Culture Vulture

I seem to have developed an addition to arts and music – no, perhaps an addiction is too strong a word – a sort of cultural habit. It’s easy in Washington, with its plethora of free events at the Smithsonian, the National Gallery, and every day at the Kennedy Center. I can get half-price tickets at TicketPlace. I know which seats in which theaters have excellent views for a bargain – the back row seats at the Lansburgh, for example, and parterre at the KC Symphony Hall. I see two to three programs a week – an art exhibit, theater, a music concert, a lecture. Is hit a sign of underemployment, I wonder? But I hold a full-time job. I published a book last year. I hold positions in community organizations. Is it the sort of habit, like drinking, that when one does it alone one sips too quickly and too often? But, I thought it was a social activity, the opportunity for a chance encounter, or even the observation to fill my notebooks.