I’ve reached the point in life where these have become a reality for me:

I’m trialing Widex Moment 220’s this week. They have been largely a positive experience although I am disappointed with the streaming. I won’t be putting my trusty Sony WF-1000XM3’s in the drawer anytime soon.

But I am grateful for how much they improve my ability to hear the world around me, starting with everyday noises like the birds and insects when I go for a walk but also the voices of the people around me.

I know that hearing aids are a contentious issue for some, but given how far the technology has come, it’s ridiculous to let my vanity intercede here.

Listened to the first episode of Season 6 of I Miss… Radio on Apple Podcasts today. Season 6 is devoted to the punk scene and this episode was a glorious romp through the 1950s and 1960s music scene that led to punk music in New York in the early 1970s.

My family moved to NYC in the mid-1970s when I was in my teens. By the end of that decade, punk and its adjacent genres, New Wave and electronic pop, were a huge part of my life. I played in a number of bands with friends and had the pleasure of being able to say that I got paid for a Tuesday night gig at at CBGB’s (I think it was $50).

It was a glorious time to be part of that music scene.