Thanks a lot Steve Jobs

It is an interesting thing when someone famous passes away. In many cases they don’t know you at all but you feel a loss in varying degrees because of a role they played, great or small, in your life. This was the case with the passing of Steve Jobs. We have never met and I actually consider myself a PC guy and mock Mac guy at every opportunity, however, Mr. Jobs gave me my beloved iPhone.

I’ve written on several occasions about my iPhone and how I’d be lost without it. This device hasn’t changed or enriched my life in a holistic or spiritual way but in many ways it HAS changed and enriched my life. Just this week it aided me on my lengthy and sometimes arduous journey of self discovery.

I start nearly every morning with a walk. I do this because of my well documented love of food. But I do enjoy my walks, largely because of my iPhone. I listen to iTunes and track my distance, rate of speed and calories burned on my RunKeeper App (yes I know it’s called RunKeeper not WalkKeeper, shut your face). Having all my music on one small portable device is amazing enough but tracking my progress on that same device is really quite extraordinary.

A couple of months ago I became bored with my music and playlists and took advantage of another techno-delightful innovation, Pandora. I can stream music from a variety of artists and genres, depending on my mood, for free. I’ve got stations ranging from 80’s music to hits of today, from Ozzie Osborn to Justin Timberlake and everything from Country to Reggae. It’s magical.

The best part is you can control the music on the station by giving songs a thumbs up or thumbs down, telling Pandora almost exactly what you’d like to listen to. Over the past several months I’ve refined my musical cue casting my vote for songs I like and songs I don’t. Pandora kindly plays more of the music I want and doesn’t offend my ears with the rest.

This past week I set out on my walk on a beautiful morning. The temperature had dropped into the cool range. The sun was peeking through several well placed fluffy clouds. There was even an ever so gentle breeze. I was feeling good. I fired up Pandora and the first song in the cue was Katy Perry’s California Girls ft. Snoop Dogg (Katy my lady).

Next was Rihanna’s S&M Remix (don’t judge me that song is the jam. I like it-like it Come on!). I was feeling it now, stepping with the beat and moving. As I rounded the corner Your Love is My Drug by Ke$ha came on (great song but I’m really not proud of that one). I was still in the groove when The Cardigans Love Fool started bump’n (Love me, love me, say that you love me, I don’t care ‘bout anything but you. There, that’s implanted in your brain the rest of the day)

It wasn’t until the second Katy Perry song, User Your Love, came on that I began to reflect on what I’d been giving my thumbs up to while Pandora-ing. All the likes for P!nk, Brittany and Lady Gaga’s pop hits. Then, like a ton of bricks, it hit me. Pandora thinks I’m a girl. And kind of a dirty girl at that.

So thank you Steve Jobs, now I’ve got to reevaluate my life.