Smile! You’re on Al’s camera …
On Saturday we went to the 9:30 Club to see and hear one of our favorite bands: moe. We have a particular perch we like, and so arrived quite early in order to make sure we could secure our seats. While standing in line, we kept noticing people going in and out of the band bus, which was parked near the entrance to the club.
I wasn’t paying much attention, so I was surprised when I eventually realized that Al Schnier, (guitar/keyboards/vocals) was holding court outside the main entrance. Lately, moe. has been letting folks video and audiotape some of their concerts, so Al was surrounded by mini-DV cams, and the fans holding them. Somehow, it wasn’t a paparazzi madhouse. I was mesmerized by the natural vibe, and the way that Al seemed to blend in, to emanate a sense of calm that everyone around him picked up. I had no desire to participate, just wanted to hang back and listen in. After about 10 minutes of relaxed interaction, Al disappeared back inside the club.
My focus wandered back to the people standing next to me in line, and to the fact that I could no longer feel my toes due to the cold temperature. Before I’d realized it, Al had come out of the club again, gone into the bus, and popped back out with his own DV-cam in hand. Now it was his turn to ask the questions.
Laughing in a crowd of jewels …
It always cracks me up the way some people look at me when I tell them about all the friends I have made over the years via the Internet. Even those who use the Web daily in some capacity still look at me incredulously when I speak of the close relationships I have forged.
I was thinking about all this the other night as I lay on a blanket at Wolf Trap waiting for Indigo Girls to take the stage. I thought about all the wonderful people in my life, and how many of the most important to me were met online. I looked around me and saw some of the kindest, brightest and most caring people I have had the pleasure to meet; and I realised that every one of them I met via the ‘Net. Then I thought about the other people with whom I spend so much of my life, and realised a huge majority of my personal relationships began via the Internet—including the most important one of course.
I have no idea why this is the case. I have had my theories but, honestly, I don’t care why. I am just happy and consider myself quite blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful human beings.