ain't gonna get it unless you give a little bit of sacrifice

W wrote me this week from another country, to inform me that DCFC are playing here on November 13th, and 14th, and throws this in:

You better be there! Even better, attend with one of the personal Dictaphone recorders, make a boot leg and send me a crappy sounding live concert so that we can feel like we're young and still in college.

Reading this was followed by a big, long, weary sigh. Yeah, I will not be attending either of said concerts. And even though I don't feel like I'm young or still in college, my reason for missing the concerts is not that they're sold out. Which they are. But I knew about them a while back, and already had a good temper tantrum over the fact that they line up perfectly with my next exam. This is why I have to conjure up love affairs with professors. It is the only way I can keep myself from bursting into tears about all the fun moments I will have to miss.

Let me throw in an Anthony Kiedis-esque, now that is a lie to that last sentence. I chose all of this, I brought it all on myself, and I want it, probably more than anything else I have ever wanted or will ever want again. Sure, I may get Whiny McGrumpypants about it from time to time, but nothing worth pursuing is easy, not now. The bro-seph was complaining the other day about there being no obvious options for him, and I gave him a dose of tough older sister love. I said, "Dude, the time for easy choices is long gone. That's fine when you're twenty-one, and you're a little punk who hasn't invested that much in anything to begin with. Anything worth wanting now is going to take some effort." Maybe that was a little harsh, but I really do believe that. There are two things that rankle me when it comes to a person's lot in life- when they act like a victim and when they say there are no choice. You are not an innocent bystander in your life, so you cannot, by definition, be a victim. There is always a choice; it just always comes with a price. So, what is it worth to you? That's the real question.

So, it's time to suck it up. Leave the party early, and let others say what they will. Nose to the grindstone, head to the stars. Stop trying to make everything fit perfectly into a puzzle that should only have my pieces in it.