I never really started listening to music by my choice until 1986.  I had always been a ‘listen-to-what-your-mom-listens-to’ kind of kid.  I remember hearing Neil Diamond, Jim Croce, Kim Karnes, The Oakridge Boys, Dr. Hook (RIP), John Cougar Mellencamp (sp?), and that sort of thing.  I hadn’t even considered that there was an entire universe of tunes out there waiting to be heard.  When I did finally break-down and start listening to FM, I was mostly disappointed.  There wasn’t much that I was fond of.  The other grief I endured was that my hometown didn’t have a music store.  Well, not one of any repute.  It was called Pacific Street Video (and music) – and “yes,” the ‘and music’ was in parentheses to indicate its relevance…  I did manage to find one cassette tape that I purchased for around $8.  I bet some of you never had one of those, much like I never personally owned an 8-track but I knew of their existence…  Anyway, the cassette was “Please” from The Pet Shop Boys.  That was the music I wanted to listen to.  Not Bon Jovi and Poison.  The nearest music store that had a decent selection was 30 miles away and it pretty much only sold the stuff you would hear on FM.  The closest city that had the kind of music I wanted to hear was closer to 200 miles away.  No small distance for a kid whose fastest mode of transportation was a ten-speed bike.  Eventually one of my friends became old enough to drive so we could make the journey and spend that hard-earned allowance money on ‘imports’.  That is probably another term you don’t hear much since the internet has made getting a CD from Germany as easy as getting one from California.  Anyway, that’s about how it went.  I bought music from Europe, wore dark colors, grew my hair long in the front and kept it short in the back.  I never rode a skateboard but got lumped into that goth/skater/new waver crowd at school – I believe they call that ‘emo’ now…  though I’m not sure what it means.  Are they referring to that crazy Canadian comedian?  (no regrets, by the way.  Those were the best friends I could ever hope to have.)  Graduated High School, moved to Seattle to go to music school and have been floundering about in the northwest ever since.