Ok, as some of you know, I was on the steering committee and BOD for RG4N (see previous entries on anti-Wal-Mart activities) and, well, I decided to stop. Yes, I am a quitter. I was really happy to be a part of it and the cause is a noble one, but it was becoming too time-consuming. I hated being that person at the meeting who fell silent when tasks were delegated. I was adamant about not biting off more that I could chew, but I started to feel guilty about it. And then there were the emails that I couldn’t keep up with combined with my increasingly crazy work load. Meetings went on for hours every Sunday night. If I were single, this wouldn’t have been a big deal. But it involved giving up time with Frankie, who I barely see during the week these days, and with Dave. I think, were this organization more like Ladyfest (i.e. more drinking and fun) I may have stuck it out. I understand that while this is serious business (and not a music festival) that requires serious effort for me, personally, to become really involved with something, I need to feel like I have a connection with the other people outside of the cause. That when I see them, they’ll say, “Hey, How’s Frankie” and I’ll ask them how their day at work was. It’s not that people were unfriendly, just, focused…really, really, really focused. I need more of a balance. I need more….silliness. At least for once in my life during meeting, I felt like I may have been the most laid back person in the entire room!

I found myself getting somewhat excited by the Coachella line-up even though it’s the sort of thing I would never in a million years attend. I mean, geez, Interpol, Sonic youth, Brazilian Girls, Peaches, The Decemberists, Arcade Fire, Blonde Redhead….aye aye aye! But of course reality sets in and I remember why I hate outdoor festivals of any kind:

1. Too many hippies: You could be going to a punk rock festival and still, like moths to the flame, there would be a hippie infestation and more often that not, a drum circle.
2. Bathroom situation: Look, I’d rather make use of the inhuman conditions in the Emo’s women’s bathroom than a portapotty that 1000 hippies have already been in.
3. The Sound Sucks. Seriously, the sound travels out of the amp, out of the speakers and up, up and away, into the sky. Bands sound good surrounded by walls. That’s why they record in studios, not open fields.
4. The six dollar beer. And dammit, it's always Bud Light.
5. Again, too many hippies: I can’t emphasize this one enough, people.