Hi, Kat:

As a still relatively new Catter, I have my stretches when I wonder if everyone is permanently pissed off about one thing or another. I don't have a desire that Mudcat have any sort of Pollyannaish attitude toward life, because life IS hard, and this is a good forum for getting stuff off your chest. But hopefully, it's also a good forum for having a good laugh, being silly, reflecting on the good that is around us, and trying to support each other when we're going through hard times.

Years ago, when I was running a concert series I offered a rare bluegrass concert and the audience was mostly unfamiliar faces. I aksed several people after the concert why they never come to folk concerts and they said that they didn't want to come and listen to people complain. I thought it was a bizarre perception of folk music, and while there have always been protest songs as part of folk music, I've never characterized folk music as people bitching in the Key of G. But as is uusally the case, I couldn't convince the bluegrass folks that folk music is not protest music. Protest music is one samll part of folk music. I've always thought that folk music was the soundtrack for everyday life.

In the little time that I've been coming to Mudcat, there's been a real ebb and flow of issues. There was a stretch when everything seemed to be guests baiting us. Now, it seems to be unusually strong, politically. Left alone, I imagine that Mudcat will regain some balance. Maybe your thread is a start.

Jerry