iMeg.
I stopped by my alma mater this week to drop off a medical school reference for a former member of my summer staff. I really wanted to make sure those forms got to the Dean of Medicine, because, for some odd reason, it was a thrilling thought that I might be able to help someone become a doctor. I mean, me! Meg! I took geology, not biology! I don't heal people, I get sick! I do hope he gets into his program, but of course, now I've digressed about his reference for so long that I've taken the whole entry off topic.
Let's try again.
While at my alma mater this week, I was startled to note that most of the students I saw were laden down with at least two forms of technology. All around me were people hooked into PDAs, laptops, Blackberrys, phones of all colours and varieties, and (my personal object of envy) iPods. Now, when I was in university, as far as I could tell, we were all dead-broke, trying to find change for coffee in-between classes, and saving for trips to Europe. If you had a gadget that was newer than four years old, and it worked more than 40% of the time, you were either rich, or a drug dealer.
The funny thing is, I graduated in 2000. That wasn't that long ago. Was I simply a member of an inordinately Luddite class at my school, or have these things become such must-haves that even the poorest students sell off a younger sibling to get one? Or is everyone taking the starter credit card they sign up for in front of the Student Union building, and taking it straight to the Apple Store?
It makes perfect sense to me that the vast majority of my gainfully-employed friends are gadgeted up the wazoo. I mean, of course! They have disposable income, and toys are a very 'now' thing to have. Even my most cash-strapped pals have computers and phones, since these things have come to be essential in most workplaces that don't involve pouring coffee, or cleaning out the deep fryer.
But students? Students? I expected to head back to academia and feel nostalgic for the days of beaten-up backpacks, Discmans that only play at a certain angle, and lineups to check email on the sketchy lab computers. Alas, no...there were as many Powerbooks as there were budding communists, and camera phones as there were experimental hairdos.
And the iPods....oh, the iPods. Why did everyone have an iPod? I want an iPod, and I don't have an iPod, and I'm 30. I suppose my actual question is, why did everyone but me have an iPod? I know, I know...it's a booming technology. But I guess I just expected that everyone else had to work a couple jobs to cover even basic tuition, like me. I was pretty excited to be rocking my CD ghettoblaster during my first year of university. The only thing I carried that was iPod-tiny was my powder compact, and it shattered in my bag one day, leaving all my textbooks covered in 'Ivory Porcelain 05'.
Perhaps the issue is this: at 30, I expected to have a certain lifestyle that isn't anything like the one I have now. I figured I'd have disposable income on a grander scale to spend on toys, on real estate, on an architect husband and a couple rugrats, and on putting at least 10 countries under my belt. I counted on being the kind of woman who would have an iPod, or could have one, if she wanted one.
The reality is that I am still paying off student loans, just launching out as a freelancer, and living in TwinTopia with my excellent roommates. Don't get me wrong, though. The debt ticks me off, but I am proud of myself for leaving my nonprofit job to do the thing I always wanted to do; I can deal with financial constraints to be able to live out my dream. Not having a husband is a touch bittersweet, but I'm not worried about it; something amazing is undoubtedly on the horizon. And the twins rock...I am happy with my prime real estate as bedroom #2 of 3.
But I am irked beyond irked that I can't afford my damn iPod. I'm irked that I want one that badly. I'm irked that they aren't THAT expensive, but that it wouldn't be responsible for me to own 40GB of travelling music space when money is tight. What is it with me and those tiny little things?
Perhaps I am using the iPod as the touchstone for all my longings in life. Perhaps I am projecting every other area of loss, need, and desire onto that little bundle of plastics, metal and silicone. It's easier to just go, "Waaaaaah, I want an iPod!" than to say "I feel a little crazy being at this stage of life at 30!"
Whatever the cause may be, the effect is iPod envy. It's completely stupid, I know. I'm blogging it because, hopefully, this will embarass me out of my lust, like admitting to liking a Britney Spears song in public.
On a slightly different note, I've also noticed a meme of printing one's iPod playlists onto one's website or blog. Or, even cooler, plugging your iPod into your IM system, just so your chatpals can know you just listened to the Pixies or Yanni. The latest list I saw was compiled by the esteemed Dick Jones, and he, like me, doesn't actually own an iPod. Back in the day, we'd have just made mix tapes. But at that point, I also would have figured mp3 to be a Star Wars robot.
So, in the event that I get an iPod one of these days, and that technology doesn't pass me by just like the Ugg craze, here is my humble little iPod list:
Note: Really, iPodding is just an extension of the dream of being a DJ. Everyone dreams of being a DJ...even DJs. They just dream of being other DJs. I've DJed weddings, corporate parties, and road trips, and I maintain there is no better moment in life than getting 100 dentists to dance to 'Video Killed The Radio Star'.
- Love and Happiness, Al Green
- Overjoyed, Stevie Wonder
- Everlasting Love, Jamie Cullum
- Back in Baby's Arms, Patsy Cline
- Cheek to Cheek, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald
- What a Difference a Day Makes, Dinah Washington
- At Last, Etta James
- Just Friends, Musiq
- Don't You Forget It, Glenn Lewis
- Crabbuckit, K-OS
- Musicology, Prince
- I Like the Way You Move, Outkast
- Astounded, Bran Van 3000
- Super Duper Love, Joss Stone
- I Used to Love Him, Lauryn Hill ft. Mary J. Blige
- Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight, James Taylor
- Ordinary People, John Legend
- 41, Dave Matthews Band
- This Year's Love, David Gray
- Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard, Simon and Garfunkel
- Rich Girl, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
- You Shook Me, ACDC
- Go, Pearl Jam
- Pour Some Sugar, Def Leppard
- Revolution, The Beatles
- The Distance, Cake
- I Want To Rock and Roll, KISS
- I Believe In A Thing Called Love, The Darkness
- If You Want Me To, The Swingin' Utters
- Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash
- Crazy Love, Van Morrison
- Don't Think Twice, Bob Dylan
- Full-Fledged Strangers, Jonatha Brooke
- Forgiveness, Patti Griffin
- In Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel
That's enough for now. I will publish my Jazz, Classical, Indie, Rock and Lovey-Dovey lists soon...oh yes. It's a free addiction, this list making. As opposed to the technology....
2:22:02 AM 
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