What's on your iPod?

I really enjoy good music, and so I was thrilled when Agnes bought me an iPod for my birthday last year. We have a pretty eclectic collection of over 500 CDs and a few hundred LPs, and I've been spending a good chunk of my free time gradually ripping my favorite music from the plastic and vinyl discs and importing them to my iPod.

My profile page lists some of my favorite music, but my tastes vary widely. About the only kinds of music I don't like are heavy metal (hurts the ears) and rap (nothing but pounding base, overlaid with vulgar and mysogynistic grunting and shouting). Of course, you could argue that Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture is the ultimate in heavy metal music - especially when performed with live cannons - but that's an argument for another day.

I think music should entertain and soothe ... not hammer on your head. There's nothing quite like sitting at a traffic light (or even at a filling station) and feeling my car bounce around because of the trememdous, pounding bass thundering out of a nearby car full of fools who will soon be deaf and want to deafen the rest of us, too.

My largest collection is the one I call "easy listening," which actually includes everything from traditional country to indie rock to instrumentals. I have lots of German popular and folk music, too, as well as French and Spanish pop music. I also enjoy classical music and Gregorian chants (the latter are very calming and are great background music to work or read by). I even have a section of poetry for when I'm in the right mood - "Casey at the Bat," "The Cremation of Sam McGee," or most anything by Emily Dickinson are real pleasures at the right time.

I can't imagine a life without books and music. TV and movies are fine, and I enjoy them, but books and music open your imagination and enrich your soul. So put some good music on your iPod, put on the earphones (at a low volume, if you value your hearing), and enjoy life more.

Have a good day. Tomorrow, come back and find out what I think we ought to do with Zaccharias Moussaoui. Hint: it's not what you probably think.

Bilbo