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I've always known that we bibliophiles are cut from a different cloth, and I think it is safe to say that we are quite proud of that fact. However, this morning I had to step outside myself and really closely analyze my reaction to a minor issue that arose last night.
I was 30 minutes away from finishing Pride and Prejudice on audio book. I'm into the romantic finish and schmaltz up to my knees. I pop the earbuds into my head to finish out the book while making dinner. And the iPod freezes up. I mean, it's done. It doesn't respond to my frantically smushing buttons, plugging it into the charger, or my attempts to sync. I'm screaming to myself "No, No, No!" First things first, I sat down at the computer, pulled up iTunes and listen to the end of the book, foregoing dinner preparation. OK, now and I at least breathe. But then my mind starts to erratically race in various directions. I need to make an appointment at the Genius Bar on Friday to get it fixed. OK, done. What if I have to buy a new one? OK, money is no object in this case. What if they need to send it off to fix it? It could be weeks. What will I do? How will I clean the house? How will I exercise? I HAVE "DRAGONFLY IN AMBER" (all 33 discs) LOADED AND READY TO ENJOY!!!!!! I NEED TO HEAR ABOUT JAMIE!!! I start to get the shakes. The kids are talking to me, and I won't respond. I keep jabbing the iPod buttons. I very quickly sink into a malaise. I do remember that I have an old iPod Mini that will hold a gig of stuff, and I transfer the first three discs of Dragonfly onto that. OK. At least I'm not totally stranded. But I'm still depressed.
My husband comes home from work to find me sullen and untalkative. After he hears about my crisis, he quickly reminds me that the financial world is crumbling around us, there are people starving in Africa, innocent people dying in religious wars in the Middle East, and to straighten out my priorities. I remind him that he is the one that bought me the super duper iPod and is his fault I am addicted. This goes nowhere.
This morning, the iPod had lost its charge, which was expected. I plugged it in to charge, and after I few minutes, I found it to be in normal, working order. My funk was gone, just like that. The swing of my mood was so extreme, it almost made me dizzy. This cannot be normal. Should I seek help? Am I bipolar? Is my need to read out of control? I seriously scare myself.
I was 30 minutes away from finishing Pride and Prejudice on audio book. I'm into the romantic finish and schmaltz up to my knees. I pop the earbuds into my head to finish out the book while making dinner. And the iPod freezes up. I mean, it's done. It doesn't respond to my frantically smushing buttons, plugging it into the charger, or my attempts to sync. I'm screaming to myself "No, No, No!" First things first, I sat down at the computer, pulled up iTunes and listen to the end of the book, foregoing dinner preparation. OK, now and I at least breathe. But then my mind starts to erratically race in various directions. I need to make an appointment at the Genius Bar on Friday to get it fixed. OK, done. What if I have to buy a new one? OK, money is no object in this case. What if they need to send it off to fix it? It could be weeks. What will I do? How will I clean the house? How will I exercise? I HAVE "DRAGONFLY IN AMBER" (all 33 discs) LOADED AND READY TO ENJOY!!!!!! I NEED TO HEAR ABOUT JAMIE!!! I start to get the shakes. The kids are talking to me, and I won't respond. I keep jabbing the iPod buttons. I very quickly sink into a malaise. I do remember that I have an old iPod Mini that will hold a gig of stuff, and I transfer the first three discs of Dragonfly onto that. OK. At least I'm not totally stranded. But I'm still depressed.
My husband comes home from work to find me sullen and untalkative. After he hears about my crisis, he quickly reminds me that the financial world is crumbling around us, there are people starving in Africa, innocent people dying in religious wars in the Middle East, and to straighten out my priorities. I remind him that he is the one that bought me the super duper iPod and is his fault I am addicted. This goes nowhere.
This morning, the iPod had lost its charge, which was expected. I plugged it in to charge, and after I few minutes, I found it to be in normal, working order. My funk was gone, just like that. The swing of my mood was so extreme, it almost made me dizzy. This cannot be normal. Should I seek help? Am I bipolar? Is my need to read out of control? I seriously scare myself.
15 comments:
LOL - I am laughing so hard over this post, because I am the same way. My MP3 player - not an IPod, just a little Creative Zen - did something weird in the middle of listening to Outlander, and I completely freaked out. Now, I have another MP3 player that I use for music, but sometimes it does weird things to audiboook files. Luckily, mine worked fine after I took the battery out and put it back in. :)
I'm taking a short Outlander break to listen to Two for the Dough - the 2nd Stephanie Plum mystery - and then Dragonfly in Amber is my next listen, too.
