Yes, this song alone ranks a whole post devoted to it. It's on the CD Speak For Yourself, by Imogen Heap, and it's number five (if you needed to know). Before you ask, she sounds like Frou Frou because she is half of Frou Frou - I've seen too many people mauled by devotees when they say, "hey, Imogen sounds like Frou Frou!" The song starts quietly, with only her voice. Realistically, there are very few instruments involved in this song at all, except for the possible exception of the synthesizer I'm convinced she put her voice through. Or something like that - I don't know much of anything about that world, but it sounds like she recorded her layer of harmony, then put that single layer through a synth to give it a bit of a . . . robotic sound. I can't explain it, but it's just miraculous. The songwriting is beautiful, and the words have a melancholy beauty to them that few artists can pull off. "The dust has only/Just begun to fall/Crop circles in the carpet/Sinking feeling." And then imagine a voice that's the ultimate cross between Amy Lee and Norah Jones, and you'll have an idea of the crazy goodness involved. Her harmonies are also some of the best I've ever heard. I sing harmony in my youth group band, and I have the same general theme in mind, but there are so few people who can "hear" that harmony well enough to sing it. She uses seconds every now and then rather than thirds, or something like that. It's just so . . . haunting. And the last thing - she has more vocal control than just about anyone else in the business. Towards the end, she layers over herself at one point, the high layer just repeating "hide and seek" over and over. But what's so killer about that is that it's sung impossibly high, and the slides are impossibly even. My gosh. Her voice is just unbelievable.

For the three years and two months I've been at my youth group, I've had issues with this one girl. She's really kind of odd, and her social skills seem to be lacking, but she's basically hated me ever since the first week. I made friends almost immediately with one girl in the youth group, Hannah, who was this girl's best friend. Hannah and I were really close, but I guess this girl didn't know that she always had the first place in Hannah's heart. Anyway, I think the beginning of this whole thing was that this girl was jealous of my standing with Hannah, and thus has hated me every since. It's deeper than that, though. She graduated last year, and I'm now the senior. The only senior. As a senior, I do have a certain amount of rank. She wasn't the only senior last year, she had another girl with her. It's like she hates that I'm the older one, even though I don't use my power like she tried to do last year. She manages to still be around the youth group a lot, though. I think there are a hundred facets of what makes her hate me, but here are a few: I'm like a big sister to most of the people in youth group. Most of the girls look up to me like a really close friend and a sister, and the guys . . . well, they maybe listen to me a bit more than other people. This girl has always wanted that, I bet, but she couldn't have it because she isn't the personality type that brings respect. She hates that I've become some of these girls' confidante. She's a control freak, I know that. She wants to control all of the core of our youth group - girls and guys - and them hanging out with me is not acceptable by her standards. She hates it that they're friends with me and her. She wants all the guys to be madly in love with her, and all the girls to be in total awe of her. She's got neither, mostly because of what she does in trying to gain that. I do think this is personal, though. She's begun dragging two of my closest youth group friends into it because she wants it to look like it's something it's not. But I think she means to hurt me, and they're the best option. It ticks me off - pick your fight with me, stab me in the back. I couldn't care less - she can't take away any of the love I have from my friends. But *don't* bring my closest friends into it. One thing that I wonder about, though: I don't invite her to hang out when I have the youth groupers over. First of all, she causes problems anytime she's around. She's the type to naturally bring drama anywhere she goes. Secondly, she really doesn't have a place anymore - she graduated, and she's not hosting. I shouldn't have to invite her. But she gets wind of the hang-outs, and calls up my friends to tell them that I'm hurting her by not inviting her. Once again, confront me. Stop dragging my friends into it. And dang it, now I've worked myself up again.

Eisley is starting to become more well-known, but I thought I'd mention them. And say that, once again, I knew about them before most other people did. My friend Wes knows them as "the homeschool band," as the five members were Texan homeschoolers until they formed a band and rocketed to indie . . . well, I wouldn't actually say fame. Eisley is based mainly around two of the sisters, whose voices are childlike and angelic and very similar to Leigh Nash (of Sixpence None The Richer). The harmonies are very sweet and innocent, something of the flip side of the coin from Amy Lee - Eisley is what Evanescence would be had Amy Lee decided to be happy and naive rather than depressed and love-scarred. Even a lot of the songwriting is similar. Instrumentally, I don't think Eisley is all that special. They're about average on the world-class musician scale, I suppose. But their voices and their songwriting is stunning, if somewhat psychedelic. Most of it seems nonsensical, but I love Brightly Wound: "I shall never grow up/Make believe is much too fun/Can we go far away to the humming meadow?" Brightly Wound is amazing as well for the vocal layering of the two sisters. One of them is singing the "top" layer - "We were walking there/I had tangles in my hair/But you make me feel so pretty," while the other is singing the layer underneath that only is brought to your attention at certain points - "I just wish you could be there/So we could walk down to me." The effect is striking. Overall, Eisley is a great band. On top of that, even knowing about them will seriously raise your indie cred. Which, if you're reading this, I'm sure you want.

