#4 - ode to the iPod

this week i'm writing each day about a person, place or thing that has had a big effect on my life. i'm going to be leaving aside parents, sister, husband and daughter because those are a given for having had a big effect and writing about that effect would be way more typing than i should do with the angry nerve in my left hand.

after three days of serious entries, it's time for a bit of levity.

i give you the iPod...ahem, or should i say iPods:

we have quite a lot of iPods in our household (those above are only mine, husband and sabin also have several) and 3 docking units with speakers to play them from. this is actually because of the importance of music in the daily life of our household. but could it be just any old MP3 player? no it could not. it must be the iPod. why? why the obsession with this particular little gadget?

because they're just so damn sexy. good design is very important in scandinavia and that has clearly rubbed off on me in my ten years here. i LOOOOooove the design of the iPod.  they're beautiful, sleek, shiny and even sparkly if you add bling like i did to my white 30GB one. (our friends refer to that one as the porn pod because they think it's almost pornographic that i blinged it out like i did.) (you can buy those stickers all ready made to just stick on.)

it all started when husband brought home a little black nano that his boss gave him as a christmas present 3 years ago. whoa, that was cool! and it was enough for the first year, until he left it on in the little pocket in the side of the seat along with his new bose headphones on SK944 ORD-CPH.  damn those business class seats. we were iPodless again and something had to be done.

at first, i thought i could get along with just one, the white blinged out one. 30GB is a lot of music. 5,924 songs, 9 videos and 135 photos to be exact. but then one day, it was full. and i still had other things i wanted on it. and i didn't want to throw away anything that was already there. so i got another one, a black 30GB one. and when nike came out with that running shoe tie-in, i had to get the green nano because i was SURE to start running regularly if only i had that. (strangely, that hasn't really worked, hmmm...) and let's face it, it's better to use a shuffle for running (we each have one of those too, i just forgot to include it in the picture). 

then, they went and changed the design of the nano. one couldn't be seen in the gold lounge with the old model, right? that wouldn't do at all. and i began to want them for different purposes. the smaller black nano has only podcasts on it, for example. and it's easiest to carry in my purse. 

then, my dear sister bought me the iPod Touch, which is the most beautiful, sexiest one of all. and which has only my "music of the moment" on it, since it's only 8GB, you can be selective about it and not use it really for storage, but for the best bits. i tend to carry it and the nano around in my purse, the big ones stay at home in the docking stations now, but at least one of them is playing all day long.  

it's odd that a small gadget can bring such joy, but it really can. i love getting out my iPod on the train and lovingly putting it away when i reach my destination, just seeing it when i do that makes me smile. i wouldn't get through all the painting i've done this week and have yet to do without the Scissor Sisters or the latest Alanis on full blast to accompany my brushstrokes.

music has such a capacity to soothe when you're wound up, or to get your heart rate up when you're feeling lazy. it can put you back in a good mood when you've had a bad day. it can underline your bad mood if you feel like wallowing in it. you can get it all out of your system, just by listening to the right song. it's so great that music is so portable now, so you have the ability to change your mood right there tucked inside your Crumpler (which is also brilliant design, i must say).

and tomorrow the 3G iPhone will be released, also in denmark! i'm so excited!!