withdrawal
it's been well over a month since i've been to a concert. i'm starting to twitch.

when erik and i first started dating, i'd say we spent the majority of our income after housing on concert going and cd purchasing. music defined our relationship. nay, it made our world go round. like a record. right round, baby, right round.

it was a good life. a good irresponsible life. we'd drive to los angeles on week nights for choice shows in small urban venues and drive back to san diego well after midnight while my feet ached and my eyes closed and erik blasted everything but the girl or cocteau twins or erasure or some late night chill music on KCRW to stay awake. the next day would be spent squinting at the computer screen trying to stay awake with my ears still buzzing.

aside from a few errant boot or sweater purchases, music was our financial drug of choice. i'd even go so far as to say it was more important to us than food. what good is eating if you can't chew to the beat of the latest morcheeba album?

but now, we have responsibilties. paying for the wedding. saving up. mortgage. (sort of.) thinking about graduate school and how will we do it? how will we both go to school? how will we have babies? how will we give them a good life?

so this year, we put a little moratorium on repeat concerts. no more seeing the same band in san diego, then in los angeles the next night. no more seeing tori amos everytime she passes through town. no more driving out to the desert to see bands we've already seen that year play 30 minute sets. it's all about revaluating. it's time for saving for the good life.

and it just occured to me. what good is a life without concerts?