No Thank You, Iron & Wine.

This might make me an old man, but I just could not convince myself to go down to Millenium Park today for the free Iron & Wine concert. There were numerous factors that deterred me:

1. crowds. The thought of that many people squished together kind of makes me want to hyperventilate.

2. heat. Added to my slight tendency towards demophobia (yes, I just googled "fear of crowds phobia"), I am dissuaded by the no doubt sweaty crowds that will be too close to one another for hours on end.

3. outdoor concerts. Even at their best (say Ravinia), there's always some drunk or person with little to no self-awareness (the combination can be deadly) who thinks you paid to hear them talk on the phone or sing off-key loudly. My musical appreciation tends to suffer in such situations.

4. transportation. Some days I just don't feel like getting on the el or driving anywhere of any distance.

5. Money. Honestly, free concerts end up costing a lot more when you consider transportation, food, and beverages. Then someone gets the big idea to do something afterwards and the next thing you know your house is getting foreclosed. It's a slippery slope.

6. Honestly, I'm not the biggest fan of Iron & Wine. Sorry.

Now, if this makes me sound extremely lazy, I did meet with a professor, finished a rough draft of my sermon for Sunday, studied, and went for a run in the oppressive heat - all requiring action of some type. Frankly, "running" might be a generous term for what I did - it was more like surviving while shuffling. When it's this humid outside you wonder if our next evolutionary step will involve gills.

All I want to do is sit down and read East of Eden until I'm finished with it. Is that bad? Then, when I finish, I'll listen to Mumford and Sons' "Timshel" over and over again. ("Timshel" being a major word in the plot of East of Eden, which I won't give away since you should all read the book).

That's all for now. Later.