i sort of feel like this right now: "i am gonna make it through this year if it kills me"

do you know the mountain goats?  they're a band with music that's really different from a lot of other stuff i've heard - their music and the lead singer's voice is SO distinctive.  once you start listening to them, you'll recognize their songs immediately, even if you've never heard them.  love them.  i guess they're folk?  bluegrass?  itunes classifies them as "alternative," but what does itunes know.

this is a great collection of some of their best songs - check them out!  i'm particularly in love with the first two.

(thanks to pandora for telling me - correctly - that i would like the mountain goats.  thanks to nora for this link!  nora is that friend who knows everything about any kind of music you bring up.  i love this about her.  and she has a new blog!  so you should check it out.)