how i got over

I did the weirdest thing today. I bought a CD. Not the kind you get at the bank or invest in or whatever. An album. I’m pretty sure the last one I bought was in 1998. It certainly wasn’t in college because burned CD’s were all the rage… 1998 seems like a safe bet.

There are some albums that are just better when you listen to them from start to finish. It’s taken me a long time to accept that, because frankly, I don’t like to waste my time listening to songs I don’t like – and I like to listen to songs I DO like on repeat. For days.

But luckily for The Roots, their newest album is so good that I felt like I wanted to own it, and not in a digital iTunes kind of way. I want to listen to it LOUD over speakers and not on my computer or through my phone. So I walked into Everyday Music (so convenient! It’s sandwiched right between my favorite bar/cafe and my favorite bookstore) and paid $13 dollars for an actual compact disc with liner notes and everything!

It saddens me to report that CD packaging hasn’t evolved in the 12 years since my last purchase. It’s still impossible to get the shrink wrap off and somehow I managed to crack the case in the process. And, you still have to pop open the entire case from the bottom to get that sticker off the top.

In the end, it turns out that buying How I Got Over was actually quite stupid. Only now do I realize that I have a Netbook and therefore can’t upload it and listen to it on my computer… or put it on my phone. So this means that the only place I can listen to it is on the CD player in the living room. But at least it will be loud.