Band width

I have developed a sudden but growing infatuation with "Band" music.

I blame John Philip Sousa.  I had part of "Stars and Stripes Forever" stuck in my head for a couple of days, and had to go find the whole number in order to get myself off that particular section of the piece.

Of course, I noticed that it's actually quite a good piece of music.  And one Sousa piece leads to another, and then you move onto "marches" in general, and then...

Well it all just escalates, doesn't it?

As an Australian, I grew up with images of American marching bands in movies and television programmes but not in "real life".  It seems to be a Big Thing in America - particularly high schools and colleges.

Growing up with American media the way I have, I've heard a lot of that music over the years without really paying attention to any of it.

Here in Australia, we don't really do that sort of thing.  You have to find a community band to join.  There are still band competitions and all that stuff, it's just more of an extra-curricular hobby.  A bit like ballet or squash.  Perhaps we're closer to the British model.  I don't know.

But I've quickly developed a desire to know all about that stuff.  The colour guard, majorettes and associated crap.

But not just the typical American-college-style band.  I also want to know about all those variations of bands.  Pipe bands, brass bands, concert bands, military bands, drum and bugle corp, fife and drum corp... all those things.

There's much to learn.  Now, where to start?

I sometimes wonder how my head works.

So, for a few months now I've been promising myself that, if I have fewer cups of coffee during the week and save up my "pocket money", I can spend that money on a toy.

The toys I'm tossing up between buying include:

1. A plastic euphonium, valued at approximately $700 (incl. freight)
2. A folding bicycle (Strida) valued at approximate $700 (incl. freight)
(yes, the fact that both of these cost the same amount does make choosing between them difficult)
4. A travel ukulele, valued at approximately $400-$500 (depending on brand)

So, here I am, reminding myself at every stage that I can't just buy these things.  I must set aside money for them.  I must save for them.  They shall be my reward for spending wisely in other areas.

And then I go and buy a $400 pair of boots, just because I walked into a shop looking for a pair of shoes around the $200 mark, and these looked pretty.

Heck, I still bought the other boots!  I spent $650 on two pairs of shoes without thinking about it!  No saving up.  No careful consideration.  Just spending.

I didn't need a $400 pair of dress boots that, so far, I've only bothered to wear twice (I wear the "cheaper" boots all the time).

That money could have - nay, should have - been spent on a fun toy, not a pair of shiny shoes.

What is wrong with me?  Why are the different parts of my life so compartmentalised in my brain, that I can't register how silly it is to deny myself on one hand and splurge on the other, just because what I'm splurging on isn't something I usually regard as fun?