How do you listen to music?

If you said "my ears," then ha-ha, you are a comedian. Scoot over, because I probably would have said the same thing. :/

When I was a wee lad, I was an active listener. I planted myself on the couch in front of my parents' Magnavox console stereo and just sat there and listened. Sometimes while I listened I would study the album cover and sleeve (if it wasn't a plain white one). Yes, albums are those giant black round things that sound crackly and archaic. At least you could see the artwork back then! Damn kids. :P Later on, I got my own stereo (from Sears with an 8-track tape player!), and I would spend hours in my room, laying on my bed, just basking in the music and the accompanying artwork. I knew the names of all the songs that I listened to, and sometimes I knew who wrote what, who the producer was, all that stuff. I preferred listening to music over any other activity back then (this was before girls of course).

CDs didn't really appear on my radar until they announced that the Beatles' catalogue was being released on CD in 1986. Once I got a CD player (which was well after I had most of the Beatles CDs in my possession), it was like a whole new world opened up. They sounded terrific to my ears, and I quickly started to replace a lot of my vinyl with brand new shiny CDs. A year later, my parents bought me a CD player for my car, and that's when everything started to change.

I had graduated high school by this point, I was a commuter college student, and I was working full time for my parents. Listening to music at home pretty much went down the toilet. My school was 20 minutes away, and it was a half hour each way to work, so listening in the car was it for me (I could listen at work, but there were way too many distractions, so I just listened to the radio there). I didn't have time to study the (smaller) artwork, so I began to not know the names of songs, which I cannot stand, even to this day. Then both of my CD players broke. I was able to borrow one from a friend for listening at home, but listening in the car was out. It wasn't until after Sarah and I got married that I got a new stereo with a CD player. I was working at Rutgers when we moved into our apartment, and I was home for the day before 12 noon. Sarah didn't get home till 6 or 10 at night, and for a little while, I enjoyed a revival of listening for pleasure, without distractions. But it didn't last long, because we got hooked up to the internet soon after that, and that's what's taken up most of my free time for the last 14 years.

These days I'm more of a passive listener. The bulk of my listening time is at work, where I am by myself for a good portion of the day, so I can listen to whatever I want. It's not ideal for listening to stuff I'm not familiar with, because I miss a lot of it, either because I'm thinking about work or because I'm out of earshot. I barely listen to music while I'm on the computer. Mostly I read blogs and forums, and I can't do both at the same time. I have an iPod, but I am usually listening to a podcast or an audio book when I am using that (sometimes I'll listen to music on the iPod when I'm cutting the grass). In the car I listen to the iPod, but sometimes I'll listen to a CD (usually because I've forgotten the iPod). If I'm cooking or doing housework, I do different things. If I'm moving around a lot or making a lot of noise, I will use the iPod. If I'm cooking, I will alternate between the iPod or music on the stereo. I still love listening to records, but they're a pain when you're cooking, because you have to flip it over. I wish they still made the automatic turntables. :)

I wish that I could get my priorities straight and get the hell off the internet and enjoy some music without using it as background. :sigh: Someday...