I'm at a bit of a loss at the moment. In October, my youth group went on a retreat to Bethel Christian Camp, an awesome place that I and my dear friend Rebecca seriously enjoyed. When we were there, the owner of the place, Tom, invited us both to turn in applications to be councilors that summer. We both really liked the idea, and had agreed that we were both very interested. I talked to my boss, who said that he would give me my job back when I got back from camp. One down, but so many things left to fit in. First, I don't know when I'd go visit my best friend Lizzie in West Virginia. College classes start August 23rd, but orientation starts the week before. I couldn't visit Lizzie before camp, as I'd have to be at camp May 31st and she probably won't even be done with her classes by then. I couldn't visit her after, because I'd have about a week between camp and classes, and it's absolutely necessary for me to be at home that last week. Another problem is the family reunion that will probably take place July 8th or 15th. I don't know if the Bethel people would let me have the week off or not, but I imagine the answer is no. I've got an outstanding e-mail to Tom, the owner, but that was all of two weeks ago. I'm starting to think he's not going to e-mail me back, although it is still break time by most standards. More importantly, though, I'd have to leave home to return to camp around 2 every Sunday, which would mean no youth group. My last summer to enjoy my youth group, my last summer to be in the youth band . . . gone. I'm not sure I can take that. I can take being away from my family, even missing a family reunion, but being away from youth group my last summer could be too much to bear. I could even figure out some other time to visit Lizzie, like over winter break or something. But I just don't know. Rebecca is basically dead-set on the thing, though, and I'd hate to not go at this point. I told her I was having some issues with scheduling, and she was okay with it. I know she really wants me to go, and I'm not saying I won't go, but I'm having some second thoughts. A lot of them.

In the last season of Alias, the writers decided to bring in what I termed new-Vaughn and new-Sydney, two younger characters who'd take the action of the "dead" Vaughn and the pregnant Sydney. I think I was one of the few people who actually liked the two, but new-Vaughn was just the coolest. Played by the ever-cool Balthazar Getty, he would have been unbelievably cool had the writers given him anything to do. A few months later, I was watching Survivor when I heard a song on a Pontiac commercial that just blew me away. It had a blithe, laid-back dance sound that I thought my sister, my dad and I thought was excellent. After some web searching, we found that the band was Ringside, and one of the two guys in it was Balthazar Getty. Now we were fascinated. My sister bought the CD a few weeks later, and I've been hooked ever since. I can't say Ringside plays the cleanest music, but they do play some of the coolest. They're a light-rock band based on keyboard and drums with an interesting dance twist. But then other times, they switch to a completely different mode and play songs with emotional clout. Struggle, the song I first heard of theirs, is a fabulous song but not necessarily the best example of their work. To me, Trixie or Dreamboat 730 would be the best (although both have objectionable content). I'd actually heard Dreamboat 730 before and simply not recognized it - it's cryptic, but extraordinarily catchy. I'll leave you to interpret it yourself: "Thank you for the life you gave me/Cut me with your knife and save me/Up for much better waves/All good children come and play . . . Sinners, stay at home/Think about the evil done/In bed so early/Dreamboat 730." Trixie, on the other hand, is fairly clear in its meaning. In it, the singer bemoans the fact that he wants a woman that he knows he can't have. He knows she's simply playing him, but he can't help himself. "I feel I know you/But you're someone else . . . Oh you're so cruel/To do what you do to me/Your kind of woman no man should need/You infect me." That's intense. And the way he practically moans the last part (You infect me) is agonizing, in all the best ways. Realistically, what sets Ringside apart is the songwriting. I like the guy's voice - he's gravelly and unpolished, and manages to switch between Trixie's burning mood and Struggle's energetic attitude - but there are other bands with singers much like him. The instruments aren't killer, and a lot of the instruments you'll hear are effects-ridden. But Scott Thomas, "the other guy," has a way with words that fits his style perfectly. Check them out, definitely. Their sound is engaging.

