Shuffle Bored

This is the age of endless information. My own grandma has a terabyte external hard drive full of MP3s and movies torrented from The Pirate Bay*. The amount of data we carry around with us is limited only by the capacity of our latest model iPhone.

And you know what? When I'm at the gym, this really kind of sucks.

At press time (har har), I had 11,700 MP3s on my iPod. That's right-- as iTunes handily informs me, I could listen to music for almost 130 days without stopping. And if I may say so, I have pretty decent taste in music. However, that doesn't change the fact that a very, very large chunk of my music library is terrible.

How terrible, you ask?

At the gym, I usually put my entire library on shuffle. (I made a workout playlist once, full of upbeat numbers that make me want to ellipticize imperceptibly faster than I was previously ellipticizing, but got bored after 140 songs. There's only so many times a girl can burn calories to Miss Independent before hitting skip.) I already have to deal with the fact that half my music is mellow and folksy, not at all fit for cardio. This I can handle. But I'll be on a roll-- rollicking early Beatles followed by that Brand New revenge anthem I used to love in high school followed by that one Stereophonics track that was played on Veronica Mars. My heart rate is climbing; I'm increasing the incline. And then: a Neil Diamond Christmas song, what the hell? Skip. Two more good songs, then: an early Britney Spears ballad, really? Skip. That Sean Kingston "Beautiful Girls" song. Skip. Garth Brooks from when I copied my mom's entire music library over to mine. Skip. An audiobook track. Skip. This is getting old. Time to take a water break.

The solutions, of course, are numerous. Pare down my music library to only the best. Buckle down and create a real workout playlist, 1000+ songs, all cardio-friendly. Get a smaller iPod. But I'm a packrat, and can't throw away old movie ticket stubs; how am I supposed to delete potentially listenable tracks entirely? Even 1000+ songs would get old after enough workouts. And I like my battered 80Gb, thank you very much. I just can't let go.

So basically I'll keep going to the gym. My 11,700 and counting songs will keep coming with me. I'll keep frustratedly skipping to the next track as I do my best to navigate my iPod while reading a magazine without falling off the treadmill. But if there is a dark side to limitless data storage technology, I do believe I've seen it.


*This is completely untrue.

For You, A List

Things I've Neglected Since I Started My New Job Last Month:

Studying for the GRE
My gym membership
Cleaning the kitchen
My liver's health
The fresh vegetables I bought at the Farmer's Market
All my friends with grown-up jobs
This blog

Things'll level out eventually. But right now, it's like college without the classes! School's out forever!

Wish List

Today was a beautiful day-- one of the first in at least a little while. The perfect day to play outside. Almost.

Things I Wish I Had Today


A Frisbee. The better to play outside, my dear.


A football. See: above.


More sun. Only, maybe a slightly less terrifying sun than that one. It may have been approaching 70 degrees outside, but it was cloudy and overcast where I am. Today was sorely lacking in vitamin D.


A tan. Instead of frolicking outdoors today, I went to the gym. In 70 degree weather it's clearly too hot to sweat in workout pants-- it was a Soffe shorts kind of day. Unfortunately, my legs have been in hibernation for months and are ghostly pale. My vehement refusal to pay for things I can get for free means I've never been to a tanning bed (oh, yeah, and the cancer thing), so I'll just have to wait for more days like these for my melanin fix.


Math skills. Here's an equation for you: I'm vaguely studying for the GRE + I barely remember how to carry the two + I haven't taken a math class in almost six years = This sucks.


A billion dollars. I'm getting off track.

My computer tells me that tomorrow's high is 67 degrees. You've got my list, Universe. Make it happen.

The Graduate

Sorry; I forgot I had a blog for a few days. I remember now.

So while I was away, I decided to give up on my dreams of ever not hating The Real World (the real Real World, that is, completely unaffiliated with MTV) and go back to school. I've only ever been happy when I've had something to study, anyhow.

My dad thinks I should go to law school. My mom thinks I should go to business school. I sort of think I should get my Master's in some ridiculous nonsense like creative writing. A decision needs to be made soon mostly because I'm eager to go buy a prep book so I can ace whatever test I need, but shall it be LSAT prep, GMAT prep or GRE prep? Decisions, decisions. Here's the breakdown:

Law School:
Main reason to go: I'm destined. The courtroom a-beckons.
Main reason not go to: I hear it's hard, or something.
What I base all my knowledge on: Ally McBeal
Likelihood of having to wear a suit for a living: High
Amount of money in the profession: $$$

Business School:
Main reason to go: All my friends who majored in business have jobs
Main reason not to go: The idea of being a businesswoman makes me feel ill
What I base all my knowledge on: My dad; the season of Dawson's Creek where Pacey became a stockbroker
Likelihood of having to wear a suit for a living: Moderate to high
Amount of money in the profession: $$

Ridiculous discipline like Creative Writing School:
Main reason to go: I like writing; I want to pursue something creative
Main reason not to go: Is it really wise for anyone to get a Master's in Creative Writing?
What I base all my knowledge on: My imagination... get it?
Likelihood of having to wear a suit for a living: Very low, then moderate to high once I realize I can't make a living as a creative writer and have to get one of those business jobs that make me cringe
Amount of money in the profession: $

Other Options:
Library science school; graphic design school; clown school; Hogwarts

If one of you kind readers would be so good as to make all my decisions for me, I'd greatly appreciate it. In fact, if one of you could also fill out my FAFSA and track down a couple of college professors who actually remember me to write me recommendations, that would be just tops. I'd love you forever.