I just ordered Hanson's 10th Anniversary Middle of Nowhere Acoustic album - they re-recorded their debut album in an acoustic setting in celebration of 10 years since its release. I'm a little late in ordering it - but for some reason I've been revisiting them a lot lately.

They've always been a marker of my own growth as I venture into my mid-20's - we're peers in age and I look at how far they've come since 1997, how their personalities have molded and how solidly they've become musicians, entrepreneurs, even advocates for AIDS research. And I think about how many lives they touched initially and have continued to influence... they have these zealous fans who will follow them to the ends of the earth - and they've managed to educate them about the AIDS epidemic in Africa and get them to care in ways that these fans may not have had occasion to explore.

Sometimes I think about all of their accomplishments and realize that there is still so much art and exploration that I haven't even begun to brush the surface on. And it's inspiring - so inspiring.

I want to write beautiful things, music, words, and celebrate the life that's been dormant inside of me, bursting to reacquaint itself with the present.