I'm Heading to Tower...Want to Come?

I picked up Rex's iPod today and stared at it...and stared...and realized I have no idea what to do with it. I assume it's "user friendly" and that I will get the hang of it, but at this point I need lessons.

Last week I asked Rex to bring his iPod home from the office, as it seemed he wasn't really using it much. I though, cool, I can load it full of my music! And by "my music" I mean downloading the music from my stacks of CD's in my office (you can do that, right?) not "my music" in the same way as Ross Geller means "my music".

Last night I plugged the iPod into the computer for a good charge and this morning I disconnected it. Then, I stared. I don't know the first thing about iTunes and downloading or uploading music or whatever I need to do. Just to prove I'm not a complete and utter tech idiot - I then texted a good friend to tell her I need an iPod tutor.

What I really need is Tower Records. Remember the days when you went to the record store? Vinyl was to be played, not melted into bowls or formed into jewelry. (although, both look cool)Flipping through the stacks of albums until you found what you wanted. Waiting to see the sneak peak of the cover art for your favorite bands next album. I like the whole vinyl process. I like the sounds of the music with the distinctive pops and cracks as the needle moved across the ridges. Hey, and just how is one suppose to hear the devil on a CD? Those can't be played backwards.

Tapes were cool. Especially with a walkman. I have vivid memories of being in the car driving to the beach, headphones on listening to Culture Club and The Alarm. I do like CD's...although I don't understand why they price hasn't dropped after all these years. Smaller, shiny, me likey. But I still miss going to the store...the record store.

Maybe my background is the problem, you see I was raised for a while in a record store. My Grandpa and Grandma Baughman owned Town Record Shop in Portland. Located at what is now the Zuppans on Burnside and 23rd. Each time we visited them at the store we were given a Disney Long Playing Record. You know, the kind with the book and it chimed to turn the page and told you when to flip the 45. I still have them. The two things that did freak me out at the store were the life size cut outs. Two of them loomed in the front and scared the bejesus out of me: Elvis and Barbra Streisand. I don't know why they scared me, but I think it was a chunkier Elvis and it was during the time Babs had an afro and knee socks...perhaps justified fear. After my Gramps was too sick to keep the shop open, Elvis and Barbra came to my Grandparents home...the back bedroom to be specific. I SWEAR people used to send me in there to fetch things on purpose, just to scare me.

I can't tell you how many times my brother, sister and I jumped in the car and headed to Tower. It was always exciting. The idea of new music, the latest release, and the fact that they stayed open late made it into an adventure. Square yellow bags with the red block lettering....(speaking of bags, after my Gparent's store closed we some how came into possession of a stack of bags with KISS on the side. We used KISS plastic bags, gloriously sporting the four faces, as Halloween treat bags for years. They were AWESOME!)

No doubt I will figure out the iPod. When we first got it, Rex had his sister load her songs onto it, so now I will be in the process of deleting some of those and clearing space for our/my stuff. This will be easy, right? I hate feeling like I need a class for the not really latest technology. Well, new to me technology. Where's my turntable? Walkman? Boom box?