An ode to my i-pod

I'm sure all of us have possessions we love and wouldn't part with no-matter how committed we are to living simply and living with less stuff. Given that I base what stays in my house on the William Morris quote "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful” I would like to base today's post on something I love!

So without further ado, my 'ode to my i-pod'!

I love my i-pod. I've only had it a few months, thanks to a generous gift from my mother-in-law, but I can't imagine living without one now. For me, it is not the fact that 'I have an i-pod' that I can't live without, but the experiences I have now I have one.

I am a musician, a music teacher and a music fan and for the past 7 years, most of my music listening and making has been heavily influenced by either my jobs working with small children or my own children's tastes. This wasn't so bad when my son was obsessed with Gorillaz and the Beatles (aged 3), but even then, the day we listened to this album from 9am until about 4.30pm? There comes a point when even the most ardent fan has had enough of The Beatles!

With my i-pod came the opportunity to listen to music again, just for fun! And to listen to the music I wanted to listen to. Snuggling in bed with a child who is a reluctant sleeper? No worries! On goes the i-pod and the latest Radcliffe and Maconie podcast! Going for a walk? A great chance to listen to some tunes (and sing along whilst walking down the street. I don't usually get funny looks...)

Things I have particularly enjoyed whilst listening to my i-pod this week:

1. Discovering the utter brilliance of the tambourine part in Pulp's 'A Little Soul'
2. Putting my i-pod on shuffle when I've gone for a walk and forcing myself not to skip tracks. Had I skipped tracks I wouldn't have found out that Bjork's 'Pagan Poetry' is a brilliant song for walking to. Who knew! It certainly made the walk a bit more magical!
3. That there is no better song for hanging out the laundry than Arcade Fire's 'Wake Up' (and it has to be plugged into the stereo, because it needs to be LOUD, and I would like my eardrums to continue to work at their best...)
4. That Radio Sport now has an FM frequency and I can listen to the League in bed. Just a pity the Warriors didn't win!

Well, there it is. The 'ode to my i-pod'! In fact, I have some laundry to hang out so I might just go and plug it in now!

Do you have a particular 'thing' you just couldn't live without?