Melissa Etheridge

I wanted to tell The New York Times what I felt about them omitting any reference about her appearance on the Grammys last Sunday---a whole long article that referred to each and every other event on that show except...Except, how dare they. She really stepped up bigtime last Sunday, not only for Janis Joplin, but for herself and all of us "baldies" out here in the world who know what courage it takes to be real in a world that has such a committment to be otherwise. Talk about a reality show---Melissa made it reality in a big way. I look back on my journal here and I thank her for how in one natural, powerful moment, she once again spoke for us all--women. Yes, my guess the editors of The New York Times are predominantly, if not completely, male--at least the real decisionmakers and that's why Melissa was omitted. How powerful her act really must have been to cause such a conscious reaction.

I wanted to tell Melissa how much her act meant to me. I have been a fan of her music since her early beginnings--her lyrics have helped me through many a day in my life. I also was a Joplin fan. So anticipating hearing Melissa sing Janus kept me glued to the show. And then, at first I heard her power as she sang "Pieces of My Heart" and marveled at how she was not only doing justice to Janus, she was cranking it up a notch and making it her own. Wow, very cool. How could I expect less of her even though she has been ill. And then the camera went on her. I could almost hear the audience gasp, or maybe it was I. Yes, and I looked at her and saw me and felt validated in a way I haven't since I've been ill too.

And it took me today to a song she wrote and is on her "LUCKY" album called "Mercy." Here are a few of the lyrics:

"Well I have lived ten years plus ten
And ten and ten again
I have seen too much to pretend
Then you wanted to come in
I have survived all of the lies
They made me wise
The locks and walls and peace it buys
Still when I look into your eyes
It's a surprise when you say

It"s gonna be all right
It's gonna be okay
Just hold on tight
Let it all go away

Oh mercy mercy baby
What do you want from me"

And of course, what I want, perhaps what many of us want, is to be heard as an individual--and as an individual, things you experience change you--and as you evolve, you want to stand firm and be seen for who you are without pretense. But then there is the reality that to do this is dangerous---whether it is to do it in a very tiny way as in how you choose to dress, or in a larger way in what you choose to believe. Expression without regret is a tough road to travel...thank goodness for leaders like Melissa Etheridge.