I was rummaging through a drawerful of old electronics the other week when I came across my old ipod. It was not was I was immediately looking for, but I still pulled it out, thinking I might put it back into action. The trouble was, I did not find the cable needed to connect it to my laptop.
Each drawer in the bureau was already too full, and was a little intimidating. Long story short, I had limited time to continue looking for the cable, so added the task to my to-do list, and went on about my business.
Then, two weeks ago, I rallied myself and did a bit of clean up in the bureau. Only a bit, mind you, because my heart was not really in it; I just wanted to get a little of the junk out. Things took a little longer, but I eventually found the yellowing ipod cable, and connected the device to my laptop.
As much as I love music, I am not listening as avidly as I used to in years past. And, in those moments where I have wanted to sit down and listen, I have tended to go to a streaming web site, where I can immediately hear the artist, the song, or the album that I want to.
For starters, I was pleased that my device was still working; I had heard that an ancient ipod may no longer be compatible with newer laptop operating systems. I did have to download itunes onto my computer, and within a few minutes had my full ipod collection on display: 28.6 days of music for my listening pleasure.
Over 30 years ago, halfway through my college career, I purchased my first 5 CD changer, and developed a really annoying habit of putting the setting on shuffle, then proceeding to use the remote to advance to the next track. Five CDs with an average of eight tracks each gave me about forty total songs. The problem was, I tended to be finicky, and never listened to one track all the way through. I just could not settle on what I wanted to hear.
A few friends made the odd comment about this, but I still found it difficult to break the habit.
40 tracks at average 3 minutes each amounts to about 2 hours of material. I could scan through it in 5 minutes.
28.6 days? With a calculator we can quickly determine the exact amount of minutes, but for the sake of this post, let us just say shitloads.
The first Saturday morning I listened to my tunes from my ipod, I spent too much time clicking my mouse to advance to the next song instead of simply listening to what was playing. I was skipping 20 songs, then got to the track I wanted to hear at that given moment, then repeated the exercise, for most of the day. Old habits can certainly be difficult to break.
Last Saturday was very similar. Sometimes you need a certain song to serve as the soundtrack for the blog post, and considering the topic from last week, some might find it unusual that it was written with songs from the 4-Skins, Minor Threat, and Thrice all playing in the background. With a bit of Chopin thrown in for good measure.
This week, I decided to just take things as they came, and allow my ipod to just shuffle along. It took some effort on my part not to skip to another track, but with one exception, I stayed true, and just let things play.
I made the one exception because I did not think it very fitting to listen to a Christmas song sung by Diana Ross. Certainly not when I was enjoying one of the first springlike days we are experiencing in Frankfurt.
So, my Saturday and Sunday this weekend have been filled with a variety (if not eyebrow raising) of music from a wide selection: Kate Nash, followed by Ministry, followed by Pete Townshend, followed by a bootleg track I bought at a local show 25 years ago by some artist whose name I can no longer remember.
And it has been great.
I am fortunate that good friends have shared great music with me through the years, and diversity is something that I appreciate all the more. I like Bad Religion quite a bit, but I can no longer listen to their entire catalog in one sitting.
Perhaps my neighbors might have found the playlist a little herky-jerky, but I would argue that we are going through some pretty herky-jerky times right now, so why not?
From Stiff Little Fingers to Skinny Puppy, Saint Etienne to an electronica cover of "Ain't Talkin About Love," Dubstar to tons of Movida, a bit of Skunk Anansie, and yeah, even the odd Christmas song.
It just makes sense.
See you out there
Bryan
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