Being popular was all I could think about last year. I wanted to, like, be cool with everybody. I listened to music that I didn’t like and laughed at stuff that wasn’t funny. I programmed myself to be a totally different person to everyone.

But I wasn’t myself. Now I’m not pretending to like indie rock or anything like that. And people think that’s cool.*

So here are five albums from 2006 that I only pretended to like. Because now that I’m not trying to make the Arts Board like me, I can listen to Top 40 radio without being ashamed. And that’s cool too.

1. “Rather Ripped” by Sonic Youth—The single “Incinerate” is admittedly catchy, but anything by SY just gives me flashbacks to those days I was peer-pressured into listening to “Daydream Nation” on loop in an attempt to “expand my mind.” ^_^

2. “Boys and Girls in America” by The Hold Steady—Being only 16, I have never set foot in an establishment that serves alcohol and don’t really understand this concept of “bar rock.” The lead singer doesn’t even sing in this band, he just speaks the lyrics. : /

3. “The Life Pursuit” by Belle and Sebastian—I just thought they were a fortuitously named singer-songwriter duo. Whatevs.

4. “Silent Shout” by The Knife—They’re from Sweden, and they dress like birds sometimes, so I thought it would sound like Björk. They do not sound like Björk :(

5. “Hell Hath No Fury” by Clipse—Ever since the Women’s Center brought free pens and knitting to Canaday basement, I’ve started to reconsider my misguided post-feminism. As a campus leader, I should spend my time encouraging women to run for the UC, and protesting a male-dominated faculty, not listening to misogynistic hip-hop with uncomfortable synth beats. 143 I love my DG sisters!

*See abovetheinfluence.com or http://boss.streamos.com/download/federal/aspen/ondcp100606_jenny.mov.

—Kristina M. Moore ’08 is outgoing Arts Chair and incoming President of The Crimson. She’s trying really hard not to sell out or buy a BlackBerry.