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ode to an ipod

we've been throwing the word "shallow" around quite a bit lately, so i thought i would reveal my own shallowness in a way i have not yet:

as i have grown up i have come to realize more and more that i am a product of this consumer culture, and that part of that means i have learned a behaviour that involves the quest for ever more possessions. as i have matured in my faith, i have also come to a place where i want to be free from this 'stuff' addiction. BUT, having said that, i want to post today about my favorite material possession: my ipod.

last year for my 30th birthday some of the youth in my former youth group got together and organized a collection so that they could buy me a 30th birthday present. i had been talking for a long time about how i would love an ipod, but couldn't afford one. i never, EVER, thought that my youth group would buy me one. but buy me one they did. they surprised me with it, and it was an awesome surprise. it is a 30gig ipod, and it currently has 7662 songs on it.

i have used absolutely no space for movies or pictures, just songs. and i'm almost out of space. as many of you know, i absolutely love music, and one of my favorite things about the ipod is the shuffle function. i can shuffle between 7,600 songs! it is an incredible juxtaposition of genres and styles. here is an example of the most recent shuffle:

closer to fine - indigo girls
first kind sight - linford detweiler
come on! feel the illinoise! - sufjan stevens
marble arch - dave brubeck
that's all over -johnny cash
hungry heart - bruce springsteen
straw dog - something corporate
the troublemaker - willie nelson
picture - mutemath
you say - vertical horizon
cute without the e - taking back sunday
pot kettle black - wilco
parents just don't understand - dj jazzy jeff and the fresh prince
outlaw's honeymooon - steve earle and the del mccroury band
in the backseat - the arcade fire
we are the beggars at the foot of God's door - the normals
always - patsy cline
sleeping in - the postal service
here is our king - david crowder band
pink moon - nick drake

and that's just the first 20!

and so you see that i love my ipod. in honor of it, i have written an ode to it. enjoy.

thank you, o small sleek shuffler of songs,
for your constant companionship.
for the way your screen lights up so vividly,
for the way you contain all the songs of my past and my present.
for the way you rock it out.
for the way you put me to sleep.
for always repeating yourself when i want to hear a song again.
for the way you boom-ta-cat-boom-ta-boom-cat.
for the jazz and the hip hop and the classical and the indie and the hawaiian slack-key guitar.
for the occasional show tune (and for keeping it very occasional).
for fitting in my pocket.
for holding so much.
for reminding me that the songs will stay in my soul even if you end up somewhere else.

greg.

Comments

Crafty P said…
love it.

i only wish i had one of these little gems.

maybe a good idea for a "push present".
Anonymous said…
classic greg. i love that you posted this, and i love that you love music so much. my hubby's fake-ipod got stolen out of his car a few weeks after he got back from iraq. (meany-head thief) but luckily jim's an avid backupper (word?) and we only lost the machinery. all music still in tack. now it's downloaded onto his new fake-ipod. he loves it. 9 straight days of music. crazy.
Emoly said…
It is such an addiction. I love it.
greg milinovich said…
christina: a push present? are you kidding me? the things you women come up with...

karen: there is such a thing as 'classic greg?' i am honored. i hate thieves. sorry about that stinkiness. i have about 20 straight days of music on mine, so, if the cliche desert-island scenario ever actually happens to me, i will be good for 20 days. if only my battery would last that long...

emily: you love your addiction? you need help. ipod-users anonymous, perhaps. don't deny it. go ahead and embrace it.

greg.
Emoly said…
Hi. My name is Emily. I'm addicted to my ipod. I named it Nano. It is silver and sleek and plays exactly what I want it to. It is always there for me. It listens to me tears and my jokes...

I'm embracing it Greg.

Is a "push present" what I think it is?
Bill said…
I don't have an iPod. Feeling it is better to give than to receive, I bought one for my dear wife for Valentine's Day. I got it for her, because she deserves it. She works hard in her job and keeping our home. She studies the Bible at night and likes to listen then, too.
I would only waste my iPod. Reading Greg's list, I got so excited to think at any part in my day, I could listen to Nick Drake's "Which Will," or that cut of Willy Nelson and Johnny Cash doing "On the Road Again" together at the end of that special they did on T.V. about a million years ago, now.
I would truly turn on tune in and drop out. I would find myself without a job, unless iPod listener is a job, in which case, sign me up.
My customers would say, "Where's Bill?" and my poor employees trying to cover for me would say, "I don't know, but he's definitely NOT practicing his Elvis Costello impression while listening to 'Veronica' on his iPod...That would be irresponsible!"
And so forth.
But, I digress. Maybe someday I will find the funds to buy one. A big one. 80 gigs, sleek, sexy iPod.
Excuse me, I have to go now.

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