The Refreshed iPod

iPod morning commute music: shuffle mode

Recently, I've realized how bored I was becoming with my iPod musical selections. I've basically had the same core music on the machine for 4 years. I have done some editing...I dumped 10 of the 15 Elvis CDs from the 3 box sets (I mean, for a while every third song was The King, and that was never my intent). The problem was a lack of variety. My CD collection has a lot of artists represented by a single CD, but they weren't on my iPod...every Beatles album was, my entire Dylan collection, and a whole lot of Grateful Dead, not to mention the Stones. Hell, I had every Nick Drake CD on it.

Last night, I met Tatsu at our station, drove him home, and thought about things. When I found out he didn't have any homework, I asked him if he'd mind taking my iPod, deleting all the music from it, and fill it up again with a wider variety of music. Of course, 95% of the music in iTunes comes from my collection, and Tatsu has excellent taste in music, so I reckoned I was safe.

And I was. This morning, for the first time in years, my own music took me by surprise. Richard Ashcroft, Fairport Convention, the Small Faces, Steely Dan, Ella Fitzgerald are just some of the new artists which weren't on before and are on now, and were listened to in shuffle mode. Tatsu did a great job, and I realized once more how lucky I am to have a son who isn't into hip-hop or J-Pop.

On a sad note, my cousin Stephanie's father passed away yesterday in hospice. We're keeping her family in our prayers.

Also, Alisa had some orthodontic surgery yesterday, and is looking a little beat up around the face. She took today off from school, but other than appearance, she seems to be holding up OK. Also, she finally got her information packet from the Global Young Leaders' Conference a couple of days ago, and there will be 360 students attending, representing 100 countries. She's pretty hyped.

Finally, I'll be watching the Superbowl live over at my friend Dave's house. I'm taking a personal day from work (I have no classes and no meeting on Monday). The pre-game stuff (in Japanese) starts at 8:30 am, so we'll start a batch of chili which should be ready by halftime. I don't usually drink beer before lunch, but somehow I feel an exception might be made. Go Seahawks! I've been waiting years for this day.