Back in my head

I've bought more music in the last nine months than I have in...honestly, I don't know how long. Not just singles, either, but whole albums. At last count, I was averaging about 20 songs or about two average albums' length worth a week.

And that's not counting the free [legitimate] downloads.*

That's a lot of music, if you add it up. And a good amount of money, I'm aware, although nowhere as close as what you might think, because of the insane amount of deals that are out, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly...I still think the overall social value of networks like Facebook and twitter are pretty low**, but damn if they aren't excellent as some sort of a virtual professional back alley pusher who doesn't even have to waylay you, but waits patiently for you to come to him.

And I guess you could surmise that nowadays I'm like the addict who is going so fast from one high to the next, taking no time between each score, that I've no time left to share anything.

Except that's not true. I haven't become a self-absorbed addict, I've become a cheating addict. A gloriously two-timing, overlapping addict. And, let me tell you, that is a one hell of a combination.

* Did I ever mention that short of bootleg or songs only available as a performance or those given to me as a mix etc., I've been a bit dogmatic since I graduated college about only having music purchased through payment or otherwise provided for free by the artist for my own collection? Of course, there are some areas of grey, I suppose: for example, I consider mashups property of the person creating the mashup, I am perfectly fine with not having any of the originals, if that's the case, as long as the mashup is purchased or offered for free. Look, these are my rules for how I get my music; I've no interest in what anyone else's is or inflicting mine on them.

**Actually, I should clarify that I find most of the so called feeds and updates from the folk located in the US to be the most consistently insipid. I also get to see a good amount of such updates from folk back home, and a fair amount from people all over Europe, and the differences in what is 'news worthy' is sometimes so extreme that it really does feel like watching alternative universes unfolding at once.

***

I'd say once the hot and heavy stage is over, I'll come back here regularly but it's been going strong for several months now, and I'm not sure it's abating soon (huh, that's the second time I've used that word in less than five minutes). I do know that I like this space, no matter how infrequently I may come around, and I can't dismiss what this was to me for a good two years. In the [paraphrased] words of one of the most perfectly penned songs I've heard, I'm not unfaithful, even though I stray.