Joys of a Good Playlist

Almost three years ago, my husband gave me an IPOD for Christmas. I was thrilled at the prospect of taking relatively unencumbered walks, exchanging my heavy walkman and head-spanning headphones (never even had a discman...) for that little sliver of fun called the Nano and its two unobtrusive earpieces. Needless to say, it was a great trade.

Of course, I was IPOD-illiterate, so one of my sons loaded some music he thought I'd like onto my Nano. I was good to go. And it WAS good, but not as good as it gets. Not even close.

Today a whole new world has opened up for me... 

The wonderful world of iTunes. 

(Actually, I'm just writing about it today. I've been using it for over a year.) As wonderful worlds go, this surely beats Disney, and I am one who loves old Walt and everything he created, especially Disneyland. 

It all began when the same son who has made it his life's work to initiate (catapult?) me into the realms of new technology (the kid who bought us our first DVD player and is now pushing a flat-screen TV) finally broke through my usual tech resistance and got me to agree to a quick tutoring session on my newish iMac. All I could say was WOW! iTunes rocks. Even more important, it "folks." (Don't worry, I'm not going to say it "alternatives," but that's one of my favorite categories, too.)

I am now free to explore any genre of music I like, purchase it for 99 cents, and make it my own. In fact, I've become a self-made talent scout, searching that continually flowing fountain of music known as the iTunes store for undiscovered artists I can claim before anyone else finds them. (I like coming in first.)

All I can say is, I'm sorry I dragged my feet. I'm now an iTunes enthusiast (okay, freak), and among my favorite pleasures are (1) creating playlists that cater to my every mood and (2) burning custom CDs for people, complete with specially selected music tailored to whatever it is I think they will like, need, or swoon over at any given time.

For me, iTunes = fun, fairly cheap hobby.

I have 12 playlists and counting, not including the one I've compiled here, just for you! I should really have it on shuffle, but in order to do that I'd have to uninstall and reinstall the playlist, and I can't quite bring myself to go there. (Yours truly is still no tech whiz, and frankly, it's a miracle I ever got the playlist on this blog in the first place.) Here's an idea. Maybe you could click on a different song each time you visit. Betcha like 'em! (If not, that's cool. Just go to iTunes and find some little ditties of your own.) 

=)

By the way, I'd love to hear which song(s) from my playlist you like most. Feel free to comment here or to suggest new tunes I haven't found yet. I'm always on the lookout.