With that in mind, I decided to narrow it down to five instead of one, which somehow seems slightly less absurd. Though being asked your five favorite letters or your twenty best breaths would seem even more foolish than narrowing it down to one, so that analogy just crumbled before my eyes. Moving on.

Five songs. I mulled over it for a while and tried to dig deep into my musical past and think of songs that have really influenced me one way or another, even if it’s not a song that I still listen to every few days. Weighing my options. Immediately disavowing anything from the past 2 or 3 years. Reavowing a few of those. Narrowing a list of 50 songs down to 65. Getting nowhere.

So, I decided to give myself five minutes to make my decision. That’s a minute a song; more than ample. And what do you know, I had no problems at all coming up with them. Naturally, after I was done I still had some doubts, but as I looked back over the list, it was completely feasible that it’s exactly what I would have come up with if I’d spent hours intently mulling over my 8,000 song library and past 3 years of Last.fm listening history.

But before you read my list – or at the very least immediately following it – I want you to do the same. Within the span of 300 seconds, come up with five (5) songs, and leave them in a comment. Make no mistake, the instant you hit submit, you’ll have a pang of remorse as you suddenly remember one that you’d forgotten to mention. Tomorrow, you’ll think back and realize that you were completely wrong, and out of those five songs, only one really belongs there. But it’s Ok; we’re all in the same boat here.

So, without further ado, I give you my five favorite songs (as of 9:45pm on Jan 20, 2010) (Click a song to listen to it on last.fm).

100 Years by Five For Fighting
Politik by Coldplay
Read My Mind by The Killers
On & Off Again by Sondre Lerche
Stop This Train by John Mayer

Alright, that’s your cue.

I know of very few iTunes users that have taken the time to rate their library, and even fewer that know the merits of doing it. The main benefits of having your library rated are in the making of Smart Playlists and Party Shuffles. Both create playlists based on various criteria; one such criteria being song rating. For instance, if you were suddenly hit with the urge to listen to some good jazz (some GOOD jazz), you could create a Smart Playlist of only music in the Jazz genre with a rating of 4.5 or more stars. Boom. Done. Consider yourself well-jazzed.

But of course, this only works if your library is rated. Otherwise, you would either have to manually create that playlist or just skip through the playlist when a sub-good song came on. Lame.

Ultimately, though, for 99% of people an unrated library is completely fine for their needs. And honestly, if it wasn’t for I Love Stars’ ease of use, I’d probably still have an unjudged library. But therein lies this app’s genius; it’s simplicity.

All I Love Stars does is add a slot on the taskbar along the top of Mac OS that shows the rating of whatever song you’re currently listening to if it is rated, or an empty rating slot if it isn’t. To rate a song, just click on whatever star you would like to rate it with, and you’re done.

Another very simple, but somewhat genius feature is that if you’re listening to a song that hasn’t been rated, when the song is 3/4 finished, I Love Stars will make a very subtle ring noise to remind you to rate it. At that point you’ve heard most of the song, and should have a good idea of how many stars it deserves. So get to it, man!

After installing the application, just listen to your library the same way you always do while your working or doing most anything on your computer. Spend three seconds every few minutes to rate songs as they play, and before you know it, you’re library will be largely rated. Will your life suddenly be unlocked to a completely new level of potential? No. But should the opportunity arise to take advantage of your newly rated library, you’ll be fully ready to embrace it.

I just wish I could give “How You Remind Me” 0 Stars.

When I was a lad I ate four dozen eggs
Every morning to help me get large
And now that I’m grown I eat five dozen eggs
So I’m roughly the size of a barge

Dude, Gaston’s a freaking beast, man.

It’s a campaign for a Japanese clothing label, Uniqlo and I’m kind of hooked on it. The music and synchronized segments are creative and oddly captivating. And, well, Japanese girls are cute. What can I say?

It almost makes me want to buy one of those sweaters.

Almost.

And over. For instance, a few weeks ago, I got The Killers’ album, “Sam’s Town” and was subsequently addicted to “Why Do I Keep Counting?” Shortly after I heard it, I was in Escapé doing some work, and I listened to it over 15 times in a row.

This kind of thing happens all the time. As I documented a few months ago with “Cherry Blossom Color Season,” I listened to it over twenty times in one day.

Sometimes it’s more subtle, though no less severe. In these cases, I won’t necessarily listen to a song several times in a row, but I’ll somehow get it in my internal rotation, and I’ll listen to it at least a few times every day for weeks. Fortunately, this rarely causes me to get sick of a song as it would most normal people.

