iPod therefore I am

i have the same mixed feelings
about the Ipod that i had 
about the walkman 
back in the day...

i also know how de-stressing
it can be to pull back
from the whole 'reality' thing...
a bike ride,
a plane,
a bus full of cranky wet people... 

sometimes the world is easier
to deal with when you are
in charge of the soundtrack.
it can be a pleasant escape,
or even a necessary one.

but it does isolate us
from each other...
and when i think about that,
it's still a weird thing.
back when, music was something
to bring people together.
when i wear my mp3 player,
music becomes something
to keep us apart...

likewise, the cel phone.

i don't like cel phones.

i think that just as all the street 
lights and security floodlights
are a sign of a culture
that's afraid of the dark,
cel phones are a sign
of a culture that's afraid
- very afraid -
to be alone. 

...so afraid that they are willing
to settle for a disembodied
experience of invisible friends...
make that virtual friends...
if it means they don't have
to be alone
with themselves.
or be where they are
now.

yup.
 
from now on, when i'm in
a cellular environment, i'm just
going to keep on singing
along to my favourite songs.

i'm not a loud singer, but i don't
hit every harmony i go for,
even if i've heard the song
a million times.

but to hell with it-
if people can insert half
of all the trivial conversations
of their lives in my sonic space,
i can sing into theirs. 
yup....

-30-

.