It was like a cold splash of water to the face when I realized I had put fewer than 3,000 miles on my car last year. First off, the economics of it came screamingly into focus – based on my per mile costs, I could have much more cheaply taken a cab everywhere I went in 2009, and probably learned a foreign language or two in the process. Plus, I’m allowed 12,000 miles a year on my lease – I envisioned myself jacking up my car and extracting those 9000 entitled miles reverse-Ferris Beuller-style. Fortunately my carbon conscience wouldn’t allow such a fit of eco-pettiness.
Economics aside, I must admit, those 2937 miles hurt on a much more personal level. Had I become that much of a shut in? Sure there are mitigating circumstances: I did do live shows in 15 or so cities last year, as a writer, I do mostly work at home, I’m a good cook so we don’t eat out much, but still…
I didn’t feel out of touch and I never considered myself truly anti-social (people averse, perhaps). I have a lot of friends and we communicate often, but when was the last time I had actually seen most of them in person? Gulp. Between phone calls and emails and texts, actual sightings had become rare. DVDs have become the norm when it comes to movie viewing instead of the theater. I was basically living my life from my ass.
Doing most things in L.A. can be a hassle; traffic, parking, assholes, etc. and I think I had come to blame the city for my inaction but the truth is I’d just begun to mistake inconvenience for actual hardship. The last couple of months I’ve begun to change that – going to see plays and bands and things and getting together with friends after months of saying “we should really get together”. I’ve gone out of my way to go out of my way a bit and have yet to regret it. I still don’t think I’ll get my 12,000 miles this year, I’d probably need a job for that. Also, I still haven’t seen Avatar.
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