I watched a spider crawl up the closet wall in my basement as I maneuvered a large bin out from underneath old board games. The bin was resting in between two identical containers full of Christmas decorations.
I wanted to kill the spider taking up residence in my house but quickly forgot about the eight-legged nuisance as I took the lid off of the bin and began thumbing through my dad's record collection.
I noted the numerous Pink Floyd vinyls in consideration for a playlist I was making at the time. I didn't realize several years later I would own all of them along with my dad's record player and a dozen other albums that belonged to him.
Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I owe most of my taste in music to my parents, and I owe how loudly I blare it in the car to my dad.
I listen to music when I'm walking to class, doing my homework, going to work, relaxing, feeling anxious, cooking, cleaning and that is only where the list begins.
However, music isn't the only thing that has always been a part of my everyday life.
I've been a writer for as long as I can remember. When I cleaned out my side table, the drawers were filled to the brim with notebooks and journals, their insides scribbled with my childhood musings.
At 8 years old, Microsoft Word on my old computer was filled with all of the different books I wrote about leprechauns and best friends. I remember wanting to send one to a publisher. I printed it out, made hole punches in each page and I tied it together with ribbon to make a book.
The day I picked up a pen was the day the world knew it was going to be filled with my thoughts, in one way or another, forever. There are three pieces I always have in my purse at any given time: an assortment of pens, a notebook and a pair of headphones that haven't fallen apart yet.
These items were always separated, yet together. The headphones were on when the pen and notebook would come out. The music was merely background noise that helped coax the words from my brain to the paper.
The day I tried to combine the two and write my own music while playing the guitar was the day I realized I might be better off just writing my opinions on music. So, I decided to combine my two passions in a different way.
Each week, you can expect to read some sort of album review or opinion on a concert or house show I attend. In addition to these reviews, I’ll include a playlist that has a few songs from the album, along with songs from similar artists.
This week, because I didn’t review an album or see a show, I’m going to create a playlist with a wide mix for the first week of classes. I’m excited to begin the semester and get down to business. See you next week when I review Grizzly Bear’s new album “Painted Ruins.”
