A prominent NYC rock 'n' roll disk jockey of the 1960s, Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, promoted himself with the catchphrase "You can choose your friends but never your relatives."

The loose community we know as Mudcat has some characteristics of a family, but one way in which it's better is that we all "belong" by choice. (We can also leave, temporarily or permanently, by choice).

I think that the semi-anonymous and text-only nature of how we relate to each other here defines the experience at least as much as does our shared interest in music (music that each of us defines differently as "folk"). I will write damn near anything that occurs to me in these discussions ~ including stuff that I would hesitate to say out loud to strangers and/or to my nearest and dearest ~ and it feels quite liberating.

I would hope that I read everyone else's ramblings sympathetically, always conscious that each of you is extemporizing just like I do, but I know I'm occasionally guilty of judging too harshly. Experiencing this type of regret once in a while, more than anything else, has forced me to feel increasing commonality with the rest of the group.