Kirk McElhearn: Robert, why are you highlighting all these negative comments? I've been listening to your music for 50 years, and it's some of the most important music in my life. I don't care if you are crotchety or unfriendly; I just like the music... but Robert has been posting and reacting to a lot of negative comments lately.
RF: This is a recurring question, and one that has been answered repeatedly.
Lately? since at least 1997.
Crotchety? On occasion, but surprisingly rarely (at least, from within this beating heart).
Unfriendly? This deserves a more considered response.
A True Friend rarely manifests in the same forms that a chum, pal, akker and buddy might exhibit. Sometimes a True Friend and a Good Pal inhabit the same body, but this is rare. Two examples where this was so in my own life: Hellboy Tom Redmond and Mr. Bill Rieflin. (An hostile commentator, visiting this page to find fault, might note: And look what it did for them). A True Friend tells us what we need to know, not what we would like to hear.
As a generalisation: if someone brings something to my table, they often leave with more of the same. Perhaps openness, straightforwardness, even a beer on me. If they arrive with a flea in one ear, they might leave with a flea in both.
I tend to learn more from my enemies than my friends, inter alia of how we engage with others. This is a larger subject, one that is currently under consideration: Collective Engagement. What is possible?
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