Skipping Asgeir Trausti

Ásgeir Trausti released his first album in spring of 2012 but I’ve already seen him five times. I was one of the first people to interview him in English. My post, Stalking Asgeir Trausti, about watching Ásgeir perform 4 times in one weekend is by far the most viewed item on this blog.

I loved Low Roar’s debut album. I was crushed when circumstances conspired against a planned interview and kept me from seeing his Airwaves 12 performance.

On October 21, Asgeir and Low Roar played the intimate Columbia City Theater, and I wasn’t there. Wild horses couldn’t have kept me from this show, so what was I doing instead?

I was at home, playing an I Spy board game with my five-year-old. Let me state for the record that I hate board games. But parents make sacrifices.

Minutiae

I could go into the Seinfeldian minutiae of the scheduling process that resulted in my staying home that night. It’s tempting to do so because I need these details to loom large enough to outweigh the concert that I missed.

I could try to minimize the loss with justifications, concentrating on the fact that the show was probably in English, when I like the Icelandic versions of the songs better, or pretending I’d rather see Ásgeir play on Valentine’s Day at the Paramount with Hozier.

Instead I should probably remember that I actually get to go out pretty often. I participated in every part of the Taste of Iceland week that didn’t involve eating lamb, and saw Don Giovanni at Seattle Opera the day after Ásgeir’s show.

Needs Vs. Wants

But the sum of it is that family needs trump parental needs (especially the ones that are more properly categorized as desires). That means on a Tuesday, with rare exceptions, priority goes to I Spy and Polly Pocket, toothbrushing quality inspection, and reading Winnie the Pooh before lights out. And it’s not too bad, really.

I usually win at I Spy.