I was scanning Dave's Guardian River and was a bit shocked at what I found. Alanis Morissette has become an advice columnist for the Guardian, what they call an Agony Aunt in the UK. No kidding.

NPR interviewed her about it in January and she came across as very self-assured and ready for this new role. From the number of comments on the Guardian Ask Alanis Morissette page, she seems to be getting quite a lot of engagement. Good for her. Maybe she will become the new Ann Landers.

On her own website, she is also featuring a new graphic image, the one at the top of this page. It reminded me a little of the symbol Prince created to replace his name, so I was looking for what it was supposed to mean. I found a fan website where they explained it is her initials, AM, with a large letter A sitting above a smaller M. 

There was a period when I listened to a lot of Alanis Morissette, her music, not her advice, mostly her album Jagged Little Pill, over and over. Then I drove to LA one day and played nothing but her next album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, during that drive. Suddenly on the way back, I had had enough of her kvetching! It was like I woke up and couldn't take it any longer. I turned off the music, breathed a sigh of relief and continued my trip in silence. I hope her advice column doesn't have a similar effect on people.

The original video for Ironic from her Jagged Little Pill album is really quite playful and charming.