I’m fascinated by Alanis Morissette – and my fascination grows as the years pass and I continue to stumble across her latest televised performances. The people in the audience are either paid extras or people who are beginning to think of the ’90s as the best years of their lives, but who, beside me – ironically – is tuning into a live performance by Alanis Morissette these days? Just the other night I saw her on Palladia, a high-def, all-concert performance channel that’s part of the MTV/VH1 family.

I don’t know the vintage of this performance that I caught, but it must have been from the last couple of years. She had a different hairdo than I’ve been used to seeing, something almost like the shag worn by Carol Brady. It was kind of cute. She’s kind of cute in the way some woman in everyday life, maybe working down the hallway, is kind of cute. Some of you are bound to find fault with her prominent jawline or the lengths she goes to in strategically covering what seems to be a decent but probably flawed body, but have you ever taken a good look at yourself in the mirror?