In this article, the author describes two events in his personal life that seem to him illustrative of why a person with his particular involvements might be regarded as somewhat off the center of commonplace images of the music education researcher. He assures the readers that these descriptions will be more than only of personal interest to him. They have a variety of implications for specialists of a particular sort who are now facing several remarkably complex challenges as to what their work is all about. (Contains 24 notes.)