Old at Heart

I may only be in my early twenties, but I act terribly old. A student of mine asked me what kind of music I liked to listen to and when I told her that I went to a Death Cab concert recently she couldn't believe it. You know what? I can hardly believe it either. 

I completely skipped the part of my life where I was supposed to want to drink alcoholic beverages, stay out late, wear slutty outfits or party every weekend. Instead, I have always been the in-my-pajamas-at-eight and wear-a-big-shirt-over-my-swimsuit type of gal. So when a friend asked me if I wanted to go to a concert with her that started at 9pm on a Tuesday night I was extremely hesitant. 

There are many things I dislike, and a concert had the potential for many things that make me uncomfortable. I don't like loud noises, big crowds, rude people or standing for long periods of time. But it was Death Cab for Cutie! The Hubby introduced me to them back when we first started dating in 2004. Our early stages of flirting involved me asking to borrow CDs from his massive collection and tucking in little love notes written on post-its inside the cases. 

I had never attended a concert before and I figured that a DCFC concert would be a good one to start with. I felt immense guilt for going without The Hubby, but I knew that he would be excited for me. We purchased balcony "seats" and arrived at the location two hours early to score a great view right in the front.

Telekinesis opened for DCFC and I really liked them a lot. 

What really made the experience difficult to enjoy was the fact that rude people who came in late continued to stand right in front of us, blocking our view completely. They decided to stand in the walkway before us (a major safety hazard, btw!) and completely neglected the fact that my friend and I had been waiting there for two hours for the perfect spot.

Hand of a horribly inconsiderate fan.

The lights were nice for the first ten minutes until I suddenly became very paranoid that I was going to get a stroke. I had to look away from all the strobe lights. I AM SO OLD!

Look at all the shiny lights!

In the end, I am very glad I went and tried something new. I think I would have enjoyed myself more if The Hubby was next to me simply because I was thinking of him the entire time. I had a great time bonding with a fairly new friend and I'm sure I burned some calories standing for so long and swaying. Next time, I will disregard the need to look cute and wear my sneakers.

This experience actually gave me a little bit of a concert bug and I began searching for concerts we could go to next year. I think I'll do better at a Michael Buble concert where I'll be one of the youngest attendees and hopefully everyone else will want to remain seated.



I also forced myself to go out of my comfort zone when my good friends here invited me to join them for a night out at the local bars (clubs?). This was the evening of the 5K and the cold air had given me a bad case of the sniffles, but I sucked it up and headed out at 9:30pm. That is incredibly late in my book, yet apparently this is considered early for those used to the night life. A bunch of crazies, I tell you!

This group of ladies is the reason why I survived nine months without The Hubby in Texas.

Did you know people are allowed to smoke indoors in Texas? The smoke made my eyes burn within thirty minutes and continued to bother me the next morning. I felt like I had spent the evening crying. I also thought that I would have to throw away all of the clothes I was wearing as they absolutely reeked by the end of the night. I absolutely hate cigarettes and I felt like I was losing a year of my life every minute I spent in that room of smoke. I told The Hubby that if he ever took up smoking I would leave him, and I'm actually quite serious about that.

Let me tell you that these folks sure know how to dance! It was so strange watching them line dance and do a two-step all around the dance floor. It looked like they were ice skating on a rink because they moved so smoothly. Girls were being tossed up in the air and men were twirling them around. They must practice these moves at home.

Every so often they would change from country music to hip hop so there were many men wearing cowboy hats dancing to Usher. It was an unusual sight. There were some women who would jump on the platforms to display their moves. I recorded these two women because they were so uncomfortable to watch. The blonde girl on the right was up there first and then came the older brunette who was trying to dance provocatively. She kept going up and down the blonde girl and would try to grab her leg. It was so disturbing and yet highly entertaining.

Sometimes, I wish I could enjoy a beer or a cocktail without gagging or feeling woozy, but at least being completely sober makes me a great designated driver. Despite being highly uncomfortable in these settings, I was glad I went with my girls simply because I branched out a little bit. I'm growing up!