Well, music is damned important Petra, but if you think you've felt peer pressure now, just wait 'till you say you want to get your doctorate in archeology or to marry an archeologist or spend ten years of your life digging ruins in Central America or Southern Greenland. You ain't seen nothin' yet, woman.

I think it's safe to say that everyone here thinks you're quite intelligent, wise, and LUCKY to have found traditional music. And we think the satisfactions it provides are worth any petty ostracism that you suffer.

I remember in University, when an Eagles tape ended, trying to play a little of Alan Stivel's, Rennaissance of the Celtic Harp, to a friend Didn't work. That's an incredible album. It turned Fiona Ritchie of NPR's Thistle and Shamrock onto Irish music. It inspired Lorena McKennit to take up the harp. My friend thought it was just weird. Heck, I even remember a housemate who thought Janis Ian was weird.

I was shocked and amazed and delighted when, at about age 26, I discovered there WERE other people out there who didn't just tollerate folk, they LOVED it. My God, there were even women who loved folk. Boggles the mind, don't it. Joys are best when they're shared joys, but don't give them up just because you sometimes have to live them alone. A lot of wonderful people out there can never share many of your joys, but if you keep looking...