elvis has left the city...

we went to see elvis costello in concert last night at the pageant theatre. amazing show! he and the band played a really long set and then a 40 minute encore. his voice is still as raw and heart-breakingly soulful as it was when i was new-wave bopping to his music in college. which brings me to my topic for today...how do i get my mind around the fact that i am middle-aged?

last night as we were standing in line to get into the theatre, i looked up and down the line at the other concert-goers. i thought, "wow, this crowd is pretty old!" (i know it was mean, but i'm being honest here and that's what i thought.) kelly pointed out that elvis costello has been making music since the late 1970's. is it possible that i have been rocking to elvis for that long?

seated two rows in front of us was a group of couples. if i had to guess, i would say they were mostly mid to late 40s. all the women had blonde bobbed hair and their menfolk had the haircut of the middle-aged man--short-cropped almost to the scalp. they were all dancing like no one was watching and singing as if they were in their shower at home. kelly and i had almost as much fun watching them as we did listening to elvis! and that's when it dawned on me...these people, my peers, are all young-hearted. most of my friends in their 40s are so free-spirited it is hard to equate their biological age with their ageless wonder. after my "a-ha" moment i stood up and sang along and danced right along with the music.

my aim is true...