We Live in the City Now

I just saw that one of my favorite bands, Death Cab for Cutie, is playing at a small venue in the city. Then I saw that it's on the same day as a wedding we're attending in Maine. And that got me to thinking...we really live in the city now. I mean, we've been here for more than six years, but it just occurred to me today that our schedules have finally adjusted to our new reality. In the past, our summer calendar was full of concerts -- most of my time off from my 9-5 job was scheduled for concert trips (and, later, low residency sessions for grad school).

It would be easy to see it as just a consequence of getting older: more friends getting married, fewer concerts we want to travel for. But I think it's more a happy circumstance of living in the city. We don't have to travel to see bands anymore. We don't even really have to plan ahead -- there's so much going on all the time, and we have friends in bands, and Philly is almost always a tour stop for our favorite bands. If we don't see somebody this year, maybe they'll be back on the next tour.

Plus, after decades of going to shows, the urgency has receded a little bit. I've seen almost every (living) band I've ever wanted to see, at least once, and although I want to see many of them again and again, I don't HAVE to. In fact, a lot of things have changed -- the music industry is completely different. The wealth of bands available makes it harder for me to focus and become a dedicated fan. Concert ticket prices are so ridiculous and cellphone-brandishing fans are so annoying that I tend to go see smaller bands now.

But I think in spite of all that, we'd still regularly be driving three or five hours to see live shows if we still lived in Maine. The biggest change is in the way Luke and I plan our lives. We schedule trips home and trips for weddings because we no longer live near our family and friends. That's kind of sad. However, we go to concerts whenever we feel like it, and my fourteen-year-old self couldn't have imagined anything better than that.

Culture Vulture

Lately I've had a seemingly-endless appetite for art in all forms. Performances, movies, books, visual art, everything. I've been taking it in, making connections in my head, and wishing I had more people to talk to about it, or a specific venue in which to discuss it. Lucas shares many of my preoccupations, but not all, and we don't always consume the same things. I've also been happy to have facebook, but that small space for updates is like the shallow end of a pool that should have many different depths. I've been thinking that if I were at this point twenty years ago, I would have made a pretty good arts reviewer, and I think I would have loved doing it. Now, though, the internet has changed the reviewing game. But I don't want to just bemoan the fact that if everyone is doing it, it doesn't seem to matter whether I add my voice as well. I believe that art and the ability to make art and comment on it should be available to everyone, even if that might make it harder (in some ways) for me to make a career in the arts.

I don't know if I really would make a good reviewer, anyway. I'm not really interested in being a critic -- I want to make things and celebrate other people who make things. I want to share my enthusiasms. So all this is to say: expect some new pieces over at http://sundaymorningreviews.blogspot.com/