Kinky Stevens Chocolate Bon Bons Story: In other words, music I love most right now.

1. The choppy sounds of snapping fingers starts out soft, and gets louder and louder yet until the strains of "When you're a Jet" starts rambling on my old record that I bought from the thrift store. I can't help but smile as I do the dishes on a Friday night while my zucchini muffins are baking and piercing the air with a nutmeg scent. This is Westside Story, and even though I have never seen the actual musical, I love the sweet twang of Tony & Maria singing "Tonight, Tonight" that echoes through my paltry excuse for a living room.

2. The soft banjo and rhythmic movement of a guitar fills the space of my classroom. I am alone here on a Sunday morning, so I can play anything I want. "To Be Alone With You" by Sufjan Stevens is one of my most played songs on iTunes because of its simple nature punctuated by memorable lyrics. "To be alone with me you went up on a tree." Even though Sufjan does not claim to be a Christian, I can't help of thinking of Jesus dying as my sacrifice on His tree. He would have done it for one; just to be alone with "one" of us.

3. "Come on skinny love let's let it sink in..." This Bon Iver song has been on repeat for most of my adult life in the last year. Just like Crimson and Clover, I could/would/should listen to it over and over. His tenor desperation is tinged with a hint of what wintering in a cabin during a chipper Wisconsin season would do to a person. A person left alone pleading and celebrating in equal measures.

4. When you think of the South, what kind of music do you think of? Fiddle, funky voices, country music? Combined with a knack to charm that Prairie Home Companion gives, and a big ol' Nor CaroLIna helpin' o' cornbread n' butterbeans. I was in heaven while listening to the PHO archives for the September 5 (I think) show. The Carolina Chocolate Drops were playing, and from the very first jug toot, harmonica blast, fiddle drag, and enthusiastic leg thomps on the floor, I was HOOKED.

5. I have loved Oldies music since before I could swim. By the way, I swam at an early age. The very first poster I got was the Beatles in their four profile quadrant pose (I am at a loss for words on how to describe what this poster looks like and means to me). I have recently discovered The Beatles with an edge: The Kinks. LOLA, L-O-L-A LOLA!!!! I usually claim A.D.D.-ness when listening to a new group's CD, but I actually listened to all SIXTY ONE songs of theirs in a row when I got them. COMPLIMENT. Wow, I am really into typing in all caps right now. I think that's a hint that I should stop.