Oh, sad! Maybe next year! Alas, I don't know if I'll have a good review due to working most of it, but should hopefully be able to get some good backstage shots w/ the music headliners (I work on the A&E team).

Subjectively: Have you ever fainted or gone under anesthesia, to have time jump in the blink of an eye? What happened in between? It doesn't matter. Time means absolutely nothing if you're not conscious. So at the very least, I don't think the concept of being dead itself should be worrisome.

Philosophically:

Other than that - and this is maybe unfounded - but I like to hope/assume that all instances in time actually exist together in a higher dimensional space. It just so happens that - (1) nearby instants in time are very similar to one another, and (2) the notion of the "arrow" of time is somewhat of an illusion derived from how our brains are built to have memory. But really all of these moments exist together despite our private subjective experience in the moment giving an illusion that time is moving forward. So in that sense, we're like books. It has a first page, middle pages, and a last page. There is an ordering. But the book is always still there. Every word is still on the page. And in that regard, we are immortals who cannot subjectively experience our own immortality. To give credit to the book analogy: the TED talk show on NPR recently had a good ep on "fear" and death was one of the topics : http://www.npr.org/2014/05/23/312544032/should-we-be-afraid-of-death

Last... do you really want to waste the precious moments that life has given you worrying about something you can't even have a subjective experience of? In a sense, it's JUST as silly as worrying about what a random person down the street is cooking for dinner every night. You can't/don't actually experience it. It's totally useless stress! Getting meta: there's so much we don't know about the universe. It could even be the case that time loops at some point. What if it is the case that your moments exist together for all "eternity" (for lack of a better term). Then you'd feel REALLY silly about wasting your time fretting, because you'd be re-living that worry over, and over, and over, and over.

Turbulence on airplanes, even though super heavy turbulence is even pretty safe.

http://www.askthepilot.com/questionanswers/turbulence/

Just got back into town and got mine!

Just to be clear, it's a matter of not having the time to go out and socialize? If it's the case you have work, I recommend finding a local spot amenable to working at (e.g. coffee shop, bar, library, etc) and becoming a regular. Go almost every day for a few weeks, and get to know the people who work there. Aside from the perks you'll get as being a regular, it's also give you a nice dose of friendly non-work-related social interaction.

Turning towards creative endeavors as you've mentioned is also a great distraction, though doesn't solve the issue as well.

Last, even though you're busy, if there's any way you can do it - try to set aside one night a week to devote to hanging out with your friends. Doesn't have to be an all-night bender, either, and no shame in turning in early to work.

That's hilariously apt.

OK mine. Kraftwerk. I get that they're crazy pioneers of live electronica/techno, and I respect them a ton, but I just don't get how people can go so insanely crazy over them. Is it just a nostalgia thing? In my opinion, their music has not aged well in any way. I would love to hear from fans of Kraftwerk about why they love Kraftwerk. Especially if there are fans of them who are under the age of 30. Other groups around in the 70s like Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), Tangerine Dream, or Jean Michel Jarre, I can totally get into. Just not Kraftwerk. Not a single song.

I have a feeling that the way older people feel about Kraftwerk is the same as the way I feel about (older) Underworld circa late 80s/early 90s, e.g. ~dubnobasswithmyheadman. I wonder what kids these days would think of that Underworld album.

Tim Ferriss has a pretty interesting review of it:

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2013/08/20/soylent/

On a more serious note: I might suggest watching college graduation speeches from people you admire?

Neat find! Thanks for sharing.

(1) Look 'em in the eye and speak from the heart

(2) You gotta go away to come back

(3) If someone asks you to keep a secret, their secret is a lie

At least... that's what David Lynch's character said on the rules of show businesses in Louie S03E12. Sorry I am not so helpful.