...welcoming a new soul

So it must have been 1993 or something quite like it when she was at a party. I don't know what lead up to it, but at some point she must have said that she loved the acoustic version of "Layla" that all the kids had at the time on the discmans. "Oh really? You know who would love to know about that? That guy." "The pudgy guy on the stairs talking way too loud, who looks a little like Skippy from Family Ties and is wearing the Detroit Tigers cap?" "Yeah." So she walks over

"Hi I'm Lori."

"I'm G"

"So....those people over there wanted me to tell you that I liked "Layla"."

"Aweso....wait, who does the song "Layla"?"

"Eric Clapton of course."

Cue about 20 minutes of me going up one side and down the other...first of all it's Derek and Dominos....secondly it's an ELECTRIC song, not this Unplugged cal....song of total heartbreak and anger....the coda, the CODA my g-d is better than most WHOLE songs....people have no interest in finding out anything about music....not since Rod Stewart has someone betrayed their talent...people no longer have patience in discovering music etc. Basically I let loose all my greatest hits, probably tying the popularity of Friends into the whole thing. About the only thing that didn't get mentioned was Forrest Gump, and only because it didn't exist at the time.

So yeah, 20 minutes of that, doubt I took a breath.

"Geesh," she said, "I wonder what you'd do if someone said they liked ABBA."

"Do you like ABBA?"

"Yes."

Second verse, same as the first.

Quite the first impression, non? But that's how I was introduced to Lori Mosher. And it got better from that moment on, despite the fact that there were always things we were going to be fundamentally on the opposite sides of (politics, country music, Oprah). We had our ups and downs, but we've always managed to remain good friends and have even come to respect each other for our differences and be suitably tickled when we enjoyed the same thing ("SUIT UP!").

Why am I saying all this? Lori and her husband Robert just welcomed their first child this week, Casper. And I just wanted to say congratulations to her and remind her that if there is one thing about her that I wish their child to have, it's a courage of convictions combined with a genuine curiosity and empathy for the world.

And as soon as Casper can tell a bass guitar from a acoustic guitar, a mixed CD is heading his way.