My anniversary present finally arrived and my husband set me up last night. I sat in bed with my ear phones in and a big grin on my face, reaching over to pat his hand and offer little kisses of thanks.

Where have I been, folks? This ipod was made for me. I could never keep track of my CD’s. I’m just not organized enough. And playlists? Well, I often didn’t have patience to listen through a track of songs I didn’t like just to get to one or two of my favorite songs.

When I was out east, my husband spent his extra time downloading our CD collection onto his computer and everything is on my ipod. Simply amazing. There is more than 6 days of continuous music on this little guy. Morever, I can now begin to catch up music that I’ve missed in recent years and fill in other gaps in our collection.

There is one problem I’m running into. The Desperado syndrome. If you are a Seinfeld fan, you might remember the episode where Elaine is dating a guy who has to stop whatever he is doing everytime the song Desperado comes on. Elaine gets jealous and decides she needs her own song. She picks Witchy Woman. What I have been doing with my playlist (which is way to long to be considered a playlist anymore) is to pick only songs that make me want to stop what I’m doing and just listen. There’s no down time.

Below is a sample of songs that are on my playlist. I know this is boring, but I like pretty songs. A good melody is really important to me, whether it’s classical, rock, blues, or whatever. Soulful is something else I look for. I prefer singers that sing on tune and hit notes dead center. That’s the singer in me. These aren’t hip songs, but the whole point of an ipod is being able take ownership of what you like without worrying about that right? Pretty, soulful, on-tune. Got it?

Over the Rainbow, Ray Charles & Johnny Mathis
Vincent, Don McLean
California Dreamin’, The Mamas & The Papas
Where Is Love, Pam Laws
And I Love You So, Don McLean
My Father, Judy Collins
My Father’s Wildest Dream, R Ritchie
My Father’s House, Bruce Springsteen
(I’m sensing a theme here)
I Hope You Dance, Lee Ann Womack
Child of Mine, Carole King
A Minor Incident, Badly Drawn Boy, About a Boy Soundtrack
Something to Talk About, Badly Drawn Boy, About a Boy Soundtrack
Your Smiling Face, James Taylor JT Rock
Moon River, Audrey Hepburn & Henry Mancini
I’ll Fly Away, Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch “O Brother Where Art Thou”
Dimming Of The Day, Bonnie Raitt
You, Bonnie Raitt
River, Joni Mitchell
I Cried For You, Billy Holiday
I Am Weary (Let Me Rest), The Cox Family “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Fever, Ray Charles And Natalie Cole
Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?, Ray Charles & Bonnie Raitt
Don’t Explain, Etta James
The Heart of Saturday, Tom Waits
Wounded Heart, Bonnie Raitt
The Last Word, Mary Chapin Carpenter

(I know, I know. These playlists need to be shorter.)

(I just want to kiss and hug this photo.)

I would like help from all of you. Your favorite playlists? Favorite songs? Tips on making a perfect playlist? Bonnie, I need to build up our classical collection, so any suggestion from you would be great. What’s a good classical playlist?

So please leave me a comment with your recommendations. Expand my horizons. Nudge me out of my Desperado syndrome.