But I’m sure you’d be happy to know that I heard Paul Ellison talking about your blog a few days ago.

I notice this time and again in various musical situations. I have seen it for years at concerts when people are afraid to voice whether they liked or didn’t like something until they find out how someone they respect felt about the concert. I was one of those people once. It was when I was a child. I needed to learn how to formulate intelligent opinions. I knew that I had made it past childhood when people started asking me how I liked concerts right after they were over. I always said what I thought, and have kept up the habit.

I notice it in classes too. Students are afraid that they will be “wrong” when they make any kind of judgement about a musical performance. They would rather take notes and write down the “right” answers. Getting them to react verbally to music is sometimes like pulling teeth.

In extreme cases, like the case of being moved emotionally by music, it is hard to talk about your feelings. Some of us, on the other hand, need to find community in our reactions to experiences in order to affirm that they did actually happen.

The musical blog-o-sphere is becoming, sadly, a “place” not designated for musical interaction, though I really believe it should be. It is an entity that is evolving like any other social entity, but it lacks the actual face-to-face (or even e-mail to e-mail) interaction of the world in real time.

It is also an idealized world where everyone has his or her say, but it is also a “place” where people can present themselves in ways that are downright intimidating (you don’t, but there are bloggers who do).