On music

I love music: the first songs I ever remember liking were "Orinoco Flow" and "Video Killed the Radio Star" back when I was a toddler. My parents have a huge collection of music, originally LPs and then CDs, and I have been lucky that they have a wide range of artists to listen to, such as the Pet Shop Boys, Air Supply, Zaine Griff, Robson & Jerome, Visage, David Bowie, Ralph McTell, The Moody Blues (who have performed near two places we've lived, both in the UK and the US!), and Belinda Carlisle. To this day they are adding to their collection, with both new and old songs alike.

I do have my own music collection: I received my first albums in Christmas 2003, and the artist was Albert Ketèlbey, a classical musician from the first half of the 20th century. Since then, I now have about 60 albums, and it includes artists like Avril Lavigne, André Rieu, Hilary Duff, Evanescence, Maroon 5, Carrie Underwood, Leona Lewis, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Kelly Clarkson. In all, I'm happy with my collection, and I don't mind discussing it if there's interest.

Music plays a variety of roles: it can make people happy or sad, get them dancing, motivate them, get them thinking, relaxes people, gives a message/tells a story; and at the very least, it's just nice to listen to. I like to talk to people about music and share thoughts over it. It's often said that music is something that pretty much everyone can somehow relate to (in a positive way): over the years I have come to agree more and more with that view.