And I'm listening to my new Camper van Beethoven box set. And feeling very nostalgic for the late 80s/early 90s when I was first falling in love with indie rock and was passionate about that love. I still love music. There just isn't as much of it to explore any more as there seemed to be back then.

When I was 16 a whole new world opened up for me. I heard In My Tribe for the first time and got a sneak peak at something brilliant that was not Richard Marx nor Poison nor Paula Abduhl (I just looked up the 1989 Billboard chart to recall what people really were listening to back then, and it seems even worse than it is today. Maybe.)

And I was insatiable. I couldn't stop sampling all the "alternative" artists I could find, but I was serious about finding the ones that were truly influential (The Replacements, The Pixies ...this probably seems like standard stuff for most people, but in my town, trust me, it was very difficult to discover these artists unless you really, really worked at it). I stayed up late to watch "120 Minutes." I scoured magazines. I hung out with the debate team (who all had Morrissey hair and wore Doc Martens � they were definitely the resident weirdos among a school full of mullets and poofy bangs and girls who refused to wear anything but Eastland loafters).

Anyway ... Camper van Beethoven, I discovered you then, and I have defended you against all the people who found you too odd and unharmonious to be worthwhile. (And David Lowrey, I continue to adore you in Cracker.) And now that you've reentered my life, I can't believe I let you get away for so long.