Some 'Catters check the threads once every week or so and might even post a thought or two. Others put their mark on almost every new thread as well as send Personal Messages to others in continuation of their posts. Many of us check the Mudcat from work as well as from home. A few more keep the Mudcat on their screens at home during nearly all of their waking hours.

Some posters' remarks are so very funny that we laugh out loud. Some are so thought-provoking as to cause us to examine the very depths of our souls. Many posters, sometime unwittingly, say things through which others get glimpses of a culture about which they might have otherwise been ignorant. Some discuss topics that others of us had never before examined but are glad for the opportunity become better informed. There are also those, I am sure, who enjoy dropping by only long enough to post some sorry samples of the full extent of their wit without regard to the feelings of those who might read them. There are some who, although they are members, never post to the discussion threads at all.

Every single one of these is a part of what makes up the Mudcat community. It is a community of whom I am proud to be a member.

For those of you who have never spoken directly with Max, I can assure you (or at least my sense is) that he had no idea that the Mudcat would - or even could - become what it is. Oh, he had big dreams. He just wasn't quite sure what they were at the time. Sometimes I think he looks at the Mudcat now and is overwhelmed. I know that this is true for me.

Like so many others, I found the Mudcat by way of a search for lyrics. It seems so long ago. When I found this place I was instantly excited about it. I was amazed at how many song lyrics were available. I remember how much I enjoyed reading the article about Robert Johnson. It wasn't until my third visit that I decided to click the link that led to the discussion forum. I have been coming back nearly every day since then.

I can well imagine that there are some among us for whom the Mudcat means very little. For me that is not the case. The Mudcat is an extremely important part of my life. The wonderful things that have changed in my life because of the Mudcat are difficult to express. There is no way I could even begin to list the many things I have learned here. I have no words to describe how very much I have discovered about the concerns of people who live in countries other than my own. In fact, I have gleaned quite a bit of information about my own country that heretofore had been unknown to me. It was through the Mudcat that I learned of such events as the FGSW Getaway.

The people here; oh, where can I begin? For me it has been a real adventure to read the written thoughts of so many people and to create images in my mind of each of them. Those images flash before me as I read their posts. Some have remained as images. But there are others whom I have had the good fortune to meet in the real world. Now I envision the real person before me when I see their names in the threads. Some of these people have become good friends. (By the way, I have to say that not one of the 'Catters I have met in person was a disappointment. Most were much nicer and far more talented than I had inferred from their posts.)

But one of the best things about the Mudcat is what all of this has caused me to feel inside. When I first came here I had not learned a new song in a long time. When I first came I had not performed in front of an audience in years. My level of self-confidence was so awfully undermined at that time I had doubts that anyone would ever again want to hear my music.

It was at my first meeting of other 'Catters that I attended my very first sing-around. It was because of the reassurance of many of the people here that I was at last able to work up the courage to get up on a stage again. It was because of the Mudcat that I found the confidence to travel far and wide and to be accepted into the homes of people who would have probably otherwise have been strangers forever.

It was here at the Mudcat that I met YOU.