I May Be the Only Person Without an...

iPod. Seriously. I had a first-generation iShuffle, but it died a while back and I didn't bother to replace it because I figured at some point I'd fully upgrade to a mega-storage iPod. I just haven't done it yet....and I'm not sure why. I think sometimes it's because I have utterly procrastinated and haven't gotten my own computer yet (thank you, Work); and then I know, post-purchase of personal PC, I'll procrastinate more because I'd have to actually rip all my CDs. And that would take a LOT of time. And decisions - do I rip each and every CD?? Do I skip the songs I dislike? Do I get another external hard drive solely to store digital tunes? Do I buy those iHome gadgets to plug it into the speakers and play through the house, or pretty much only listen to it during work/exercising/plane traveling scenarios?

I'm pretty sure I would rip every song from every album. Because that's the delicious fun of iPods to me - Shuffle play. The randomness of it. (It's also why I have really bad CDs - I'm talking Ini Kamoze, Debbie Gibson, DON JOHNSON [c'mon, remember "Heart Beat"??] in my collection that I refuse to get rid of because I think they're funny to play at parties or put on mix discs I make for others.)

The only thing I do know...if I got one, and even if I ripped every single bit/byte of music I own, I'd never trash the CDs and their cases. I love them. I like reading the liner notes, looking at the disc "art" (or lack thereof and then pondering why it doesn't have any) and flipping over the cases to see the track listings. My CD purchases these days are fewer; I tend to only buy CDs of artists and bands that I already have previous albums from, albums I've heard lots of tracks from either through friends/radio/online videos or if they're really cheap at Target or Best Buy when I'm there. I do download from Amazon and iTunes, but only when I absolutely can be sure I will not buy the album (i.e., Jessica Simpson's "Public Affair" single; lay off - it's catchy). Then I put the downloads on CDs and listen to them at home.

I think sooner than later I will have an iPod. Now, will it be the Classic, the Touch....the....oh, too many options...

Today we're grateful for...

uneventful and safe plane rides. And really nice airline workers, especially the ones who upgrade crappy middle-of-the-row, back-of-the-plane seats to front-row window 1F.

Today we're grateful for...

a speedy recovery process! Elwood had surgery just over 3 months ago to repair a torn canine cruciate ligament; basically, he did the equivalent of blowing out his right rear knee. We've known for a while the bone is 100% healed, and we're now halfway through our physical therapy sessions. We're down to a 1 Limp, with 0 being no limp and 5 being no weight on the injured leg. We started rehab at a 3, and we're hoping that by the end of the last session we're at a 0 with no restrictions on our behavior!!! Hooray for progress!!!

Elwood's howling at the...

firetrucks! I'm sitting here, (mostly) working from home...and two fire trucks go blaring past the house. Then Elwood throws back his head and tries to howl along. It was HILARIOUS!! His howl is one of the deepest I've ever heard - it's almost eerie it's so low and odd.

What's most funny about it is how much it surprises Elwood himself. You see, this dog is virtually silent (physically, at least...see earlier post about me verbalizing his thoughts for him). I might hear an average of one bark PER MONTH. I promise you I am not exaggerating. So, as he was howling he jumped up and then laid down and looked at me, almost as if he needed permission to make so much sound! Ahhh...highlight of the day!

Today we're grateful for...

having healthy parents. A hometown friend is going through a great loss in his family, so it makes us look around and be extremely thankful that all of ours is happy & healthy.

Elwood doesn't really speak

Of he doesn't...he's a dog. Heck, Elwood very rarely barks - really. But I generally have a handle on what he's thinking, and so I have a tendency to go ahead and verbalize it for him. My fiance' pointed out once that my dog cusses a lot. Like Mommy, like puppy I guess!