So, after weeks (or was it months?) of hand-wringing, hemming and hawing, I finally decided today to suck it up and buy myself a badge for next year’s SXSW festival.

Last year we bought wristbands for $150 or so which got us into most, but not all, of the shows we wanted. However, the SXSW folks warned us last year that, due to increasing demand and strain on hotel space, they might be phasing out the wristbands for out-of-town visitors this year. (I’m fairly certain there will still be wristbands for local Austinites.) So the question was whether we wanted to spend $500 on a music badge, in addition to hotel and airfare.

It should come as no surprise that my answer was yes.

So, while it’s still six months away, I can officially say that I’m getting excited for SXSW. (Especially because it looks like I’m skipping CMJ this year.)