I’m a pack rat. But I don’t just accumulate any old garbage; I horde and collect quality items (if I do say so myself). I just like to save. And thanks to the digital age, this has become easier than ever. I have burned hundreds (yes, hundreds) of CDs to save all of my photos, video games, films, and music. My mp3 collection is one that I am particularly proud of.

I currently have about 5000 mp3 files on my hard drive. That’s enough music to listen for over 14 days non-stop without repeating a song. But like I said: I don’t just accumulate any old garbage. I only save music that I enjoy listening to. I like to set my WinAmp on random and listen to whatever hidden gem that pops up. This way, I end up listening to all sorts of varied goodness that I would have never thought to put in the CD player (if I had even remembered that I owned it).

Now, every once and a while, I have to skip a song. Maybe I’m not in the right mood, the segue didn’t work for me, or Jan’s home and I’m not allowed to listen to musicals. But how many times do you have to skip the same song (or artist) before you realize that you really don’t like it? For me, the answer was four. The offender: Gwen Stefani. I may not have acted if I hadn’t read a recent post by my cousin Marli. Her similar words of contempt reminded me how I felt when I was forced to listen to Bubble Pop Electric off of Love.Angel.Music.Baby. So I deleted the entire album. And man, did it feel good! So good, in fact, that I proceeded to delete the soundtrack to Once On This Island, too. I’ve never seen the play, but I know that the music just doesn’t “do it for me”. Two albums utterly wiped from my library. A small step towards a streamlined playlist, but a giant leap for a pack rat.