That Time I... Fell In Love with Music

Even while flying with Andrew, I can be caught listening to music

Music has always been an integral part of my life. It makes me happy, lets me escape when I'm sad, keeps me distracted from the crazies on the subway and it's always there for me.

When I was a kid, I used to sit on my mom's lap and listen to her records. She had a powerful love for music and loved to share it with me. Together, we'd belt out lines from different musical theater shows, like Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables, without a care in the world.

That love of music was shared my dad and his mom too. There's a video of me on my second birthday, with my dad and grandmother. My grandmother was playing one of her records (records were a big thing in my family) and asking me if I wanted to dance. I looked at her and giggled. Then my dad asked, "Alex? Dance?" and I got up, started dancing and babbling along to the music, while my grandmother held my hands.

Although my memories of music are strong, it wasn't until I was 12 that I discovered music on my own.

My dad and I were in the car and the radio was playing.

I was thinking about a boy I had met and how cute I thought I was (now, I don't have a clue who that boy was).

The woman on the radio sang:

"It's just a little crush (crush)
Not like I faint every time we touch
It's just some little thing (crush)
Not like everything I do depends on you
Sha-la-la-la, sha-la-la-la"

I didn't understand most of the lyrics, but something about her saying "it's just a little crush" made me feel like she was speaking to me.

The radio announcer said that her name was Jennifer Paige. I wanted more.

Shortly thereafter, I bought her album. It was the first musical purchase I ever made.

I still remember buying it on tape and listening to it over and over again on my Walkman (man, this is making me feel old).

I told my cousin about my new found love for music, who responded very positively. She worked at a big music recording company and, to fuel my love even more, would bring me a new CD every week. Soon, my collection of N*Sync, BSB, Britney Spears and all kinds of other CD's started to grow.

Now, thanks to downloading music for free being able to purchase music on iTunes and other online sources, my CD collection is just collecting dust while my current music collection sits on my laptop, phone and iPod.

Not only has my way of listening to music changed, but so has my taste in music. While I still love musical theater, appreciate anything produced in the 70s, and I happily escape into songs that have lyrics which speak to me, the lyrics are more meaningful now than "just a little crush."

Unless we're talking about K$SHA.

Sometimes I just like listening to music that makes me want to get up and dance!

circa 2009

Disclaimer: I'm a horrible dancer and won't dance in public unless I have a ton of liquid courage in me.

Now go visit my dear friend Emily, who is probably a much better dancer than me.