I'm sorry, Mbo, the last thing I meant to do was hurt your feelings or make you feel defensive. Just the opposite, in fact-- when you said "..maybe I should join a punk band" I thought you were making a joke about not having anybody to play folk music with, and I was (in a really stupid way) trying to say we're all in this together with you.

You're right, I am, tragically unhip about current trends in punk music. (I went to the sites you posted and now I know a little more.) If it's honestly a kind of music you like, tell me more about it and I'll pay attention. In any case, the point's still the same-- you're part of the gang here, and in my middle-aged, misguided, gweebly sort of way, I want you to know you have my support and sympathy for your situation. Okay?

Yours, Pam