I'll be switching back and forth between anst and music, just so y'all know. So if you're in it for the music thoughts and you're bored of angst, don't fret - I'll be back with more music quickish. This is a nice outlet for me, as no one knows me or the people with which the drama is. I wanted to describe the guy a bit, more for my own interest than anyone else's. For me, his most attractive feature is his incredible way with music. He plays the keyboard beyond what most people would ever dream of. He's better than the best jazz pianist you've ever heard, I'd be willing to bet. He's got an ear for music, though - he leads my youth group's band, and his arrangements are incredible, exploiting every ounce of talent our young band has got. What I've noticed a lot lately, especially in contrast to the other guys on our band, is that he's open to his horizons being broadened. I introduced him to The Shore, and he loved them immediately. We banter about music with the third hyper-musical person in the group, Wes, a lot. It's great. Beyond that, he's the kind of guy you bring home to your parents and are excited to let them meet. In fact, my mom told me once that if he ever asked me out, she'd get on her knees and thank God. He's that kind of guy. His sense of humor kills me. I sing harmony/back-up in the youth band (I have a suitable voice for lead, but he and I are the only ones who are physically able to sing harmony, and his voice is needed to strengthen the melody), but every so often, he'll switch to harmony. What he ought to do is find his own harmony, harmonize with me or something (or not sing harmony at all - it throws off the other lead singers terribly, it's hilarious). He normally tries to do that, but if he's not thinking about it, he'll accidentally start on my notes. Whenever he does that, he'll look over at me and give me his patented "haha, oops" look. He's got that mischievous spark that a girl has trouble ignoring. Anyway, after our youth band concert, the six remaining people (all good friends) asked for an encore of Yellow, by Coldplay. We obliged, but this time it was basically just for fun, not as serious as before. So about halfway through the song, he looks *directly* at me, gives me that mischievous grin, and starts stealing my notes. Deliberately. I'm on his right, with the other female singer between us, but he and I both leaned forward a bit so I could see what he was doing and he could make sure I knew what he was doing. So he kept stealing my harmony and grinning at me, and after a few minutes of that, we just broke down laughing. It was great. But the sad thing is that he's getting ever closer to his marriage. He's meeting his wedding photographer next week, which just pounds the point home for me. There's no way at this point that I could really have him - if he left his fiancee, I'd have to re-examine what I thought of him. If she left him, he'd be so heartbroken that nothing would really matter. The heart of that issue would be that I'm three or four years younger than he is. I've always wanted to date "up," but I can see him not being able to take me seriously as a girlfriend anyway. Castles in the air, but things I can use to convince myself anyway.

For the record, I liked Jem before Grey's Anatomy decided to steal her from me and make her vaguely famous. My sister (the source of all musical knowledge) introduced me to Jem about a year and a half ago, but the route to my interest was a bit slow. Either way, I've been listening to Jem for about a year now. Jem can be a bit on the raunchy side, especially in Come On Closer, a song prominently featured on the trailers for the movie Closer, which came out a few years ago. But her music is actually uplifting - Stay Now, Wish I, and Flying High all celebrate love, albeit in some of its slightly less complete and happy forms. Jem's got an amazing voice; the only word I can really use to describe it is smoky, in the way that Norah Jones's voice is smoky. Two or three of her songs are a bit rock-ier, but the rest are soothing and good for light listening. Overall, Jem is a great singer and songwriter - check her out if you're looking for a less mellow Norah Jones or any of the softer-spoken singers in the genre. One friend commented on Missing You, saying "this sounds like Cruel Intentions." That was completely accurate for that song, although her CD puts its mood through its paces.

I realized three weeks ago that I really like this one guy I know. He's the most musical guy I've ever met, he's got a sense of humor to beat all, and he's one of the few people that I respect over and above. But the kicker is that he's three years older than me and engaged, and currently helps out at my youth group. You're not to freak out here - he was in my youth group before he helped at my youth group, and I've known him for three years. I've always respected the guy more than just about anyone else I know, so I guess it shouldn't surprise me that my like of him turned into a "like" of him. Before you start laughing at me and telling me it's just attraction and nothing to think about, what you have to understand is that I don't get this way. I've never let myself "like" a guy before, not like this. I'll think every now and then that I could possibly get to liking a guy a lot, but not like this. This is not a crush, nor is it just attraction. He's a special guy to begin with, and the girl who marries him is a lucky girl indeed. I don't think about him/it all the time, but it's a tough situation for me anyway. God'll take care of me, I know. If I'm meant to be with said guy, I'll end up with him. If not - which is the much more likely path - then I'll get over it and eventually (hopefully) find *the* guy. But heavens, I want this guy now. It's hard to wait on God.

The Shore is my new favorite band - they're rich, full, and well-structured. When you listen to The Shore, you're taken back to classic time in rock history when music was created with the bare essentials of vocal and instruments. Based largely around an excellent lead guitarist and an equally good keyboardist, The Shore has a fullness that I can't quite explain, but that I've found in few other bands. Each instrument is played as well as I've heard it elsewhere. The lyrics are also striking; the songwriting is quite compelling, most of it written about lost or gained love. In Hard Road, the chorus makes a fascinating progression: it begins with "I'll let you come down easy/I'll let you be reborn." The next chorus - "Oh let me come down easy/Let me be the one." And finally, "Let me come down easy/Let me be reborn." The way the music seems to accentuate the idea behind the song is amazing. Highest recommendations for The Shore. They're medium rock, nothing too hard, but are generally soothing to listen to. If you like Coldplay, Vertical Horizon, or any other bands on the easy rock circuit, check out The Shore - it's better.