On Sara Bareilles and drowning the world's noise with my earphones

SARA BAREILLES' album, Live from the Gravity Tour, has been on my playlist for weeks now.

The songs she performs—they have the right kind of melody to keep me awake, make me sing along without overly distracting me from finishing my patients' progress notes.

I discovered her about a year ago, when I chanced upon a live recording of King of Anything in YouTube. I liked her then, and I like her now: the clean and modest look, the magical voice, and the joie de vivre on-stage.

My top three favorite songs in the album are:

1. Love Song. I found myself singing "I'm not gonna write you a love song 'cause you ask for it, 'cause you need one ..." while walking along the PGH corridor, carrying my blood samples to the lab. Embarrassing, I know.



2. Vegas. Click here to listen. Sometimes the idea of packing my bags, leaving everything even just for a while to go some place else—not necessarily in Vegas—can be tempting.

3. I'm on Fire (with Tony Lucca). The country music feel sounds great in this duet.



Maybe this is just a phase.

For example, after reading Ann Patchett's Bel Canto, I had a growing interest in opera. I'm not as big a fan of it now as I used to be. I played Porgi Amor with my speakers on maximum volume while I cleaned the bathroom. Any outsider must have been freaked out. It was as if someone was committing suicide or getting drowned in the bathtub (we don't have one).