I’m obsessive.
For the past month, I’ve devoted myself to organizing my music collection. It used to be easy– pop a cd in the player and you’re good. But over the years, the music stored on my computer got scattered into different folders and formats- wma, mp3, mp4, Amazon, Apple, “My Music” etc. Some of my music wouldn’t play on my iPod, other songs wouldn’t play in Media Player, and sometimes I couldn’t even find the song that I wanted. I hate that the music industry still hasn’t adopted universal standards that everyone can live with.
Whatever people think about the mp3 format, it’s the only convenient format that works for everything. So I spent weeks ripping my cd’s onto my hard drive while recording, copying and/or converting all the differing song formats I own into mp3s. I added tags (album, track number, date etc.) where it was missing. I learned to join clips together, remove noise and how to use an equalizer. I organized my mp3 collection alphabetically by artist and genre.
Like I said, obsessive.
And because of that, I neglected updating Encore Seraphine. I stopped visiting people. I locked myself in my room and I listened to music.
I needed the break.
My cousin lost her husband on Christmas, 44 days after he was diagnosed with cancer.
School started last week. This semester, I’m learning advanced CSS (Cascading Style Sheets– the stuff that tells a web page what to look like). This is good, because I have external structure in my life again. I know where my music is. I won’t have to hide in my room and feel guilty for it.
“So, Sera, what songs are you currently listening to?” you might ask.
Answer: Emily Wells. Take it Easy, San Francisco and Symphony 10 – Could This Really Be the End? (YouTube)
And if it really is the end,
I guess I’ll throw a big party,
and all the boys and all the girls can come out
and play with me.
A friendly game of hide-and-seek
that could, easily last for weeks, and just,
when you think its peaked, you’ll forget to pour yourself
another drink.
Youll be happy. You’ll be happy.
Youll be happy, at my party.
Lyric from Emily Wells, Symphony 10 – Could This Really Be the End?
hello my sweetie pie, what would angelina do? steal somebody else’s husband? adopt a baby? got me…. that must feel real good to have your music organized, i could never do such a thing… i used to be a big downloader in napster, and i burned all those songs, and you think i can find the discs? NO….
oh and yes our duvets are real nice but they are WOOL not feathers, we used to have feather duvets but much prefer wool, and it’s supposed to be good for your health, it gives a nice heat, and isn’t too hot in the summer, i highly recommend… we got two twin wool duvets for like $60 each and the duvet covers were on for $7 at IKEA, nice natural cotton… there’s animals everywhere in our bed, but mostly on my husband’s side hahahaha, and you’re right, it is nice, makes ya feel loved
lol.. yeah, i know.. it’s hard to organize audio files especially if you have a bunch of them.. mine’s past 120GBs already, i’ll eventually have to go through what you went through one of these days..
Hi Sera!!! XOXOXO
I’m glad to *see* you. I’m so sorry to hear about your cousin’s loss. Don’t feel guilty for hiding in your room. You needed the rest. I’m glad you surfaced to say hi.
Has anyone told you that besides being talented you are an incredibly interesting person?
welcome back! I like the green hair. Very sorry to hear bout your cousin’s husband, hope you are able to help her through this terrible time.
Welcome back, indeed, Sera. I was actually thinking of you the other day, wondering where you were. Well, now I know. I’m sorry about your cousin’s tragic loss but am glad she has you. You’re back into the thick of things at school…and now you’re back here. Life has kicked in again here at the new year! Thank you.
Whilst we live in an exciting era I also think we have become slaves to a fast moving technology that creates a huge rework effort to achieve any standardization. And notwithstanding the advances in audio equipment the old vinyl records/ gram remain superior in sound quality..
The rework aspect permeates every facet of our lives – technology is great when it works but there is no substitution for human interaction to make it work successfully.
We still depend for any success on systems that need to be understood very clearly by all those who use then and upon which we oft place too little investment in training.
All the best for the New Year- I’m sure you will become well versed in your field of interest.
