they only wanted him to be happy, anyway.
Misha was not expecting high school to be as easy as it was. He had never been good at small talk, therefore always had issues making friends, yet in high school the girls were intrigued by his mysterious attitude. They flocked to him like bees to honey. They swooned when he walked down the hall, they aww'ed when he blushed (which he did do a lot), they smiled when he ate because they loved his puffy cheeks. Most importantly, though...they sighed when he walked down the hall with his guitar case (his best friend)in hand. He didn't know what it was he did, but for some reason he always found it easier to talk to girls. Throughout the four years of high school girls were the only friends he made, they made him feel safe and not judged. They loved listening to him talk music but more importantly, they apparently loved hearing him talk about anything he wanted. He never understood the effect he had on them, but was thankful when that effect ended once high school was over.
Choosing a college was never a difficult task for Misha. He knew since he was four years old that he was going to go to Juilliard. He loved music, he loved his guitar. However, he didn't play the kind of music teenagers would normally play, he didn't like the music normal people liked, and he didn't go to school just to further his talent on the guitar. He was a composer in his mind. He wrote his own music, but refused to ever wwrite lyrics. He hated lyrics, he felt they were too personal. Some people could pull it off, but Misha never could. He is what you call a music snob. He only listens to music done by people he knows, and will never listen to anything with lyrics. Sure, some people find it fun but he can't stand it. To him it is like nails on a blackboard. After completing his first year at Julliard, Misha realized he did not fit in there anymore than he did in high school. Deciding that it was time to move back home, he decided to transfer to LSU and try his hardest to better himself and his life. Now entering his senior year he has found himself at a crossroad, unsure of which way to go...perhaps even more lost than he had been in the past.
FACTS
+ It's never easy being the center of attention, but it is even more difficult when you are the only person anyone in your family wants to be around. Cousins, aunts, uncles, growing up Misha was the only one that they wanted to be around. The Pistel family has a history of hostility and Misha is the only member of the family who managed to come out the other end without a drop of anger in him. When his cousins would get into fights, throw each other down stairs and pull each others hair, Misha would hide in the corner with his eyes closed until it stopped. At family gatherings he was the one they all flocked to first with fingers ready to pinch such chubby little cheeks. Being the center of attention within his own family should have prepared him for the real world when really, all it did was traumatize him.
+ When words fail, he turns to music. When he had his first crush he didn't know how to express his feelings, so he pulled a John Cusack and stood outside her door with a boombox (only instead of a current pop song, he played his favorite instrumental). Despite how romantic it may have seemed in his mind, it did not actually work and he ended up getting crushed as the word clearly stated would happen.
+ Tossed into a school for the gifted at a young age was both good and bad for Misha. On the good side of things, it was nice to be around others like him, others who felt they did not fit into the mold a normal high school had set up. On the flip side, though it was difficult for him to enter the real world following high school. Not every person you meet is going to be as into the same things as you, people are going to be a lot more harsh in their judgement in the real world, and not every girl is going to think you're cute when you blush. Once tossed into the real world, Misha reverted to his former shy and awkward self.
+ Music is the one thing that he has never had fear of rejecting him. When he is having a bad day he will lock himself in his room and play from dusk until dawn, often times only breaking for water. He has convinced himself that music is the cure for every problem that life throws his way, even physical problems such as headaches or aching muscles. Music relaxes his mind and his body, which he takes as healing. He has never touched medicine in his life, not even advil because his belief in the healing power of music is just too strong to ignore.
+ His parents humored his weird habits, they pretended they understood the way music made him feel, but it turned out to all be an act. Two people as overbearing and angry as them should have more open minds, but they do not. As Misha grew up their tolerance for him and his quirks wore thin. Over the past few years his parents have offically cut all ties with their own son, believing that the world has turned him into too strange of a person to want to call their own, they have washed their hands of him.
