Aging

Well, I finally made a decision based on "feeling too old." Out of nowhere, I got an offer today to perform my Woody Guthrie celebration at a festival in September. Great venue, pay, a terrific gig I would have jumped at years ago. But I haven't done the show in about ten years. It would take a lot of work to bring it up to speed. I have other projects I'd rather do than revive this old one. Moreover, it's exhausting to perform -- I'm not even sure I have the physical stamina to do it any more. So I turned them down but made a counter-offer: I'd do the "acting" parts, the recitation of journal excerpts, if somebody else did the music. They like the idea and are seeing what can be worked out.

So I turned down a gig because I feel too old to do it. Ah, me. (But also because I'd rather do what I'm doing musically -- my studies, building to starting a chamber opera this summer -- than bring back the Guthrie self.)