Then I read a nearly obsessive review of her on a social networking site. Then I noticed her showing up on last.fm profiles and other music websites. Then I started seeing her name in every other blog I came across. Then I saw her all over the front pages of mainstream news sites.
Now I'm reading about her on a TECHNOLOGY/STARTUP news aggregator, of all places.
I still haven't taken the time to listen to her music, but I'm already impressed. I'm sure I just wasn't paying attention, but Lady Gaga went from occupying absolutely zero braincycles in December to becoming a name that I have heard literally every other day from every other outlet for the past four weeks. I've been crossing more hype about her than for the iPad.
Like TFA, I couldn't hazard to say whether or not she's just "another fleeting pop novelty," but she's obviously doing something right.