these musicians we like to sometimes call our friends

i took out the music in my profile. it was starting to annoy even me. if you have some kind of preference to it let me know and i'll put it back.

and onto blog #3 as promised.

in life, if we are lucky, we have defining moments of clarity. the moments when we truly feel God's presence, or the cosmos seem to all have aligned if that is your sort of thing. the moments where we feel that we are where we should be, doing what we should be doing. last night was one of those such moments for me. allow me to share.

i've been crabby lately. very crabby. God bless my wonderful friends who have put up with this unusual nature of mine. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that winter decided to come full blown early and its still a good 15 degrees below the norm here in pittsburgh. but last night i felt it, the sense that everything would be okay.

margs called me last night excited about her boss sending her home from work due to a threat of incliment winter weather. thus this being the 'week of margy' as i've seen her every single day naturally we decided it best to celebrate her rare thursday night off in some format. so off to the club cafe we went to see margy's wonderful friend Kathryn O'Leary (i appologize for those interested i cannot find a website for her) followed by another friend Ben Hardt. As i'm sitting in the lounge type atmosphere with margs listening to these fabulous people sing jazz and play guitar and upright bass and drums i realize that not only is pittsburgh not that bad but it is exactly where i am supposed to be right now at this very moment in time. Ben concludes his set and tells the crowd that he will be touring with Eric James early next year. I look at margy and tell her that i love Eric James and that he is the first person i ever saw play at club cafe. margs looks at me and smiles and says "he went to Grove City too. i know him. i think you and i would have met anyway even if we hadn't met at church." and then i knew that meeting margy, and later meeting her roommate janice was also part of the plan for me. in just two short months (has it really only been two months, girls?) these two have quickly become one of the most prominent features of my life here in pittsburgh.

after the show i sat in silence for a while. margy looked at me and asked what i thought. "thanks for dragging me out in the slush" i said to her. "i knew you'd love it." and as i thought there i thought about all the fantastic musicians like Eric James, Shelly Rollison, Kathryn O'Leary, Ben Hardt, and Matthew Brian Ruddy (aka MistaRuddy) with Matt and probably Kathryn and Shelly soon enough holding a dear place in my heart. I think about all this talent and the fact that i'm sitting right in front of it, watching it grow, watching it be inspired. i think about these people who i know have nothing but great things ahead for them. and i can't help but be in awe. when i left madison i vowed that i would be more involved in the next city i lived in. that it wouldn't just be about the bars and the clubs and the stupid stories the morning after. after i moved here i vowed that i would eventually come to look back on this time with great nostagia knowing that i experienced everything there was to experience.

well i can't think of a better experience than walking up to kathryn after her set and telling her she was awesome and actually know that i will personally see her do great things from there and not just read about it on some website.