If you look through the list of music I own, you'll notice that almost all the music is from women artists. I'm not too sure how it got that way. Somewhere along the line I just started to prefer listening to women... hormones, I guess. But let's go back to the beginning (or a reasonable facsimile thereof).

The first cassette that I remember buying (CDs weren't as ubiquitous then as they are now) was "Picture This", by Huey Lewis and the News. Back then I listened to the standard 80's popular music. Michael Jackson, George Michaels, Debby Gibson, Whitney Houston, Duran Duran, etc, etc, etc. But I didn't buy much music, Gloria Estefan and a couple of other things that I don't remember.

Back then music was just something I listened to, nothing special. When I got to college in 1989 I roomed in the dormitories, sharing a room with two other guys. From them I got to listen to Roxette, 10000 Maniacs, The Bangles, Oingo Boingo, Depeche Mode, and OMD.

A digression: music is a very personal choice for me. I really don't try to force people to listen to my music and I really hate to be forced to listen to someone else's music, no matter how good it is. Because of this attitude, I can't listen to Pink Floyd or Alanis Morissette. On another point, I tend to gravitate towards music (and hobbies) that differentiate me from my peers. Maybe I'm trying to be original or different or whatever, that's a topic for another time.

Anyway, so in college the music that I bought was Alannah Myles, Bobby Brown, more Huey Lewis. I also started to get more into the long-haired rock-and-roll bands like Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Warrant, and Poison. I still have a bunch of that music that I don't list in my CDs owned list.

Five years later, I start listening to adult contemporary and alternative music. Alternative music has been something I can listen to on the radio, but not too much of. Mostly I listened to it because that's what my riding partner liked, and I didn't mind. (Note that it's not an intrusion if it's on the radio. When my co-rider tried to push how wonderful Alanis Morissette was, that totally killed her for me.)

It's at this point that I started to collect CDs. I stopped randomly buying CDs, not I bought based on artists. So if I decide to get one Corrs CD, I'm going to buy them all. Usually I like a CD after the first couple of listenings. Sometimes it takes 3-4 playings before I start liking a CD, but it is rare that I won't like a CD after I force myself to listen to it a few times in a row.

By then all the new CDs that I was buying were from women artists. There's some old music that I buy from male artists and bands from when I was younger, but for new music that I haven't really listened to before, it's females all the way.

So what do I like about listening to women? Yes, there's some attraction, although perhaps not as much as you'd think (someday I'll talk about my philosophy on love and the female species). A woman's voice is more relaxing that a man's voice, which is nice when I'm driving to and from work. It's neat listening to women sing about life from their perspective. They're music tends to me more fun and serious at the same time, or maybe that's the artists that I picked.

Another trend of the last six months is my interest in country music. That started with Shania Twain, who's "Still the One" started playing on my local radio station. That followed with Faith Hill ("This Kiss"). I still don't listen to country music stations, there's just not that much interest in the San Francisco Bay Area (although there is some).

I've really gotten to like country music, at least the music that I own. The songs are shorter, more catchy. The feelings more basic and pure. It's quite a contrast to the angst-ridden, socially relevant music that I had been listening to in the previous year. Sof for now, new artists will come from the country section of the music store. I will still buy CDs from old artists as they come out.

Music is something I listen to enjoy. Genre doesn't matter as much. It's not a statement or really conscious decision on my part. It's just what I happen to like at that point in time.