I wonder what it is about Lady Gaga which has “allowed” so many I know of as snobs (self-aware or not) to consider her at least a guilty pleasure.

I kick ‘em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger.

I had my pretentious music-snob phase from 14-17. Keep in mind that I was an precocious kid with a reliable Internet connection and a shitty family that fueled genuine angst thanks to genuine Circumstances, so I educated myself fast. And then I worked at FYE for several months, and found myself bopping my head to just about everything. I think the real breakthrough came however, around age 19, when my metabolism caught up with me and I started working out. I realized that none of my pretentious bullshit music was halfway decent to work out to, and that everything I’d dismissed (and associated with everyone I hated in high school) was fantastic for it. Now that I’m in graduate school with two jobs, I actually have *A LIFE* and no time to sit online, posting on forums and discovering bands that just got started 5 hours ago. Nor am I interested in pseudo-intellectual nazel-gazing — I see enough of that working at and attending a college all day. I already know which artists are good for musical meat and potatoes, and right now, I just want some musical cotton candy to get me pumped up and make me smile.

Oh, and I’m thoroughly obsessed with Gaga for various reasons. Doesn’t help that my sex life has oddly begun to mirror some of her songs.