I have to admit that I dreaded making this year-end compilation of favourite albums. I lost the spirit for listmania somewhere around October, when I realised that not only was it going to be tough, but in a lot of ways, it was going to mirror a lot of other people's lists. I am never contrary to be contrary, and I especially hate being predictable…even worse, a bore.

That preamble out of the way, I will serve up this year's list, but since many of you will already be familiar with 95 percent of my choices, I have also included…

In her Patternists series of books, science fiction novelist Octavia Butler delivers a world ruled by shape shifters and living ghosts.

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But as with all things brilliantly Butler, it is more complicated than that–the beings (not quite human, but grounded in earthly desires) fight convention even as they seek acceptance among others of their own powerful kind, as well as from those who have no interest in understanding them (read: scared to death of the unknown). They are mad geniuses, whose own intelligence often turns their good intentions inside out, creating havoc where peace is genuinely sought.

In the…

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It is already time for burnt orange leaves, scarves, denim jackets, and hot green tea lattes from…yes, damn it, Starbucks. I’m a convert. It is only one of my newest addictions, along with resting (having suffered with exhaustion this past week in a big, scary way), not talking too much, and generally reacquainting myself with myself.

It is so easy to forget to take care – physically, mentally, and as much as I try to disavow enigmas (solving them and being one), spiritually. As I took time out this week to just lay my head down and forgive myself…

I was on yet another plane this morning, feeling a little down as it took off for the mid-west. Another conference, another week of my life to be spent chattering with folks whose bottomline is to pretend they aren’t talking about making more money; another plane ride taken after immediately losing someone I adore on the battlefield of unwieldy compromises.

If we are all here on last.fm then we are passionate about music. But how many of us really listen to the words? Feel the words? Live the words?

From my window seat, as I stared over the crazy quilt…

I like the word stunning quite a bit. It expresses profound beauty and jaw-dropping wonder.

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My eight-day holiday in Aruba a week ago was stunning…and very, very necessary. Because I didn’t stay in a hotel, but with a friend and her very generous father, I was treated to the sort of visual and emotional heart-warming experience that I would not have had, had I stayed at one of the island’s rather over-the-top beachfront hotels. Between the submarine ride, sunset sailboat ride, daily swims in crystal blue waters, and nibbles of smoked eel, plantains and tall 2 p.m. gin and…

New York is engulfed in a nasty, sticky, mucky haze–but at least it isn’t raining….yet. If I had three wishes, one would definitely be the banishment of humidity. Still, I revel in the fact that I get to wear flip flops to work and listen to music during the day–something that was advised by higher-up editors years ago to get over the noise of the open plan office. I find it incredible that in some circles I’m still considered a professional. Does that count if you get to wear your trousers rolled up to the calf?

In any case, on…

What a lovely past few weeks–minor, and in retrospect, funny dramas aside. With the coming of the sun and the pleasant warmth, my spirits have been raised and I’ve, to my total lack of shame, become the biggest, most joyful, pop whore in Brooklyn.

This “turning out” has been in progress for some time, beginning year before last with Mariah Carey’s Mimi album, which was a brilliant soundtrack for that entertaining, and at times most stressful, of English summers. I’ve been putting up a resistance to pop’s attempts at pimpin’ me every since, occasionally letting a song get to me…

New York was absolutely drenched last Wednesday, but I took me and my soggy shoes over to B. B. King's where, with my friend J., I saw Angelique Kidjo perform some old songs from years ago and newer ones from her new album Djin Djin. Ms Kidjo doesn't play around. She arrived on the stage at exactly 8 p.m. and gave the warmest hello to the crowd before launching into "Djin, Djin" a song she performs with Alicia Keys on the album.

The thing about Kidjo is that in addition to being a singer she is an incredible dancer.…

It has been a minute, hasn’t it?

The last month has been absolutely bananas for me. I finished a massive writing project ahead of a looming deadline, and in the process lost tons of sleep and a little of my good health. I am now on the mend, but as you might imagine, writing has been the last thing I’ve wanted to do these last few weeks.

That said, I’ve manage to get such great new music lately that it would be a shame for me to continue to mope around, avoiding pens, keyboards and deep analytical thought of any…

Spring is springing as best it can in New York as April tentatively opens up. Aside from the dreaded, looming tax deadline, this new month already has its share of thorny situations. Bush is still president. Fifteen British soldiers are still being held captive by Iran, a country lead by a group of people that seem hell bent on causing a raucous all their own (When will the playground antics stop among the East, Middle, and West? Will any of our countries graduate into a corporative adulthood?). The Solomon Islands have been ravished by a tsunami and the news media…