February 16, 2005 - Tonites experience of playing with my band at a bar brings back to mind an earlier thought of experiencing things for the first time versus something that is old hat. I have played in many bars with many groups in front of large and small crowds. The thing that made tonite exciting was that I was playing in front of a group of my friends. The audience was filled with people I knew. That makes it fresh and exciting to me. I felt like I was more on my toes so that I didn't make any mistakes. In a way, I was letting those observing me determine the seriousness with which I took the performance. In life, it seems like I'm always making note of who is watching and reacting accordingly. I think I am probably one of the better people in terms of not letting my audience dictate my decisions and my performance, but I still do feel some pressure at times to do certain things based on who I am around. I wonder what peer pressure is like for those with less strong wills?