Pod Person

I do so love my iPod.

It is my friend. My companion. It is a conversational-engagement-deterrent to the people on subway who are crazier than me. It is my writing muse. My noise-dampener. It is purple and it is shiny.

It is chock-full o' aural goodness.

My pod was given to me by my boyfriend. Twice. He has given me two of the things, in fact, upgrading me when the shiny purple model came out. And on both occasions, he was the one who loaded it up.

See... way back in the day, John used to make me the most awesome mix-tapes. Now, he compiles playlists for my writing projects. I don't know how he does it - because, with one or two exceptions, he picks the songs and puts them together before I've written the books - but they are always so cool and perfect and inspiring! And frequently funny - for those of you who've read the book - is the Ben Folds song "Bitch Went Nuts" not completely appropriate for someone like Queen Mabh? (And I giggled like a maniac when I got to REM's "Me In Honey" - right, Bob?)

Anyway, here is a sampling of the list he compiled for the writing of Book the Third:

"Irish Boy" - Marc Knopfler (from the "Cal" soundtrack)
"I Saved The World Today" - Eurythmics
"Let it go" - Blue October
"Slave to Love" - Bryan Ferry
"It Can't Rain All The Time" - Jane Siberry
"Crush" - Dave Matthews
"My Mirror Speaks" - Death Cab for Cutie
"Big Romantic Stuff" - Bob Geldof
"Lawyers, Guns, and Money" - Warren Zevon (somehow feels appropriate in a bizarre, extremely abstract way!)
"Your The Only Love" - Payolas
"Rebellion (Lies)" - Arcade Fire
"Wake Up" - Arcade Fire & David Bowie
"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" - U2
"Pavement Cracks" - Annie Lennox
"Fallen Angel" - Robbie Robertson
"You Only Live Twice" - Nancy Sinatra
"Wrapped Around Your Finger" - The Police
"The Whole of the Moon" - The Waterboys
"The Soul Cages" - Sting
"Moonlight" - Beethoven
"Sick Muse" - Metric
"Manhattan" - Kings of Leon

And that's just a taste! There's a whole bunch of other stuff in there, too. All of it interesting, eclectic, and inspiring.

Oh - and there is one more piece of sheer inspiration that I listen to no matter which book I'm working on. A dear friend was actually inspired by WONDROUS STRANGE to write and record a piece of music for ME. It is cool and ethereal and urban and magical all at once - I don't know how he did it. You can listen to a version of it here and it is awesome.

Yup - I am a pod person, all right.