Steinbeck II: The Reckoning

Well, my adoring fan(s?) is missing me, apparently. Though I can’t begin to figure out why – I mean seriously, how much iPod blogging can you take?

Hopefully, you can take a little more. Because Steinbeck has been upgraded.

Yes. It’s true. In five business days Steinbeck I – my first iPod, a white 30GB model with a great personality – will be replaced. Sold off to the highest bidder. Or, I guess, the first bidder, a self-graduation present for our friend Steph.

This all works perfectly for me because it opens the door to buy what I should have bought in the first place – a black 60GB iPod, the model that has enough room to include not just my favorite songs, but my favorite albums.

Here’s the predicament I found myself in. We have over 500 CDs. Add to that the cornucopia of music I added to iTunes through friends and acquaintances, and you can imagine where I sat. One full iPod, with hundreds… no, thousands… of songs left wondering why they were sitting on antiquated compact discs and not on the newest in technological music media.

Kerrie — who initially was skeptical of purchasing an iPod, but now loves the little robot – first agreed to an iPod purchase under one condition: it was able to fit all of our music. Well, for the most part, it did. Every important song was on there. A handful of full albums, but mainly the best 6-7 songs from each disc we had. Still, we wanted more. We wanted to be complete. I knew I should have purchased the 60GB model as soon as I started putting music onto it. 30GB was just not enough. And what if we get new music? We’ve got to take time and whittle down our selection by 10-12 songs before we can even cram a new disc onto the machine.

Talk about a conundrum.

No more, though. Steinbeck II (who, according to the engraving on the back, will be simply named Steinbeck, as if the first never happened) will be complete. All of the best albums will be there – in full. We grew up in a time of great albums, not great songs. I want all of A Tribe Called Quest, not just the ten best tracks.

And do you know how hard it is to chose the best songs off of a CD you’ve only listened to twice?

So, soon, we’ll be welcoming this new marvel into our home. He’ll match his carrying case. He’ll tug at our hearts.

Welcome home, Steinbeck II. Welcome home.