I turn 37 today. I know, I know, I'm still a kid. But it's the mileage plus years, you know. Maybe this new year will bring all sorts of lovelies..and if it does, great. But savoring what I've already got is pretty sweet too.

Music has been my dearest companion since I could carry a tune. My first favorite album was Rumors, when I was three. Still love it. Gimme Shelter was also a childhood fave, as well as Thriller and She's So Unusual. Little Earthquakes saved my life on more than one occasion; and I still get dreamy thinking about all those cute boys from Seattle when I hear Ten.

I'll never forget the day I read Elliott Smith had died. I cried; he is the only stranger I've ever cried for. His album Either/Or I'll take with me to the other side...or maybe someday I'll find him there and he'll sing to me, "Say Yes." 

The album Gimme Fiction by Spoon jump started my writing when I was too tired from child rearing to think straight. It's incredible how one form of art can inspire another...and then back again.

I need to pic up Bon Iver's newest work; also I'm wishing Modest Mouse would get over his self-consciousness at his success and put out another album...not an EP, damned it. So I do have things to look forward to, as well as wonderful things to recall.

This is an extraordinarily self-indulgent post, since music is subjective, like all art. Thanks for bearing with me in my nostalgia. I'm loading this down with YouTube videos. Enjoy if you wish...