I’ve been ripping all my CDs. It’s not for some nefarious file sharing plan, it’s just so that I can listen to my music on my computer without dragging out a CD and fussing with it. MusicMatch will let me Auto DJ my music and it’s better than any radio station in the world.

I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music.  – George Eliot (1819 – 1880)

In addition to the process of systematically reading all my music into the computer, I’m transferring my CD’s into a book. For years, I’ve had shelves of CDs glistening on overstocked shelves, announcing to the world how much I like music. It used to be that people would look over the shelf and pull out a CD to listen to while they visited, but that rarely happens anymore.

My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.  – Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)

I don’t know when things changed. Maybe when music became so readily available on the Internet, the focus of music listening changed from the CD rack to the computer hard drive. Instead of looking at CDs to see what would be good for a spin, it would be a question of looking at people’s computers. No one has ever asked to look at my computer to see what I have there, though. I don’t know. Maybe music isn’t as cool as it was for those few years when MTV was king.

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.  – Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809 – 1894)

A by-product of condensing my CD collection into four binder books is a huge pile of CD jewel cases. I have been just as systematically boxing them away for storage. I don’t know why I can’t bring myself to throw them away, but I really feel like they should be saved. It’s not like I want to sell my CDs and I need to have the original boxes. I really don’t know why I don’t want to throw them away. I realize the value of the CD is lodged in my computer, but there’s something about the pretty paper and shiny box. Maybe it’s the packrat in me. Rats love shiny things.