Oops

I sort of sabotaged myself today.

Now I'm generally a fairly intelligent person, in my opinion. So when I do dumb things, they're either above and beyond the call of dumb (for instance, when I pronounced the name of the African country Mozambique as Moh-zam-bee-cue, or when I burned butter last time I tried to cook on my stove), or it's something tiny and simple that nonetheless makes me feel like a complete spaz.

Today's dumb thing falls into the "tiny and simple" category, fortunately. I was gonna have some time to kill on campus after class, so I updated my iPod with this amazing new playlist encompassing all the stuff I'm listening to lately.

It was a totally kick-ass list, too - some of my go-to favorites like Goldfinger's hard-rock version of "99 Red Balloons" and Queen/Bowie's "Under Pressure," as well as Eurotrip's "Scotty Doesn't Know" and the Dandy Warhols' "We Used to Be Friends." I rounded it all out with my latest obsessions, The Mountain Goats' "Cotton" and Shiny Toy Guns' "Le Disko."

So I left my apartment and drove to campus. I got a suspiciously good parking spot. I found an open bench in the shade in front of the Honors College. I dug into my bag and pulled out my iPod ... and it was only at this penultimate moment that I realized I'd left my earbuds on my bedside table after updating my iPod.

I hate it when I'm dumb. Minus ten IQ points for me.

So I wound up lying on the bench, playing Solitaire on my sad, mute little iPod, and humming my playlist. Turns out guitar solos are tough to hum, although "Le Disko" sounds oddly mellow in hum-form.

I actually feel a little bad being so tech-reliant that my iPod can make or break my day, but I can't help it! Music sets the tone for my day. I listen to my iPod all over campus, and whatever I'm listening to tends to blend over into how I look, feel, and act. Peaceful songs make me stroll, sexy songs make me strut, and "Scotty Doesn't Know" makes me sing inappropriate lyrics in public. When my iPod battery dies, I die a little too.

I really need this music fix, too ... I will not forget my earbuds tomorrow. I will. Not. Forget my earbuds tomorrow! I will not. Forget. My earbuds tomorrow.