Ha ha. Normal.

I’m going to better myself. I’m going to read more. Play more music. Get my finances in order. Hone my web skills. Spend more time with people. Get in better shape. Write more. Listen to new music. Be more proactive at work. Journal. Be outside more. Make new friends. Be a better friend to the ones I’ve got. Pray more.

Expand my horizons.

I’m tired of working until 5:00 every day, going home, and biding my time until I go to work the next day. Naps, video games and television shows fill my free time. And I’m tired of it. I keep putting off living my life until some indistinct time in the future when it’s more convenient. I’m living my life right now one way or another whether I want to or not. And looking back on my 18-year-old self and not seeing much growth since then doesn’t make me feel too swell.

So, for various reasons, both conscious and sub-, I’m in that mood today. Motivated to better myself. And I’m hoping that by writing them out and posting them up while I’m motivated to do them, I might actually do some of the things listed above when I’m not.

Oh, and get a haircut.

Well, last night, nearly seven months after starting, and after probably well over 100 hours of time spent at the piano, I finally played the whole thing through from start to finish.

It wasn’t perfect, mind you. But, it was decent and coherent, and largely listen-able. Honestly, for the amount of time that I spent learning it, one would probably expect the song to be more complex than it actually is. It really boils down to the fact that I’m moderately OCD when it comes to learning a piano piece, as I want it to sound as close as possible to the original. So, I spend a lot of time on each part that I learn playing it again and again trying to get it to sound the best I can. And, even though I played I finally played Tifa through, there’s still lots of work to be done to tweak it and get the dynamics down. Knowing all the notes is only half the battle.

But, it was still something of a landmark, and I thought it worth mentioning on my otherwise sparse blog.

Carry on.

So, the first round of American Idol “auditions” is composed of getting up at 5:00am Saturday morning, driving to Texas Stadium, and standing in line for four hours just to get a ticket and an armband (see previous post). It continues with waking up at 2:30am on Monday morning, driving to Texas Stadium, standing in line for five hours, sitting around for six more hours, all so that you can have the honor, joy, and privilege of experiencing the most built-up thirty seconds of rejection you’re likely to encounter your whole life through.

All that to say, not an experience I expect to ever repeat unless under threat of… well, one of the few things in the world that would be worse than going through that again. That would have to be one creative threatener. Something like, “launched into the sun submerged in acid” or “devoured by piranhas while my bones are slowly being liquefied.”

Well, maybe it wasn’t quite as bad as I’m making it out to be for the sake of an entertaining read. It still wasn’t all that great, either. Fortunately, I went in to this for the experience and the “bragging rights,” though as I’ve already demonstrated, there wasn’t much worth bragging about, so I wasn’t too disappointed when I didn’t make it.

Probably the highlight of the whole ordeal, though, was a girl standing next to us in line, who was holding a sign saying, “Justin Nubby. The Next America Idol.”

He didn’t make it either.

But, Father there’s… there’s something else. Since my last confession, and even since long before then, I’ve been fighting the greatest temptation. It strikes when I least expect it. When I’m walking around the mall, or listening to the radio. Though my flesh wants to indulge, my mind always tells me otherwise.

“Its not worth it,” I tell myself. “Think of the consequences. You have standards, Caleb. What are principles if you completely neglect them?”

But, Father, justification has been slowly gaining ground on my principles, and I fear that they have finally been overtaken. I can fight it no longer, Father. Ready your holy water and excommunication paperwork.

I appreciate and enjoy the music of… Kelly Clarkson.

As a disclaimer, let me say that by no means do I call this a list of the “10 Greatest Albums of All Time.” No, no, no. I have long recognized and embraced the fact that I have terrible taste in music. Don’t get me wrong, though. I love my taste in music, but as you will soon realize, few people share it. These are just a few of the albums that I’ve enjoyed the most, or have influenced me in one way or another. Anyways, in no particular order:

Boston – Boston (1976)
I bought this album over ten years ago for “More Than A Feeling” and “Long Time.” After I listened to it, I realized that I already knew every song on the album, and they were all incredible. I absolutely love Boston’s style, and it has a real nostalgic feeling to me. I am a huge fan of Classic Rock, and Boston is kind of the epitome of that genre in my mind. From their incredible solos to their dynamic vocals, none can match Boston in my mind.

