Somehow I’d forgotten. I don’t quite know how, but it took some recent BNL goodness to remind me how much they make me happy.

Goodness #1: Michelle made me a CD of some fan club tracks that have Steve and Ed talking about the band and their music, and reintroduced me to songs I’ve been listening to for the last 12 years or so. “Crazy” from Gordon? Totally forgot what an awesome song it is.

Goodness #2: Michelle went to their show in Omaha last Tuesday night, and not only did Ed recognize her from the stage, but he got her backstage after the show for a chat. I tell ya, he’s one of the nicest people you will ever meet in your entire life. He asked about how her career is going, about how I am (remembered my name even), gave her a big happy hug and re-gave her a working email address. Ed is the bomb. How could I forget?

Goodness #3: I bought the deluxe edition of their new album, Barenaked Ladies Are Me, on iTunes before vacation and am only just now listening to it. Damn, it’s awesome. The first track, “Adrift,” is so pretty, as are a bunch of the other songs with mandolin and banjo and other bluegrassy flavors. And they’ve put themselves right out there in their criticism of the current climate in America — “Take It Back” is a pointed snipe at the whole TSA security checkpoint pantomime. I forgot how much fun it is to listen to new BNL.

I haven’t listened to music these last several years as much as I did in my teens and twenties. It’s partly because of Mike — we have similar musical taste, but not exactly the same, so some of the music I would have otherwise listened to sits on the shelf. It’s partly because of TiVo, which I love, but it means I don’t default to MTV2 or VH1 just to have something on. It’s partly because I’m just now emerging from format limbo, getting more comfortable with owning digital music instead of buying CDs at the store. The thing is, I work better with music playing. It distracts that second track that’s always going in my brain, and keeps it from interfering with whatever it is I’m doing. And I wonder, too, how much not listening to music so much lately has to do with any depression slippage that’s gone on in the last few years. In any case, long live the BNL and their ability to remind me why good music makes me so happy.