There are about three things in this world that keep me from running out west and working as a migrant worker: my job at The Oswegonian; friends and family; and music.

Since the first two will incessantly let me know that they aren’t leaving, the only thing left I have to worry about is music.

Now, music has played a pivotal role in my life thus far. I’d be a fool if I said it hasn’t influenced the way I approach situations, how I deal with the stresses of daily life or even influenced the way I dress and handle myself in public. But when the availability to music runs dry, that’s when I start to worry.

I’ve scoured the area relentlessly in search of a CD store with accessibility to new music. But, for reasons unknown, such a place does not exist in the city of Oswego. Why is this? Why can I name seven pizza places and 12 bars off the top of my head before I can even pretend that a music store exists? This must be some crime against the layout of a city.

Before I am angrily reminded, yes, there is one place where someone can pick up a CD in dire need, at Wal-Mart. Provided, you must have an extreme passion for one of the five artists that they carry and want to listen to the same song that is played on the local "popular" radio station at least 50 times per day. Wal-Mart’s CD selection is about as diverse as GPAs at Harvard. Not to put myself on a pedestal or anything, but my musical interests may transcend the musical stylings of Miley Cyrus and Lady GaGa. A true CD store has something from every genre; something that provides listeners from every style with a real lyrical opus complete with thoughtful album artwork.

And no, iTunes is not an acceptable replacement to a real, tangible CD. Yes, they have every music file available that any normal person would need and yes, it may be a little more inexpensive than actually buying a CD. But I’m willing to pay the extra two or three dollars to buy something that I can see, something that I can take with me or give to a friend to listen to. Call me old-fashioned, but I like to see the culmination of a band’s work through their eyes and get a feel for what kind of tone they want to convey with the CD.

So Oswego, what’s your excuse? Have we been so blinded by an insatiable hunger for pizza that we lost our appetite for musical creativity and diversity? Are we too drunk to come up with a plan to give the entire Oswego population an outlet to contribute to the noble cause of promoting ingenuity in music?

Let’s get off our computers, off iTunes, off LimeWire and any other peer-to-peer software, and start contributing to a real cause. We need a music store to represent real music, real emotion and the very real cause of stretching musical boundaries.