1. Who is your favorite singer/musician? Why?

This is actually a relatively easy question because it�s singular. I have a favorite singer and I have a favorite band. I�m not sure that I like one any better than the other, but with a question like this, I don�t have to decide. I actually have two favorite singers (one male and one female), but if you�re having trouble guessing my obvious choice, you must be new here. My favorite singer/musician is Ben Folds. Not Ben Folds Five, which was a band. I�m talking about Ben Folds, the piano man.

Folds� lyrics strike a chord with me. He is able to make a statement that will resonate in my head even after the lilting of the piano has faded. It�s great music in the moment, but there is another level of depth. Surely, this is the goal of most or all recording artists (and many of them succeed in achieving that), but the difference with Ben Folds (at least for me) is that I�ve found his hidden meanings echoing my own life and thoughts more than once. The lyrics just ring true and it�s like a validation of my thoughts or feelings at a certain moment.

For the record, my favorite band is Barenaked Ladies and my favorite female singer is Sarah McLachlan.

2. What one singer/musician can you not stand? Why?

John Tesh. I despise this man. I have never really been a fan of Michael Bolton either. And Steve from Blue�s Clues should pack up and go home this instant. Nobody wants to hear that. Doesn�t Bruce Willis have some sort of awful band? As a rule, I�m not a fan of slash musicians (i.e. actor/writer/producer/musician) because so few of them can pull it off (one notable exception being Megan Mullally), so rather than list every talentless B-list actor that managed to produce a CD, I�ll just stick with the generalization. Like I said, there are exceptions, but they are few.

3. If your favorite singer wasn't in the music business, do you think you would still like him/her as a person?

If Ben Folds weren�t in the industry and I had the privilege of making his acquaintance, I think I would really like him. I would be very interested to hear his opinions and beliefs on any number of subjects (and all this would be true if I met him now anyway). He seems like someone I�d like to have as a friend. I�m not sure if I�d be as drawn to him if he were, say, a sports reporter, but I wouldn�t hate him outright like I do Bob Costas. Also, Ben Folds is vaguely adorable, which is a powerful weapon to have in one�s arsenal.

4. Have you been to any concerts? If yes, who put on the best show?

The only concert I�ve ever been to that counted was Barenaked Ladies, March 2001. It was a great show (as always) and I had an amazing time. I hope their new tour comes somewhere close to me so I can see it all again. You haven�t lived until you�ve seen "If I Had $1,000,000" performed live. I also saw Gin Blossoms at a music festival last year, and it made me sad that their career is mostly over. I had to go buy the greatest hits album. They had, like, a limited number of good songs in them, and I think they�ve finally used them all up. Plus, they�re getting kind of old.

5. What are your thoughts on downloading free music online vs. purchasing albums? Do you feel the RIAA is right in its pursuit to stop people from downloading free music?

I love being able to download one song rather than purchase an entire CD of crap for one track. MP3 sharing has in no way decreased my album purchasing. I only buy CDs I know I�ll like. If I�m downloading a song, it�s because I just want that song and I�m not going to spend $18 for it. I�ll go without it before I throw my money away. Albums are expensive, I am poor, and downloading music is easy. Sometimes I have �Ring of Fire� or �All You Wanted� stuck in my head and the only way to get it out is to actually hear the song. The radio is useless for that kind of thing now and I�m so far away from a music retailer that it�s not even funny, so I have no remorse about firing up Kazaa.

I understand the RIAA�s position, but they�re fighting a losing battle. Suing a whole whack of teenagers (most of whom will be forced to declare bankruptcy) isn�t exactly a great PR solution. It�s also a futile effort because file sharing is never going to go away. It may be driven underground by groups like the RIAA, but it�s here, it�s easy and convenient, and the music industry will just have to get used to it.

Someone got here by searching for: "Three Months, Two Weeks, One Day" lyrics Reading: Still working on Lucky You. I should finish it before this time next week, at least. Listening to: Spoon. Because "that's the way we get by." Watching: The Will & Grace season finale, which is so much filler when they pad these episodes out to fifty minutes.