[JemHadar]

Once upon a time I added all my audio gear invoices in an Excel sheet...chills, worthy of "The Exorcist" guaranteed.

Even my most recent purchases are hard to justify rationally. When I told my better half the cost of my latest DAC an awkward silence descended and the skies turned dark. A total eclipse of the Bank Balance. Her eyes beaming "Thou shalt never speak of this again"...I'm not a religious person...but that moment was as close to biblical as I will get.

But when the Music plays all is forgotten. The smiles a minute, the re-discovery of long forgotten gems, those moments of musical bliss and pure joy, exploring new worlds...can you really put a price on those ?

I do like to explore new stuff, but all the fads, hype, dogmas, myths and Brand mythos...I left those behind long ago, I really couldn't care less. IMHO the adage "If I knew then what I know now I would have done things differently" qualifies as self-deception. It is part of the journey to learn, sometimes the hard way, sometimes the nice way (kudos to AA for that one).

As with so many things in life...all events thus far have led me to the place I am now enjoying Music...and it is a good place to be.