pleased to meet you, won't you guess my name?

when the iPod came out some complained that people no longer paid attention to what was surrounding them, that is to say, the sounds of everyday life -- the birds chirping, bees buzzing, traffic horns blaring, a girl's explicit cell-phone conversation, music promoters trying to lure others into attending their AIDS/malaria/diptheria/SARS benefit concert. i want to scream at those complainers that yes, of COURSE we are ignoring the outside world, that's the point of it, isn't it? that we can put on these headphones and be here but not be here, we can participate in some kind of existential existence, getting hit by a car or a bike perhaps being our only setback. i walk out of my house every morning and hear nothing but silence, see nothing but an expansive gray sky, the neighboring worn-down houses, stray cats crossing the street. but click on the magical triangle and suddenly my life has exploded into sounds, Mick Jagger is chanting, now the sky is appropriately, delightfully gray, the cats are happily sprinting, the credits are rolling and here i am walking down the street into some greater purpose other than walking to Gordy Hall to finish a 10-page paper. perhaps i am in a movie about the Mafia and in ten minutes a sleek black Lincoln will pull up next to me and I will be shoved roughly into the backseat as the song climaxes. or maybe this time it's a romantic comedy and in a few minutes i will be adjusting my bag, not looking in front of me, and trip helplessly into the arms of my future lover. if this is a sci-fi thriller i will look casually into the distance only to notice a strange foreign object coming closer.... closer..... but then again, maybe this is just an indie flick and i will walk down the street to nowhere in particular until the roll of film runs out.

these are the things i think about when i am listening to my headphones, until someone comes up behind me and touches me on the shoulder. "god, i was just screaming your name for like ten minutes," they say. "geez, sorry about that," i respond, taking my headphones off and glancing up at the dull, cloudy sky.