Part of Me: Music

Music has always played a big part in my life. From when I was little, I used to play music - flute and classical piano. Growing up in a traditional household, music was always what I used to see beyond the little world I lived in. My first CD was Ace of Base, purchased for $1 from a garage sale. My first real CD was purchased at PC Richards, and it was Alanis Morissette. My first date was to the Source Mall, to buy the J.Lo CD "waiting for tonight". My first relationship centered around buying as many emo rock CDs as I could afford (BareNaked Ladies, Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, Eve 6, Edwin McCain, etc) I used to have one friend from Chinese school who would give me her old CDs to listen to, the first one I asked for was Boyz II Men. My first break up was over "Water Runs Dry" by Boyz II Men.

So it is fitting that one of the few things I wanted to accomplish this year was to listen to music live. That comes in the form of intimate stage settings, dim lighting, or arena concert style, or straight up festival style. Since February I've been trying to find Mommy-duty-free time to attend at least one of each category. It hasn't worked out in the past few times that I've been Mommy-duty-free but I can't express how glad I am to have had the opportunity to watch U2 live. It was a friggin awesome show, such an amazing performer to see for my first stadium arena concert. I tried to catch Edwin McCain at his show that same week in Bayshore, Long Island, since he's touring now, but that didn't work out. And now, with my ticket that I bought a few months ago to Lollapalooza - one that I anticipated having to sell because I wasn't sure about whether I should go or not - I will have completed two of the three categories under "Music" that I wanted to accomplish this year. The original plan was to bring Adam with me to Lolla, because they have a Kidsapalooza stage where bands come and go and perform kid-friendly songs. But that would have probably made "kids music" the center of attention for that weekend, which I guess wouldn't have been a bad thing at all, but given the chance, I'd rather attend the adults version of the festival. So many headliners in so little time. I will have to rely on the experience of my festival-going friends to show me how to best maximize the time and concurrent show schedules. I would have loved to share this experience with you. You'll definitely be on my mind when I go!

Boy does it make me proud to accomplish this!!! I wish I could share it with you!

Addedum to this post is the breakdown of what I did want to do this year. There were two things I wanted to accomplish this year - Impulsive traveling, and Listening to Live Music.
Impulsive traveling: Domestic, and International
Accomplished: International - Mexico, February 2011

Listen to Live Music: Intimate setting, Arena setting, Festival setting
Accomplished: Arena Setting - U2, July 20 2011. Soon - Festival Setting - Lollapalooza, August 5-7 2011.

Conversion Rate: 60% !!!!!!!