The Top Twelve

So, I got the iPod for my birthday! My parents gave it to me, and as I opened it, I started screaming like a 6-year old on Christmas morning.

I love it.

For the past 4 days, I have been referring to my new iPod mini as "the baby." I treat it like a child. I am very careful with it, and it is rarely out of my sight. When we are apart, it is still on my thoughts. I want to work out all the time just so I can use it.

I sat in front of my parent's computer Saturday night, very grateful they had DSL, and downloaded about 400 songs on the iPod. I bought some, uploaded some CD's on it and copied a bunch of songs that were downloaded when I was in college. I sat there, choosing my perfect catalog of songs, and the songs served as reminders of things. Quickly, this iPod was becoming like my diary. Songs on there transport me. "Take On Me" by Aha reminds me of being little at my grandmother's and watching MTV. "Brian Wilson" by Barenaked Ladies reminds me of late nights in college. "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds takes me right back to my wedding day and when Bert and I were dating. An iPod becomes like part of your identity. You handpick songs that mean something to you, whether it's as simple as something that gets you in the mood to dance, or if it's something sentimental like a song played on your wedding day.

On the iTunes web site, there is a section where artists pick about 12 songs that are supposedly on their iPods. This got me thinking...which 12 songs would I pick to best represent me? Here's what I came up with...

1. "Take On Me" by Aha
2. "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds
3. "Tangerine" by Led Zeppelin
4. "Amsterdam" by Coldplay
5. "Fa Fa" by Guster
6. "King of New Orleans" by Better than Ezra
7. "Strange Condition" by Pete Yorn
8. "Always a Woman" by Billy Joel
9. "Hate It or Love It" by The Game feat. 50 Cent
10. "Bohemian Like You" by The Dandy Warhols
11. "Miss You" by the Rolling Stones
12. "Beautiful Girl" by Pete Droge and the Sinners

There are MANY more songs that I absolutely love, but this is a pretty good representation of my musical tastes. All of these songs remind me of something or take me to a certain place.

The tiny silver machine is my diary. It might be just music to some, but to me it's much more. It's the soundtrack of my life.