i've been writing songs since 1974 when i wrote a pair of songs, one a god -awful thing i won't even mention, and the other a sweetnatured study of a friend. Not long after, i joined my first folk club, and have been in and out of them since, though the years have led me on a path away from folk and country toward punk and alt-rock . I have lots of acoustic guitars, and just a couple of electrics, so i guess my fingers are still folkies. Sometimes my writing reflects the music i find interesting out there, sometimes not. Sometimes it leads the way into new grey areas that take on color as i work them. I still tend to write from the opposites i discovered in 1974, and have come to accept the god-awful things as a valid and necessary yang to the yin of sweet normality. If i couldn't write a bad song anymore, i'd just give up. Happily, that's obviously not the case. Luckily, my wife and band seem to understand. Anything can be the meaning of life - this is it for me. doug