LOL You sound like me when I don't have internet access. :-) I am glad it turned out your iPod just needed a good recharging.
No, I'm afraid I haven't got the audio book addiction yet! Do you think I could benefit from it?!
What do you do? Do you get audio books on CD and then transfer them across to your iPod? I've just started to try a few audiobooks on CD, but am not addicted to them yet. Try removing my computer, and I do get the shakes though!!
I guess I should say that yes, when my computer doesn't work, I have huge, frothing-at-the-mouth, screaming fits. I unleash my fury on whoever happens to get in my path...usually some customer service dude in India, my cable company or my husband.
Jackie - all of my audio books are ones I have checked out from the library. They are discs, and I just pop them in my computer and the iTunes program uploads them. Then when I plug in my iPod, everything transfers. I am a recent fan of audio (probably in the last year) since my husband got me the biggie iPod for Christmas. It can hold 160 gig of information, so I load as many books as I want! Audio books are great, especially if you run around alot. It is the ultimate multi-task!
I've never done an audiobook. But, I didn't know you could do it on your ipod. I'm so down! I'm going to look into it!
Yippee!
Yes, audio books work just like regular music CDs when transferring to the iPod. You should give it a try! It takes a bit getting used to - it uses a different side of your brain than reading the written word, I think. But if you do enjoy it, be careful. It is a slippery slope to obsessive/compulsive behavior, as you can see!
That's hilarious! I think you may need help ;P
LOL. I think I'm like Wendy... I'd think something is amiss if there's no internet access for me!
I'm glad your iPod is okay. I haven't tried audiobook, but even if I did I know I'll still prefer holding a book than anything else!
This is hilarious. The iPod can be very hunky and throwing tantrum. My very first iPod froze two days after it left the Apple store. I took it to the genius bar and the guy had to reset the thing and so gone my 3000 songs. I can totally understand your frustration, it's almost like having my internet cut off. I listen to music on my iPod and the day I left it at home made me very antsy and bored. What am I gonna do without my iPod? LOL
Book Fiend - haha! I guess maybe I need to find an Audio Book Anonymous support group!
Melody - I do have the same attachment to my Internet. I prefer the written word myself as well, and probably when my kids have grown and moved out, I will have less need for audio. OR, maybe by that time my eyes will be gone, and I still will be addicted to audio!
Matt - I know, these little electronics are taking over our minds. And they are not 100% reliable. I back up everything on my computer often, just at the fear that I WILL lose everything.
Oh you crack me up! I don't do audio - seems like such a bizarre concept to me - what if you don't like their voice or they don't go fast enough? How do you skim over parts that might be less interesting but still necessary? How easily can you go back to a specific point to re-listen to something if the current words remind you of something you heard before but overlooked the significance? I do think you are book bipolar - which is not always a bad thing. But I am getting a creepy flashback from Fahrenheit 451 and those things everyone stuck in their ears...
All your questions have merit, Bumbles. Of course you can "skim" but not easily. It is nearly impossible to share your favorite quotes on your review...good luck finding them in hindsight. I have, on occasion, had some really crappy readers that have ruined a book. But it can also bring a story to life with a good reader. The down and dirty is that as a result of having two kids that are active in school and after-school activities, I run around like a nut. I have been forced to resort to desperate measures to get my reading in! I use every possible minute of my day very productively!
You are right, it is very creepy. An alien force has taken over my brain! I consider myself fortunate to have the presence of mind to analyze myself after a fit such as this! A year from now, I may consider all of this normal!
Oh this is tooooo funny and way too close to home for comfort. I have had all sorts of MP3 crises: freeze up, low battery, bad cords! I go into utter panic. Now I have 3 (sigh, yes) MP3 players loaded with books. I can breath easy.
And lord help the gadget that got between me and Jamie!!!
BTW: sorry for not being around lately. For some reason your feed is not updating in my reader, so I didn't know you had new posts.
Beth - it gives me a little comfort to know that some of you out there understand my pain! I do have a small backup iPod, which I need to remember next time I hyperventilate over another crisis.
Last Friday, I had NO comments from anyone. I started to get suspicious that something was awry. Carrie said that my posts came through her feeder, but it is still strange. I wonder what the delay was all about? This kind of thing makes me crazy!
One other issue I would have with audio books - no pictures/illustrations/family trees/character summaries to refer to, reflect on, enjoy.
When you get to "Dewey" you must read it traditionally so you don't miss out on all of the adorable photos at the beginning of each chapter - it would be criminal to do otherwise. He's so cute. Plus it is a super easy and quick read - I'm almost done and I just started!
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