Ode to Synths

I was talking to Michelle awhile ago about music and music tastes, and she mentioned that she has things funny thing about songs that she loves when people sing notes, like "la la la" or something similar. It's interesting to me that something so particular about a song could make it so appealing, but as I sit here listening to the Shiny Toy Guns' take on "Major Tom" on a seemingly endless repeat (and a blissful endless repeat at that), I realize I have a similar affliction: I love keyboards and synthesizers in music.

It's funny that I would end up with that sort of feeling towards something that so many people think cheapens music or hurries its downfall, but it's just me I suppose. I took a look at my iTunes to see if I'm just making this up, but I'm not. The top three most listened to songs ever on my iTunes are by a band called Chromeo and the Killers, have a combined 192 plays between them, and are practically dripping with synths. Looking through my songs in alphabetical order, the first name on the list is 80's band a-Ha, then continues with the Bravery and Duran Duran, all the way through the Shiny Toy Guns and the Thompson Twins.

Thankfully, not every song with synths does it for me, but I think that is the single largest common thread through my iTunes library. Maybe it's due to being born in the 80's, but both my parents hated 80's music. I didn't even grow up listening to it, I heard the Monkees and Leslie Gore on an oldies radio station. Oh well, I've had this strange affinity for the sound for most of my adult life, and it doesn't appear to be going away. May as well turn it up!

Earth below us,
Drifting, falling.
Floating weightless,
Calling, calling home.

Coming or Going

My current job situation (read: without one) has been a blessing in many ways. I feel like I worked very hard for almost three years in Portland with very little in the way of 'down time', so it has really helped to rest and re-charge my batteries. It has also been great to reconnect with old friends and spend time with my family. Most importantly, I feel that I have recently gained a bit of perspective on things.

It can be hard to quantify, but I feel I have a little bit more clarity, despite my life still being fairly messy. I can't really point to one specific event or thing that helped provide this clarity, but just in the past few days I feel like I've been able to see the finish line a bit more clearly, and that means a lot. I believe I've always been someone with goals, but even those have felt a bit more tangible recently.

For me, what I think it comes down to is realizing that almost everything I do can be tied into the long-term goals I have for myself. Prior to this 'awakening' as such, I had goals but they always seemed a bit detached, maybe more like pipe dreams. But with this realization comes the knowledge that they can indeed be accomplished, and that accomplishing them comes with continued responsibility for my own actions.

It seems a bit silly to be typing this, as I should probably have learned this lesson ages ago, maybe in college. But oh well, better late than never, and I'm just glad I'm starting late as opposed to not starting at all.