Can you hear me now?

No.

The only thing I can hear right now is the ringing in my right ear. Last night I did something very unlike myself. I went out. Out of my room that is, past the hour of 7pm. Anyway, last night I decided to see how the other half lives, to experience the unscripted drama of the real world, by venturing to a concert [by myself].

Going to a concert by yourself is sort of liberating... not to say that I didn't look like a complete idiot standing there by myself in between acts, but its just empowering knowing that you can up and go to see whatever band you want- without having to conform to someone else's music tastes. You can dance, not dance, drink, not drink, sing, not sing- and be perfectly content because there is no one around to judge you- other than the massive crowd of strangers piled on top of you.

Anyway, I went to the concert because one of the guys in the band [The Alternate Routes] went to my high school. He was a senior when I was a freshman, and I'm not sure if we ever even had a real conversation. I went mainly because I wanted to see what someone else was doing with their life. I guess I wanted to live vicariously, just by watching.

When I showed up, early as is my curse, I turned to come face to face with my high school acquaintance. After a surprised look, he gave me a "Hey" of recognition. So there I was, in some West Village concert venue, talking to a rock star version of a person I once knew, thinking who am I?