Xanadu is on television tonight. I am surprised to discover that I - age 31 - have never seen this movie. I feel strongly compelled to sing along with Olivia Newton John.

Last weekend, my grandparents gave me a CDR of compiled family reunion photos set to music. "Take Me Home, Country Roads." Grandpa's kin are West Virginian folk. I learned John Denver's version as a child, Toots & the Maytals as a teen. (The song's writers sang back-up on Denver's version, and later formed Starland Vocal Band!)

I didn't immediately recognize the version on grandpa's CDR, so I looked it up on allmusic. Skeeter Davis? Loretta Lynn? Judy Collins?

Nope. Olivia Newton John.

My husband reminded me that I am thankful, most of all, for having options.

And 8694 items in my iTunes playlist. In addition to the wall of records and CDs. And the fact that I work in the music business.

We listened to, among other things, Lalo Schifrin while cooking and Dusty Springfield while eating.

I stumbled upon Roommate's song RP (Forget The Metaphors) on Salon.com awhile back. The lyrics sound like a letter, a really good letter, or a story a friend would tell you in the middle of the night after one too many drinks. It popped into my head today, so I looked up Roommate's website. I was at work, listening to completely different music - old, mangled, funky reel-to-reel tapes from Belize - and I stood in the server room, which was very cold, to listen to the song again through tiny, lo-fi G4 speakers. (Ironically, my Mac is not hooked up to the gigantic monitors that dominate my office). I had to listen to the whole song again. The sweet piano, the tender voice. A little sad, a little nostalgic, a little cold, a little raw.