The Music Man

             I’ve rapidly been filling up the MP3 player my son bought for me at a yard sale for $5.  I’m a frustrated DJ.  At one point in college, I wanted to be an actual DJ, but that dream lasted about a semester or until I took a film class.

            Way back when, I used to compile my favorite songs on cassettes.  The cassettes held the primitive amount of 45 minutes of songs per side.  My stereo system was slightly off, so my cassettes always played back at a slightly faster speed.  Those were the days.

            Currently, I’ve been looking for CD’s (another dying purveryor of tunes!) of all (or most) of the music I liked way back when.  My musical interests (and buying) came to an abrupt halt  back around 1990, when I got married and had little or no discretionary income; therefore, I’m almost totally oblivious to anything (good) beyond that time.

            I’ve been scouring thrift stores and yard sales for musical treasures.  Walmart is a pretty good place to go, the selection is bleak but the prices are pretty good.  $5 for Classic Yes or Mile Davis Greatest Hits is a good buy.  Speaking of Yes, I haven’t listened to half these tunes since college.  And I haven’t listened to any of them sober, ever.

            I had about 3600 mega bytes (Is this the right term?) on the MP3 and started to just but anything on it.  100 greatest classical hits?  Sure.  Two CD’s worth of Big Band?  Okay.  The entire ouvre of ZZ Top?  Why not.

            It seemed like a lot of space at first, but, man, did it fill up fast.  I’ve had to be more discriminating in what I put on as well as delete things already on there. (According to my son, the MP3 player, unlike the IPod, allows you to delete songs.  Thank God)  

Johnny Cash singing “Cats in the Cradle”.  I hated that song when Harry Chapin sang it.  Goodbye!

The Monkees’ “The Porpoise Song”.  “Daydream Believer” is enough of a compromise. 

You mean I don’t have to listen to “The Long and Winding Road” ever.  Woo Hoo.

Basically, I’m adding by subtracting or multiplying proportionally or something.

Anyway, music always had a place in my life and I’m happy it’s back.