The Christmas iPod

So my wife bought me my first iPod for Christmas, mostly to stop me begging like a 5 year old, and the fact she though I would get rid of my 1,000 or more cd’s that to her are clogging up our living room closet. (Just for the story, it did not get rid of the cd’s in the closet) Well opening up the package and seeing an iPod staring up at me, I had to contain my youthful enthusiasm, due to the fact my parents were sitting next to me, and they have seen me freak-out only once on Christmas as a kid. That eventful Christmas my Dad totally caught me off guard and bought me a new baseball glove, not just a plain old baseball glove, BUT a bright red Darryl Strawberry baseball glove (my favorite NY Met and player of all time). That was by far one of the best presents of all time, but as I was older I loaned my glove to a friend in college to play softball with and the glove has been gone forever.

So as I sit there with the excitement of a 13 year old kid looking at my 80 gb, black, iPod Classic, my mind began thinking of all the music, podcasts, games, movies and more I can store on this, I didn’t think about the fact I had over 1,000 cds I had to go through and store on this beautiful black genius of technology. There in lies the blood, sweat and tears that now rests in my hand. Not only can I not live without this thing and the music on it, but I have put in hours, days, and weeks loading music and listening to my wife and daughter sigh and groan each time I pulled out another stack of cds.

Well, after all the relatives gave their hugs and say their goodbyes, I then retreat to our oversized chair in the living room, pull out our laptop, and plug in my iPod. The benefit of my job is when the college is out for break, so am I, so I had at least two weeks to add my music that I have amassed since college and some since high school. My poor wife had no idea what she bought, until I started littering our nice clean living room with cds of Pearl Jam, Ben Harper, Radiohead, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, The Roots, the Black Crowes, and so, so many more. This also brought on me being a music or for that matter, an iPod snob toward some of the albums and artists that I have collected over the years.

It also raised a question that I had to ask myself (being a self-proclaimed music person), what the hell was I thinking when I bought this CD? As most of you know I have traveled a lot during college (to and from other colleges), and in the professional world (five states in over eight years) and all of these cds have made the trip while also accumulating more during the travels. For some reason some questionable cds have some how survived the trip. We have all bought some bad cds, but how did Cinderella’s “Heartbreak Station” survive after I found Nirvana in the 90’s? Why the hell did I think it was cool enough to buy the Swingers Soundtrack, and then deem in necessary to follow it up with buying Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s first album? Did I think that the dancing gods were going to grace me and let me swing dance? Plus I bet that would have been a deal breaker with the ladies, and trust me I needed all the help I could get at times. Not to mention countless others, for instance how did I go from listening to say the Barenaked Ladies (granted the chickedy-Chinese chicken song does get caught in ones head) to listening to Frank Black?

That was the question I kept coming up with when I would sit each night downloading music, remembering great bands, and wondering why I haven’t listened to this album in such a long time. The answer I kept coming back to was the awesome friends I have found along the way traveling from colleges and states. If it wasn’t for my best friend JB I would have never understood why Frank Black and let alone the Pixies are such an awesome band. Not to mention the great times we had (and forgot due to the fun we were having) listening to Sublime, and many other bands I found along the way. Or my very, very, very, small liking of the Dave Matthews Band, due to the fact I get to see my wife dance and sing to it at rare times.

I guess loading all of my music brings memories back to the times I first heard this album, or the conversations (sometimes deep, most of the time in a cloud of smoke) with JB and many other great friends along the way. I have to say, this is why music is so special to me, it holds memories to songs, and friends to albums. So the time I spent crafting my iPod to my anal music needs, I crafted the songs that have built memories for me, so I have to thank my wife for waking me up to all my memories.

The Five Bands I am listening to in my iPod this week:

The Black Keys- Attack and Release
Bon Iver- Blood Bank
Dan Auerbach- Keep It Hid
M. Ward-Hold Time
The Knux- Remind Me in 3 Days