Don’t tattle on me, but I drove my dad’s Ford Lariat XLT today. I think it was meant to be as the thing’s tape deck works and, this morning upon plugging in the iPod, my one Bob Seger song came on (“You’ll Accompany Me”, obtained for the purpose of the excellent mix tape “Stalkin’ Rockin'”). The truck feels about one city block wide. I had more sympathy for the huge-ass trucks that somehow manage to not run me down on the bike.
I love having the iPod in the car and later in the day the guilty pleasures playlist continued. Nels joined me for grocery errands in the afternoon whiel Sophie stayed home with a still-sick Ralph. Nels is, oddly, interested in club and dance fare which I have in limited fashion (mostly Beyonce and Timberlake’s latest). It’s truly frightening because in no way have I encouraged this yet he finds these songs and memorizes them. Today it was Nelly Futado’s “Promiscuous”* and DJay and Shug’s rendition of “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” – the latter of which he scrolled through the iPod to find while I was inside the house for a few minutes! I think it’s the drum machine intro that lets him know he’s in for some campy goodness.
I on the other hand felt free to put on Muse’s “Bliss” and belt out in my horrifically-bad falsetto (I don’t think Ralph likes Muse but I really, really do so I listen to them when on my own). Nels enjoys the distortion guitar crunch far less than the tribal beats and hooks of hip-hop / dance production, but he’s willing to give me a chance, asking the name of each song and sometimes, what it’s about. The truly amazing thing is he can remember lyrics and elements of a song after only one repetition. And he doesn’t mind how loud I turn it up.
* In fact as I typed this entry, he came and found me post-nap and asked for this again which he is now calling his “favorite song”.
** today, to “11”.