So, you know what is as good for you as sunshine...

it's music. That good old twanging and banging of instruments. I have been developing a taste for music since life began. I remember sitting in the back of my mom's old Nissan, strapped into a car seat, listening to James Taylor sing a song about Winnie the Pooh. I've seen the tape of my pudgy little two-year-old body waddling around in a circle, shaking my teddy bear to the tune of Huey Lewis and the News. I latched on to music during the awkward pubescent years, which in the long run only made me more hopelessly romantic at a time where I was to socially awkward to hold down a relationship. C'est la vie. Aux, Champs Elysees, au soleil, sous la pluie, a midi ou a minuit... and I couldn't wait to get to the da da da da da da da part of the NOFX cover. The punk years fostered my deep relationships with the other outcasts, equally deep as they were marred. I went to show with my big brother by no relation, feet all to close to the hole rusting out the floor of the Geo Metro, screaming over the stereo, only to get to some dive or VFW or basement or pool hall and blow out part of my hearing. It was worth every minute of irreparable damage to my cochlea. And along the way my finer tastes still managed to develop amidst the incoherent cord progressions and double bass peddling. I had latched on to a few bands early on, the first being Third Eye Blind, leading me to investigate the world of alternative, the second being Ben Folds (Five at the time) which spun me in a more indie direction. And this was long before punk or hardcore shows. And Radiohead, can't forget the electronica melodia. Soon I looked into magazines; SPIN, and later Paste. And the spectrum broadened. And then my big brother hit his jazz phase. Broader. And then Matt and I hit a folk phase. Broader still. The taste expanded, became eclectic, and settled into what I would consider good taste. I know what I listen for in music. I have pretty set demands on strong lyricism and composition. Music mellows me out, picks me up, wakes me up, makes me drive to fast, makes me decelerate and enjoy the scenery, puts me to sleep, makes me angry, and urges me to share my findings with others. Have you heard of Dr. Dog? You haven't! I can't believe that! If you love Modest Mouse then I bet you'd love Dr. Dog! And they're Philly locals! I can't help but share, or criticize. I can't believe you think Britney Spears is talented. She's not, but her producer is. I mean, she's so overproduced it's sick. That's not her voice you hear. Not her real voice. Pop music (and popular country music) is hard for me to swallow. It gets all the coverage, dominates the radio, and where do people like me go to hear the counter-culture driven, somewhat subversive alternative? NPR. If you haven't acquired a taste for National Public Radio, I highly encourage it. There's WITF on 89.5, Good ol' 91.7 which is classical 6am-6pm and jazz 6pm-6am, and my favorite, WXPN 99.7 or 88.7 around here, depending what tower is nearby. Even more helpful, questionably, or at least a good alternative to radio, is Pandora. Pandora is an innovative program that allows you to enter a music type, band, artist, album, or even song of your liking, and based on some holy algorithm I do not understand, recommends similar music that it thinks you may enjoy. I type in M. Ward, and the all-knowing Pandora plays some Elliot Smith, or Belle & Sebastian, or the Decemberists. But what if I ask for artists like Tori Amos and it plays Ashley Simpson? If I vote it down, the program humbly apologizes and never plays it again. So you shape the results. Great idea, right? AND IT IS FREE. What a bonus. Check it out, if you haven't already. Okay, I'm done. The four cups of tea are wearing off, and I should sleep. One last song recommendation: Spoon's "I Turn [My Camera On]" 'cause it's good and I'm obsessed. Oh, and here is the height of me in the awkward peak of being a scene kid. Enjoy yourself, and augment the enjoyment with music!