Eating my words....

I've never understood the hoop-la over downloading music. Seriously. I've always thought it was the cheap-ass way to go, and I detest people who exhibit even minor signs of cheapness, so I do everything I can to avoid looking like a cheap person. I always figured that if I wanted a song, I'd just buy the CD.

My CD collection does not go past the double digits, however, and earlier this fall I had a really urgent need to listen to Bon Jovi's November Rain, Hoobastank's The Reason, and Papa Roach's Scars. Oh, and Hinder's Lips of An Angel. And I Miss You by ... well, by someone.

Ok, so I went through a sad, depressing music stage. I consulted one of my trusty computer wizards and asked how to go about downloading songs. I figured you just went to Google and typed in the song and then you could listen to it.

But no. It's far more complicated than that.

Thankfully, my trusty computer wizard talked me through the life-altering steps to music freedom, and I've been an addict ever since.

I can't stop putting songs onto my computer.

I've always played guitar and I've always loved the feeling of freedom I get in expressing myself with songs.

The problem I have in playing in public is that I only know my own songs and about three others. I have quite an extensive collection of my own songs, and some of them are ok. I'd even go so far as to say pretty good.

But after eight years of hearing me play the same twenty songs over and over again, my family and friends have started urging (read: Begging on their knees to not ever have to hear me sing House of the Risin' Sun ever again in their lifetimes so help us all GOD) me to learn something new.

I just never knew how to play anyone else's songs. Well, since I've been on this downloading kick, I have actually heard some songs, and as a result I've been on a new playing kick. I've added over fifteen songs to my repertoire simply by listening to music and figuring out how it goes.

It's amazing. My music binder is getting thicker and my neighbors are thinking 'My WORD. The girl has moved past Scarborough Fair! I thought I would never get that song out of my head again and I feel like delivering cases of beer to her doorstep in thanks right now at this very second!'

If cases of beer start showing up, I'll be one happy girl. As it stands now, I can hardly put my guitar down for the aray of songs that I'm figuring out and it is ever so exciting to have moved beyond Someday Soon by Suzy Boguss.

Over the moon, once more.

Toonses