Is there anyone out there who doesn't know how much I love Ani DiFranco? In a completely relaxed, non fangirl type of way, of course. I've been trying to get my Mom into her by sneaking a couple of Ani tracks onto each folk CD I make for her.

The first time I heard Ani DiFranco, I was hanging out on Arlington, in the (very scary) apartment of a guy I dated very briefly my first year of university. He wasn't home, and I was hanging out, listening to CD's with his roommate, when he mentioned this singer he thought I would really like. So we listened to Ani all afternoon, and it was like I had discovered the most amazing secret. Then, brimming with our secret knowledge, we scampered off to the park to splash around in the fountain and make a spectacle of ourselves.

You know, in retrospect he was a lot cooler than my boyfriend.