Shuffle

I love the random juxtaposition of the songs that flow from my iPod when it is on the shuffle setting.

I'll be floating along to the sounds of "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley and then suffer whiplash when Amy Ray shouts on about Johnny Rotten. The Cure's "Pictures of You" takes me back to the old days and then the Carpenters' "Close to You" comes on to remind me of the even older days.

I mean, really - where else but my iPod shuffle world can Dan Tyminski follow the Grateful Dead?

I like to imagine all of these musicians lined up in some sort of concert hall, waiting for their big moment in the spotlight. (A concert hall tiny enough to fit inside my little yellow Nano. It's my imagination - okay?)

Jack Johnson is leaning against the wall when Johnny Cash and his pal Nelly Furtado amble on over to check out his sounds. In another corner, especially if the gang goes in alphabetical order, Paul McCartney and Pearl Jam are tuning their instruments together. And don't forget Natalie Merchant. I think she and Chris LeDoux might be romantically involved.

It's an equal opportunity iPod. It doesn't matter if you have only one song or sixty four songs - everyone has a chance to be in on the shuffle. Bono will happily provide an encore for the Hawpatch Mountain Boys. There is no ego here. Nathan Heffington can open for R.E.M. It's all good.