Hey Bill........don't be "sorry for the long rant!" We do what we have to do to keep our brains from exploding!

I'm finding, myself, it's more therapeutic to "let it out" on someone or in a group setting than it is to sit and play music and try and forget what's going on around all of us like I used to do.

As men, we tend to hold things in, and "never let them see you sweat".......and that includes husbands/wives, partners, significant others, friends (and the IRS)!

Phooey with that! Lately I've been having "doom and gloom" dialogues with my GPS even to save the cost of a psychiatrist!

Seriously......some of us DO have it worse than others as we are in geographically undesirable locations to start with. You know I've heard you play and you're too good of a musician to be experiencing what you are! I can't think of anything worse (especially for a man) than to one day wake up and realize you suddenly have no control of your life anymore....that you're now at the mercy of the Gods and the aristocrats and a fickle public.

Whether one needs the money or not is irrelevant. It's about identifying as a professional musician all your life and enjoying the respect (and stage presence) and suddenly society shifted and you're now at the bottom somewhere between working in a fast food restaurant and panhandling.

Reference: Donny....I know the area real well. He's in the right place at the right time.....period! I don't know if that's from foresight or luck, but it's good (no, it's necessary) to remember that he's in the OMB "sun belt" when you read his posts. Otherwise, you can look at yourself and get mighty down wondering why you're not working as much as him.

Finally, I think if I had to go through this decimation of the music industry by myself, without the SynthZone members to comfort and empathize and relate their own stuff, I'd probably do what Hitler did in the end when he realized he was "losing his war".......take a poison pill!

Either that or we all move to "Donnyville" and get back to work!

Mark