Mich vs Miss

It was a potentially very awkward situation. I was attending a cosy acoustic folk concert, put on by my dear friend's boyfriend. I had never seen him play before, never met him before this. So our first introduction, and what if i don't like the music? What if its...not my style or it just somehow doesn't click? You're supposed to lie, to say its great - no matter what? Yes, i say to myself, just sing his praises no matter what you really think.

Fortunately, Peter didn't give me the chance - he was excellent! The music was fabulous, and i watched this person become a musician in front of my eyes. Its striking to me how musicians work. There are so many components to this performance, the performance that the audience hears. There is the composition of the lyrics, the music, the tinkering with the right sound, the mood of the musician at the time of performance, etc etc. Its just like life: every moment is potentially different depending on all the related factors. However, musicians are also impressive and mark a certain point in time with a performance - which is unlike the rest of life. Its a ritual, its multifaceted, its emergent. There is this emergent quality where people i know that play music walk up on stage, after standing there in the room talking to me, and go play a song and perform, and they are transformed into....a performer. Maybe its my childish admiration for musicians, but i think there is also some quality of making intentional music that is transformative.

Unrelated, but also interesting: We got to talking about the difference between Michigan (where Peter is from) and Missouri. Apparently, the word on the street is that Missouri is the redneck version of Michigan. Good to know - put this in the list of characters that define this place, and the Midwest. Now, where does that put Minn(esota)? To be continued, as more information becomes available.