Okay, basically, I love the girl. I realize that on this campus, conventional opinion would lie to the contrary. (Here I must note that James Joyce often referred to conventional opinion as “the Rabblement.”) Now, I know there are those who would be devout Britney-haters in any context, on any campus, in any universe, whatever. I respect that. I mean, I just cannot bring myself to enjoy John Mayer, and it’s a real aversion, not just a dislike of pop music in general. (Well, you probably guessed I wouldn’t have that hangup when you saw the Spears picture.) I’ve realized, however, that there are those who dislike things or people or music based on a categorical dislike of all things conventional, commercial, or pop; and to those people, I simply have to say: Lighten up. I don’t think Britney deserves a mention next to Stravinsky or Gould in a rundown of significant contemporary musicians, but I won’t deny that I enjoy singing along to “Lucky” in the shower, and I like to see what she’s wearing in her videos. That doesn’t mean I have to categorize myself as a teenybopper or mainstream or whatever other labels we’ve created. A great deal of the music I enjoy listening to is downrightg good; in fact, it’s probably on your playlist right now. Hip hop, jam bands, bluegrass, classic rock, etc., etc. Britney brings out the girliness in me; and ask anyone who knows me, that can be hard to find. I know I’m not alone here; I’ve got at least Elizabeth Wurtzel and Madonna with whom to trade Britney memoribilia on EBay. There are some Brit-Crits who really have a visceral reaction akin to nausea at the opening strains to “Sometimes.” Like I said, I respect that. If this is not you, however, try to loosen up! Shut the bedroom door, put on your dancing shoes, and see if you can’t get down wth your hairbrush-microphone and your bad self to a little Britney. Option #2: Write a Cynic article for the Arts & Entertainment section. The more space your article takes up, the less space I have to wax poetic about my dear Ms. Spears.