I'm now definitely leaning away from going to Cornerstone this year (http://cornerstonefestival.com). What changed my mind? Umm... I guess a sense of loyalty to my friends. A group of them are going to Myrtle Beach, SC the third week of July and. If I go to c-stone, I don't think I can do both unless I want to use up all my vacation time for the whole year halfway through it. If I go to c-stone it'll be like saying I'd rather spend a week alone with strangers than a week with friends. There's the possibility that the beach trip will be cheaper than a c-stone trip and was very important earlier this week when I thought I had overdrawn my bank account. It's cool now. Of course if, at the beach, we rent jetski's or go parasailing or something the cost for that trip will go up. I do know a girl who's going to c-stone so there's a possibility of splitting fuel costs. If we went together it wouldn't be so lonely of a drive, but I'd probably have to stop more. Plus, she wants to go on Monday and I'd prefer to leave on Tuesday. Tuesday is Tooth and Nail Day and I'm not a fan of a lot of the bands on that label so I'd be pretty bored. I guess I could read all day or something. Patti is working for a label at the fest so she may NEED to be there then.
It's perhaps a negative quirk of my personality that I kind of like long drives alone... or just being alone in general. OTOH there are a lot of times that I wish I had a girlfriend or wife just so I'd have someone to share experiences with. That happened a lot when I lived in Lititz, PA. I lived on Main St which is an old (by American standards) section of the country. The town was founded in the 1700's. I lived a few doors down from the site of the first pretzel bakery in the US. There are antique shops and art galleries (and a couple of pizza places) lining the street. On one of the corners is a restaurant/Inn that was founded by General Sutter in his later years, after he left his home in California. I little thing known as the California Gold Rush caused him some grief. His home being the point of the outbreak of gold fever. I'd go for walks down the streets in that section of town when the weather was nice. It was very relaxing and enjoyable but I always felt like something was missing. I had no one to enjoy it with. sigh.
I wonder if I could do both the c-stone and beach trips. I'd have to save up money to cover time off from work without pay (or work extra days). I'm just not totally psyched up for either trip. The beach is much easier to get to but c-stone holds one of my favorite things in life... sitting under the stars on a warm summer night listening to Over the Rhine play their beautiful music. Most (if not all) of my favorite musicians play there and there's a ton of good seminars, and discussions and esoteric films and art and interesting people. All of that and the sweet but sad melancholy of seeing all that beauty and not having anyone to share it with. *sigh*
If I get bored in SC I guess I could visit my brother in Greenville. It might be a long drive, but probably shorter than leaving from here. Nah, I looked it up. It's a 4.5 hour drive... 1 hour less than from here (Lynchburg VA).
Good night.
http://cornerstonefestival.com
http://toothandnail.com
http://overtherhine.com