Best wishes
I am so sorry it’s hard to face such a loss…brings it home, and then we hide, but you’re out, you look smashing…and I’m glad I only had cds…:)
sounds like this christmas was a rough one for you. 44 days from diagnosis to departure! that’s less notice than most of us have for a business trip. your family must be reeling with it still. hiding away and finding something completely unrelated to the grief is MY coping mechanism… but i’m ok w sharing it w u. don’t put off facing it for too long, though. let yourself hurt, rant, rage, sob…. whatever feels closest to the surface…. or the wounds go deeper.
i’m SO impressed with your tech savvy, being barely able to upload an image, myself. i have some lovely music composition software that i’ve had for some time – i’ve promised myself that i’ll at least scratch the surface of it this year.
i threw a party over Christmas…. boxing day to be exact. no one came. crushing.
A terrible loss already, and to have it happen on Christmas.
I’m all for locking yourself in a room, so long as you when you come out, you are refreshed and ready to face the world again.
Hugs.
My husband burned all of our cd’s last year plus anything else he could find that could be digitized. Now they live in 2 external hard drives and our i-pod since he donated all the hard copies to one of the second hand music dealers in Portland. I think he would have uploaded our furniture and clothes if he’d been able to. I know it was the only sensible course of action but I kind of miss the artwork and peripherals in the little boxes.
I’m so sorry your family had such a tragic loss. I hope he didn’t suffer too much pain before the end. It’s a very difficult thing when anyone we love dies but dying in youth is so much harder.
May it be a good and prosperous year for you filled with creativity and love.
I so understand your absence. I could live just listening to music… and discovering new songs ! Happy new year !
oh sera, i don’t deserve your glorious comments, they make me want to cry
Oh…I can so relate to this obsessive need for order…especially when everything else in life is feeling so chaotic. Sorry to hear about yours and your cousin’s loss. And – it’s great to have you back!!!!
A great picture and a wonderful post Sera…sorry to hear about your cousin’s loss.. good to see you back:)
hello my sweet sera, i hope you’re feeling better, i’m sure you are, since you make ME feel better, you must make yourself feel better
Serendipity there then. I’ve been trying to do the same with my old vinyl albums and twelve inch singles. A labour of love or loves labours lost? At what a cost. Time certainly aint on my side. But how nice to click back here after being away myself and find a new page
As I said before in the e-mail to you, sometimes it is good for a person to shut all doors and windows and just do whatever you like to do, get some ‘me time’, get refreshed after such a tragedy of loosing somebody so close by and loved.
I am so glad that you have found a new challenge, go for it.
I think Angelina would have done the same
I love the mp3. I love obsessive behavior when it concern organizing.
Glad you’re back. Missed you.
So good to see you back, sometimes we need to lock our selves away, give the brain and soul some air, especially after a loss.
you ever cry for no reason, like it’s been building up for years and suddenly comes spurting out of your eyes in a torrent of sadness?
Oh god. One day I’m going to have to organise.
I was sorry to hear about your cousin’s loss, Sera. Your technical gifts are simply amazing. I didn’t understand all that you were discussing, but I recognize that you have so much talent in that area! It’s impressive!
this self-portrait is one of the best you’ve done to date, Ms. Sera. Except, maybe, for some of your nudes.
Time spent on organizing usually pays off ten-fold later on.
Great self-portrait. I don’t have the same problem with music files mostly because I don’t have any. I listen to music on the radio, but that’s about it. I do have a bunch of audio downloads, but they are meditation, self-help, that type of thing and I just organize them as I download. I generally have a study & concentration brainwave entrainment session running in the background ( see http://www.transparentcorp.com/products/np/index.php ) while working (I work as a software architect – on the computer all the time).
When running, hiking, walking, etc. I never could quite get used to using an ipod, so I just listen to the sounds of nature.
Old fashioned, I guess. Oh, well.
Hi Serra, i’m sorry to hear about your cousin’s loss. To sit alone and hidden in a room, i think each of us has done this. I do not want to open the subject “organizing CDs”, to much and to hard, even when I think about it
. Great composition, and very good portrait, i like the expression! Best regards, Andrei.
I like to imagine that I am a free floating soul and go along with the flow of like. But the reality is I too like structure and having a place for things so that my life becomes easy and just “works”. Good for you getting your music organized – I know what a trial that can be!
Love your photo, Lady S!
Where are you? Come back to us! Hope you’re well. We miss you. xo
Enjoy the music. Enjoy the new inner spaces that a changed schedule sometimes leads one too. And don’t leave us longing for too long!