What wonders the present holds!

My sisters took a while to get with the program for their MP3 players too. (Actually, they have real iPods, using iTunes, which means we had to create an additional profile on the home PC, and that I am constantly having to reaffirm that I have no interest in downloading Safari.)

Both of the iPods were gifts, and not necessarily things that they would have wanted on their own, but nonetheless with the help of a friend they adapted, and started filling them up with music, and even taking them on trips. (Though they are more likely to play them in their docking stations than to actually wear them, which I’m sure is better for their hearing.)

The most memorable iPod related event for me, was one night when, after the music was going for a while, Julie came out of her room and announced, “I have great taste in music!”

I guess it amused me because it’s funny how we can have so much confidence in some areas and be so insecure in others, but also, I understood what was going on. This was a new way of listening to music, and it was giving her a rush. Normally we are listening to a CD of a specific band or maybe a collection of one type of music, and that is great, but there is a certain sameness. The other option is to listen to the radio, and then someone else has selected the mix. Especially lately, that has been completely unsatisfactory. They keep changing stations, completely unsatisfied. Even Mom, who is much less particular, keeps wondering why she can’t find anything good on the radio.

The magic of an MP3 player is that it is taking only music that you have approved and selected, and then mixing them randomly, so you don’t know what is coming but it keeps being great. It’s all highlights! How amazing is that?

(At least it can be. I suppose you could just randomly put whatever on there. Chick who does not pay for her music from yesterday mentioned her boyfriend loading a bunch of songs for her. She was grateful; I would not trust anyone to do that for me. Obviously, I question her judgment on multiple levels.)

One reason I have delayed getting started on mine is that whole question of choosing and loading. It’s not as big of an issue as just learning how to operate a new toy that I don’t really need, because I always have music around anyway, but it is still an issue. Would I put on everything I own? Maybe I should just put on singles.

Usually I listen to rock, but there are non-rock albums that I love. It would probably be weird to have “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister end, and then have a tango song come on. Usually, I just get in the mood for tango music, and then I play that whole CD.

For the record, Julie and Maria tend more towards singles for their MP3 players, because that is what they buy on iTunes. When they want the CD, they buy the whole thing, and play it by itself, generally speaking. I don’t think they’ve overanalyzed it as much as I have, because we’re neurotic in different ways (it helps us balance out), but still, there are those decisions to be made.

If it hasn’t been clear, these are things that I have been thinking about a lot lately. How do you find new music? (Especially when the radio stations are so disappointing, and the music video channels keep switching to really stupid shows.) How do you best enjoy it? How do you consume music responsibly, thinking about the environment and the economy and support for the artists? How can the internet help? For some of these I have already made decisions, and for some I will keep looking.

Maybe the big goal when I get back into music writing will be to actually pry open that annoying plastic packaging, hopefully without injuring myself, and start loading that player up. There’s at least a month of non-music content before I get there, and that’s fine, because there’s still a lot of research left. I have at least 43 bands that I still need to check out, I am currently on the third of ten books that I want to read for this, and there are thirteen movies that I want to watch, all of which are related.

The good thing is, with everything that people say about life being about the journey, and not the destination, that is especially true about learning and exploring. The things that are coming will enrich what is happening now, and what has already happened, but that doesn’t change that I am finding really cool stuff right now.

And, honestly, I am overdoing it right now, but that should be clearing up after this weekend. I am pretty sure that I will start my Native American Heritage Month reading late again, but I shouldn’t get as behind schedule as I did last time, so it’s all good.