I was the quintessential facsimile of a tween... the pure and concentrated essence of quasi-adolescent substance.  In short, I was in Jr. High - and all that that entails.  My musical inclinations were just beginning to bud not unlike the very hollyberries which deck the fledgling festive halls of the current season.  My artistic tastes and tendencies were also in their primal stages of development.  I was a blank page anxiously awaiting the ink of a superior scrivener.  I was a fresh sponge eagerly assimilating any and all moisture that should access my air pockets. 

Then the scrivener arrived, yes, the moisture came.  It was Fernando Ortega.  It was Fernando's immaculate approach to music that struck a deep chord within my very soul.  It was such a glorious awakening, not unlike that first face-melting concert which pulls out the bottom of your gut causing your right hand to thrust upward in fisted form in an equal and opposite motion of pleasure.  I was impressed.  No, impacted.  No... ... overwrought with change.  My musical posture, pursuits, and passion would never again be the same.

I was, and still am, a Fernando Ortega fan.  Imagine, then, my delight when Fernando's manager Randy contacts me a few weeks back and asks me to open for Fernando at one of his concerts!  Woot!  I was like, "I'm there, G!"  So, if you can, please make it out and worship with us all at Bethany Church in West Covina on December 14th.  ..I mean, common... Fernando's bringing a string quartet for Pete's sake... for crying out loud!  It will be a beautiful thing *sniff*...