Music and Learning New Things

Not starting with a title makes this easier at times. Just start by putting some words in play and the rest will happen. I am returning to something I used to do on a much more regular basis--listening to music.

I wonder about today's most popular mode of listening, though. I was in downtown Chicago about five years ago on a weekday morning and everybody was wearing ipod earbuds (could have been iphone earbuds, too, I guess). But the point that strikes me is that it is a solitary experience. Each person is in his/her solitary world, listening to music.

Now, I am sure my wife prefers not to listen to the music I enjoy, but I am just as sure she doesn't want me to shut her out and move around with earbuds on all day. I haven't resolved that just yet, but I have a new gadget that will allow me to listen to what I want to in one of the final places where I can control what I listen to--my car. Now mine is old enough that there is no place to plug in an mp3 player--heck, it has no CD player, cassette player, etc. But, you can't plug in your earbuds and drive. You're likely to run someone off the road singing along to "Under the Boardwalk" or "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." So, I bought a little gadget for myself for my birthday. It plugs into the lighter (yes, my car is old enough to have a cigarette lighter, not a power source) and into your ipod--my apologies to all you competitors to Apple, I just have an ipod--and set the radio frequency for an empty spot and turn on your music. Cool.

I don't spend a lot of time in my car, but I do spend lots of time on planes--another place I can control what I hear. Putting in the earbuds can work there, but I need something wireless. I have adjusted to the bluetooth for my phone, can I get one to function with an ipod? I am going on the prowl for such a device. Hope I don't get tired of music... It looks like I am going to have a bagful of gadgets and chargers to make music happen that is bigger than a suitcase.

Learning new things, just one more--spell check says "earbud" is a misspelling, preferring "ear bud." I prefer "earbud" and Merriam-Webster is on my side.