In a medium of self-indulgence, this post takes the cake. I got this idea from someone on the radio who did this. They put their iPod on shuffle, and just listed the first 5 songs that popped up. The theory here is that random songs from your iPod (or similar MP3 player – I don’t want to be a total Apple shill) say something about who you are. I’m convinced that all it does is expose the “dirty little secret” songs that everybody has in their library. You know the one. Or two. Or twenty. Kate will attest to the fact that there are several of these with which she is occasionally tortured.

So at the risk of totally alienating my readership (all 2 of you), the “Songs from My iPod” might become a recurring feature, you know, the type that I fall back on when totally uninspired to blog. The key to this exercise, of course, is complete and total honesty when listing the songs your iPod chooses for you. The shuffle feature is a cruel mistress, as I found out in my first draw. I admit that I was tempted to fiddle with the results, as one of my DLS songs appears in the list below. But I am committed to this course of action. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t admit to my love of. . . well, check it out (items marked with an asterisk were not available on iTunes):

Song	Artist	Purchase
Donkey Riding	Great Big Sea
Balad of San Francisco	Caedmon’s Call
Soldier of Love	Donny Osmond	*
In My Life	The Beatles	*
Don’t Ask Me	OK Go

Kate has pointed out that I have many songs on my iPod that I should be ashamed of, but I have forbidden her from outing my love of. . . well, you’re just going to have to wait for the next entry in “Songs from My iPod.”

Simon’s 2nd birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and excepting the bloody lip, a good time was had by all. It took me a while before I actually sat down to take the pictures off the camera, but we had a couple turn out really nicely. The photoset is up on Flickr, but you have to be a friend/family to view it. If you’re not my friend, but would like to be, let me know. How condescending does that sound?

As you can see, Mee-ma and Bee-ba (Simon-speak for Grandma and Grandpa) made it down from New York for the festivities. Simon was fortunate to have gotten over his cold a few days before his birthday, and then wait until a couple days after to catch another bug and ear infection. Hopefully he wasn’t infectious around all the other kids. All in all, it was a good day.

I have had “Hot Potato” stuck in my head all day. And now you can too:

Enjoy!