Music has always been magical for me, especially during my ups and downs of being a teen in the 80s. Most of the groups I liked then now seem like novelty acts, but not China Crisis. "What Price Paradise" had so much to offer me then with its beauty and majesty...has so much to still offer. I always thought it was sort of ironic that it was my mom of all people who got me into their "Flaunt the Imperfection" when she had always preferred 60s music and had no use for my generation's...but that's another story:)

Since I had loved "FTI" more than life itself, it seemed only logical to get "What Price Paradise" and to this day I still own it. All of the the tracks are lovely, but the four oh-so-breath-taking-I-can't-believe-I'm-not dreaming are "It's Everything" (gloriously comforting and true with its message of everlasting love), "Arizona Sky" (I can close my eyes and picture the sky worshiped here with sincere vulnerability) "Best Kept Secret" (the idea that love between two people should only be their business and their treasure seems especially fitting in today's climate) and "June Bride" (very cute and flirty and sweet.)

Whenever I hear "Arizona Sky" I always think of the cinnamon buns my mom used to make when I was studying for tests and had China Crisis on in my room. Their music, as intelligent and deeply moving as it is and was, has always been my

The album "Junior" by Royksopp is so incredibly ethereal at times (at others very poppy) that it can't help but make me feel like I'm on a whole other level of consciousness...like the wayyou feel in dreams.

Speaking of dreams...

I'm fascinated by what I think of as "opposite dreams," the ones you have where you wake up sad because the dream was so good and so beautiful and completely opposite from the real-life event it's about...and conversely>> bad dreams (that you're glad to wake up from) about good things going on in your life.

One example of an "opposite dream" is when a loved one who has died in real life is alive and happy...those dreams are very hard to wake up from. And sometimes you dream that something horrible has happened to you or someone close to you and you are so relieved to wake and discover it was all a lie...and of course sometimes you dream a bad thing and wake up and remember it really did happen...still, in a crazy surprising way, that doesn't hurt nearly as much as waking from a wonderful dream and discovering it was just that...a dream.

And speaking of dreams...I find it very odd that the content of your dreams doesn't always match the emotions...sort of like the Gary Jules song "Mad World," when he sings that the dreams he's had about dying are some of the best he's ever had. The weirdest, darkest things we dream of can sometimes thrill us in dreams....for me it's zombies and transformation and funhouse mirrors.



on a completely different note...I really like the new Black Eyed Peas album...it's great for exercising and dancing to