Room For Squares – John Mayer (2001)
This is a great, almost completely irrelevant album. I love the fact that Mayer’s lyrics deal almost entirely with completely insignificant issues. From reminiscing about High School or childhood to regretting stupid stuff that he said by accident, few of his songs deal with anything of any relative weight. The real genius, though, is in the way he writes, making something as trivial as wishing he could have snapped a picture of a beautiful sunrise, for instance, seem extremely significant without taking himself too seriously. Plus, his music is top-notch. A unique mix of jazz, blues and pop, I find it incredibly refreshing and original. It’s just a great chill-out album.

A Rush of Blood to the Head – Coldplay (2002)
This is one that a lot people probably agree with me on. Coldplay has an amazing ability to create rich, lush sounds with very basic ingredients that I find fascinating. The whole album has a raw, natural, unrefined sound throughout that was actually a turn-off to me at first. Now, though, I think it is one of my favorite things about the album. It’s been extremely overplayed, but I never get tired of it, and I am constantly noticing things about it that I hadn’t noticed before. Plus, this album is really the first that inspired me to want to play pop/rock songs on the piano. Bonus points!

Black Holes & Revelations – Muse (2006)
Muse constantly amazes me. And, that’s not a figure of speech. I still listen to this album, and just sit there dumbstruck sometimes. Even their calmer, more low-key songs are incredibly lush and intense. And when Muse does epic, they do it to catastrophic proportions. The only big complaint that I have is that BH&R (like all of Muse’s stuff) is laden with political overtones, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is one of the most amazing albums I’ve ever encountered.

Kaleidoscope Superior – Earthsuit (2000)
This album is on this list mostly because Kaleidoscope Superior has influenced my drumming more than any other album. When I got this for Christmas in 2000, I had never heard anything like its fusion funk/jazz/rock drumming (or instrumentation in general). It completely changed my concept of drumming, and caused me to think outside of the box as a musician. Even now, I’ve heard few bands that had such a tight, unique rhythm section.

Give Up – The Postal Service (2003)
Another exception, because in my experience, nobody doesn’t like the Postal Service. Myself included. I love the super-emo vocals & lyrics mixed with 8-bit synth and techno effects. It’s almost surreal how those two styles mix together so well on this album. Either one on their own would merely be passively “cool,” but the Postal Service is able to pull them together to create something incredibly unique and catchy.

The Final Countdown – Europe (1986)
Anyone who knows me well should not be surprised that this album is on here (but you’re forgiven if you are). This is one of those albums that humanity as a whole would probably disagree with me on. This is, by all accounts of musicianship and good taste in general, a wretched album. 80′s cheese with a side of 80′s cheese. However, there are few albums that can so consistently put a smile on my face. It’s shallow, it’s lame, and I love it. Absolutely love it.

Room Noises – Eisley (2005)
If I was to fall in love with somebody whom I’ve had no actual interaction with, it would probably be one of the girls from Eisley. It’s difficult for me to explain this album to someone who hasn’t heard it. Lyrically at least, it almost seems like the album is best summed up as “childish,” but it is written in such an innocent, genuine way that it goes beyond being juvenile to more of a post-adolescent reminiscence of an idealized childhood. Which is something that I can completely relate to. Their eclectic music and stunningly beautiful vocals and harmonies only further hurl this album into its rightful place on this list.

Final Fantasy VI – Piano Collections (1994)
This spot should really go to all seven of the Final Fantasy Piano Collections albums, because they have pretty much single-handedly (hepta-handedly?) inspired me to delve into Classical piano. This spot was something of a toss-up between VI and IV, but VI won out because it was the first one that I really got into. Granted, I still feel extremely juvenile when I admit that my entire repertoire of piano music is from a Japanese video game, but the music really speaks for itself, and I honestly think it is some of the most beautiful piano music I’ve ever heard.

Katamari Fortissimo Damacy (2004)
This is the most bizarre, quirky, catchy album I’ve probably ever heard. Not coincidentally, it’s the soundtrack to a Japanese Playstation 2 game, Katamari Damacy. I still don’t really understand the theme or purpose behind the album, except to compile the most diverse group of amazing, happy songs. One song is an excellent Samba/Jazz piece, the next Japanese Pop/Dance, then a folk number, and back to J-Pop. It is extremely unique, quirky, unpredictable, and (most significantly) infectiously cheery. This is an album that frankly must be experienced to be understood. Granted, it’s not something most people would be able to get into right off the bat, but I honestly can’t imagine anybody not falling in love with at least one song on this album after any significant exposure to it.

Well, there you have it. 1,000+ words about music that I like and why I like it. I hope those of you that did actually read it didn’t keel over from boredom or disgust, because I certainly enjoyed writing it.

And that’s all that matters.