+ While sheltered most of his life in school, when he dropped out of Julliard due to no longer feeling as if it was taking him on the path he wanted, he never expected his own parents to toss him out as well. Life has been very difficult for Misha over the past two years, he was tossed out on the cold streets of New York only to return home to what he expected some type of warmth, but was greeted with the same coldness of the city. He didn't have many friends in Ann Arbor, only the few who were kind to him in passing, so making it on his own has been the most difficult task yet. Luckily he was graced with the kindness of strangers who have since pulled him to his feet and stood by his side.
+ His first week back home, Misha arrived at his parents house to find all of his favorite things on the sidewalk out front. amongst those items was his very first keyboard. A neighbor saw him out front, tears rolling down his cheeks and approached him with questions on the keyboard. Misha explained to him why it meant so much, and even played a few songs on the old instrument. As it turns out, the neighbor was friends with a gentleman who owned a local music shop where they also taught lessons. He took Misha to his friend that day, filled him in on his situation and was handed a job on the spot. The owner of the store also allowed him to stay in the shop, sleeping on a cot until they could figure out his living situation. The kindness of a stranger, helping a boy in need.
+ After three months of sleeping in the shop, his boss helped Misha find his own place with a roommate, but he would not allow the boy to move in with just anyone. He had to meet them first and he had to approve. His boss became much more than a boss to him, he became the father figure that Misha never had but always wanted. A kind man who even paid the first three months of rent for him until he was able to save enough that he did not need his help anymore. While there have been times when Misha has considered looking for employment elsewhere, something involved in music more, he could never allow himself to leave where he is now. he could never repay his boss for all that he has done.
+ While not a virgin, Misha has only ever had one relationship in his life. A beautiful girl whom he may never be fully over. She was a girl he met when he first returned home, she came into the shop to sign up for lessons and was assigned to Misha. After six months of giving her lessons, he finally asked her out. They began dating for a brief time, eventually the relationship ended when she became too frustrated with his lack of confidence. It became discouraging for her to be around someone who never fully seemed sure of himself, she couldn't handle it at the time. The breakup was very hard on Misha but he understood where she was coming from, but since then has been terrified of even looking at a pretty girl, let alone asking her out.
+ Despite his many, many, many flaws, Misha is a very kind hearted boy who just can not seem to find where he fits into the world. At twenty-one he should have something figured out, he should have a gang of friends who always have his back, a line of ex-girlfriends, a trail of broken hearts...but he has none of that. At twenty-one years old he is just as lost as a newly graduated eighteen year old. Floating through life with no idea who he is, where he belongs, and if he will enevr find a place to be happy.
SURVEY
• WHICH APARTMENT COMPLEX DO YOU LIVE IN? I live in Kellogg's lofts. My manager was the one who found it for me, so far it is all kinds of perfect.
• WHEN DID YOU MOVE IN? About a year ago. Before that I was living in the basement at a music store, sleeping on a cot and sharing a pillow with whatever weird animal would come in at night. I think having an actual home is kind of really really nice.
• WHERE ARE YOU ORIGINALLY FROM? I'm from Ann Arbor originally, but I moved to New York for a few years for college. When the college thing didn't work out for me, I moved back here but I was kicked out of my parents house and basically homeless for a while until I saved enough to come here.
• WHY DID YOU MOVE HERE? The price's are great, the people all seem really friendly, it's clean, warm, and it has walls, windows and a roof. A step up from the basement I was living in or the park bench I could be sleeping on.
• WHO DO YOU LIVE WITH? I had a roommate, but he moved out a few months ago. He ended up getting engaged, married, and split up all within like three months. He was kind of crazy and I now realize why he had gone through so many roommates. This time though, he was the one who left. He said he was sick of this place and needed to go somewhere with "good people" whatever that means.
• WHAT KIND OF NEIGHBOR ARE YOU? I'm quiet. People see my room which is full of music stuff and they think I'm going to be that scary, loud guy but I'm not. I use headphones for everything, I don't play the drums at night (only during the day and only if I know that no one else is really around). I try and be as quiet as possible, and I offer free lessons to anyone in the building who wants them, just for being a neighbor!
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