First year NOT at SXSW in a long time...

It's supposed to be about the music...but I can't keep thinking that it's about money...this is the first year in a long time that I am not attending SXSW - one of the reasons why is that many of my friends/associates are not going either. "It's too corporate," one guy told me. "There's too much going on that doesn't have anything to do with good music," another told me. Plus I am afraid.

Afraid of missing the magical moment.

What IS the magical moment? It's when you discover a band, either established or young, that you've never personally heard before. It's happened every year for me since I've been going. From Juliana Hatfield to Say Hi To Your Mom to the White Ghost Shivers and more. It's always great to find yourself pleasantly delighted. The older I get, the easier it is to please me. EXCEPT in music. It's harder now that I am older because my ear is more discerning and I am less inclined to wade through crap - especially because there is more of it out there than ever before.

I think everyone has experienced those moments, and I have every year at SXSW - but it's been getting harder to find it, so in another sense, I am glad to take a break from it. The question is: Will I miss it enough to come back? Or will another "lover" something new and fresh and idyllic take it's place? Only tomorrow knows itself.