January

I used to think that John Mayer was one of the biggest, overrated dorks that I had ever come to know of. From his ridiculous on-stage faces to the appearance that our wonderful media had given him, he looked to be the dunce of the decade.

Then, I was given the opportunity to actually hear his real music. Not the pumped, radio hits that sold to the bubblegum masses, but actual representations of his spirit as a musician. I was honestly impressed...as a musician myself for over 20 years, I could tell that the skill he possesses on the guitar is something that is a natural gift, and not something that can be reproduced in the recording studio.

I listened that night, to John Mayer for the first time since his debut back in 2001. I now consider him to be one of the most soulful and skilled musicians I can think of.

The moral of this story, boys and girls is to not judge a book by its cover. Yes, I still feel most people know John Mayer as the ogasm-faced musician who only wrote the 7 songs that Clear Channel Communications has chosen to put out on the radio, but there is much more to him.

This editorial is not an honorarium to John Mayer, but a metaphor to the viewpoint I have had about many things in my life in 2009. Things that were seen as detrimental in months past, now seem to be blesssings and opportunities. Don't get me wrong, they sucked...but SOME of them were necessary for me to be at the point I'm at now. I'm sure there are many of you out there who can relate to this and will agree.

If you are between a rock and a hard place right now reading this, turn on some John Mayer and try another perspective.