Yet, I listen to music constantly. I don't know why, I guess I just like background sound. It's one of those things. If I could play an instrument, I would. I just don't have the patience to practice. Juggling came naturally to me; I was drawn to it and actually enjoyed the practice sessions. I wish I had the same luck with instruments, but every one I touch just feels awkward. I recently decided that if I was going to put the time in and learn an instrument, it would be the marimba. So if anyone out there is selling a marimba, let me know. Vinyl I grew up in the 70's, which means there were no Compact Discs and very few cassette tapes in the world back when I first started listening to music. My first stereo system had a turntable and an 8-track player. And my parents car only had AM radio. I remember I only had about ten albums and I played them over and over again in my room. I never really collected music until I bought a CD player in 1988. I got through college on CDs and after moving to Boston, I re-discovered the awesomeness of vinyl. There are so many great used record stores in Boston. And I also like to scour the Goodwills and Salvation Armies and I find great stuff. I have about twice as many records as CDs now. I really prefer vinyl for sound quality and there's just a great nostalgia factor when you hear all the pops and clicks of a great record. Lately, I've been Mini-Discing a bunch of my records, so I can have a small, portable album with direct access to tracks, yet you still have the audio quality and imperfections of an LP. Cool. Genres I've gone through many many phases of musical tastes in my life. In high school it was everything from Pink Floyd to David Bowie, Talking Heads to Elvis Costello. In college I remember playing a lot of Police, Pixies, Clash and The The. Since 1991, I recall going through a distinct 'techno' phase, an 'industrial' phase, a 'Nirvana and NIN' phase and a 'Lounge/Exotica' phase. In the last couple years, I've been pretty devoted to college radio which tends to play more underground-indie-experimental stuff. I turn on the radio for hours and just let it play. And on an interesting note; since I went to Italy, I hear opera music in a completely different way than I ever did before. I've discovered a station in Boston that has opera programming on occasional evenings. I'm no expert yet, but I do enjoy listening... it brings me back to Tuscany. Bands The All-time favorites: The The, Danny Elfman, Oingo Boingo, P.J. Harvey, Underworld, Talking Heads, The Jam, The Clash, Wax Trax! Industrial, Laika, The Pixies, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Esquivel, Bowie, Brian Eno...Current Faves: Jack Drag, Stereolab, The Sea and Cake/Sam Prekop, Komeda, Nick Drake, The Durutti Column, Quickspace, Múm. Radio I listen to WZBC Boston College Radio 90.3 FM most of the time, which is where I first heard many of the bands listed above. 'ZBC is simply the best radio in Boston. My favorite shows are: Wednesday 7-10pm The Delta Factor, with Brian. Thursday 7-10pm Off The Cuff, with George. Wednesday 6-7pm Music for Better Living, with Peter and Val. Just about every show on the station is pretty cool. The specific shows above have been around for a while and are total quality. If you're ever in Boston, tune in to 90.3 FM or listen on the web if their streaming audio happens to be working. Awesome station and NO COMMERCIALS. I love college radio. Other stations in Boston worth checking out are: 88.1 WMBR - MIT College Radio 88.9 WERS - Emerson College Radio 91.5 WMFO - Tufts University (Weak signal outside of Somerville! 95.3 WHRV - Harvard University (opera Sunday nights) 99.1 WPLM - Strictly Sinatra - Sat. 7-midnight (all Sinatra!) Live Music Boston has a great local music scene and I do my best to go to shows; especially when friends are playing. You just can't beat the energy of a rockin' band in a club with 100 people. Overall, I'm not really a big concert go-er, but I make it a point to see my favorites when they come to town. I saw my all time favorite band, The The, 3 times within 5 months, including a show at The Iron Horse in Northampton in December 1999, with an intimate crowd of about 200. And I'm psyched I finally saw Stereolab (great) live in Boston opening up for Sonic Youth (who gave me a headache.) A few of the BEST live shows I've seen: The The, way back in '90 at UMass. The The, Iron Horse, Northampton in '99 fIREHOSE in Northampton in '91 Special Beat at The Channel in Boston, '91 P.J. Harvey in Boston in '96. Underworld in Boston in '97 And I really wish I could go back in time to see the great bands I never saw: The Police, The Clash, Talking Heads, The Pixies, Nirvana, and Oingo Boingo.