Holidays are coming, but before we get to relax and eat turkey, we must endure what I have come to think of as the longest week of the year: the week preceding Thanksgiving break.
As usual, all of the work and assignments I have postponed throughout the entire semester must be turned in before I can bow out of Blacksburg and go home to my family. I know it's partly my fault that this week is so long, but it doesn't make it any less difficult to endure.
So, of course, this week is also when my cravings start to kick in. Not in the traditional turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes sense -- my cravings for some reason are more of the musical kind. Procrastination can take many forms, and for me, procrastination exists in the form of my iPod. For some reason nothing makes me yearn to listen to music more than a pile of books and a long to-do list. Something about being swamped with work makes me want to put down the book and turn up the volume. And since I can't seem to listen to any song without singing along, these cravings do not lend themselves to helping me study in the slightest.
My natural solution is to seek solace in the library or a public place where listening to music is forbidden and singing along with headphones is severely frowned upon. There just isn't a polite way to jam out to Chris Brown so, with that in mind, I try to spend as much time in the library as possible. The library seems to be a place of refuge for a musical junkie such as myself, but instead of studying, I find myself browsing my peers' iTunes libraries and adding to my own. I spend more time researching free music downloading sites than I do for all my classes combined. Any normal Tuesday I could examine a random iTunes library and resist listening to the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club or the enticingly random Ski Trip Mix someone has anonymously put together. This week, arguably one of the busiest of the semester, I just can't hold back exploring new sounds.
In between exploring playlists, I find myself daydreaming about my break, and visions of my family surrounding a huge turkey are replaced with the more delicious idea of the car rides to and from Virginia Tech. My wildest holiday fantasy -- I am alone in my car, exams behind me and absolutely no obligations for the next four hours except driving myself home. I can guiltlessly turn up the volume and sing at the top of my lungs to whatever I desire. It will be a jam session to be remembered, and even though it's only three days away in reality, the work that stands in my way and the self control it will take to not start my jam session early makes me feel as though break may as well be scheduled for next year.
I was thinking about this addiction as I half-watched the TRL finale episode Sunday night. I usually don't watch TRL, but as a tribute to my 12-year-old self I tuned in to say goodbye to what used to be my favorite show. They had a countdown of the most requested videos of all time, and as if it were yesterday, all the words came back and I sang along with almost every song.
At least half of my brain must be devoted solely to song lyrics because I can remember every fluctuation and undulation of songs that I haven't heard in years. Wouldn't it be nice if I could reprogram my memory to memorize my textbooks instead of the first N'SYNC album? Certainly the lyrics to "Bye Bye Bye" are useless to me now, but what would be useful are chapters 6 through 9 for my test at the end of the week. If only I could put my notes into song, I'd be a straight-A student and studying would be as easy as pumpkin pie.
But then, if my textbooks and notes replaced all the songs in my memory, it would make road trips extremely dull. What would I do if I didn't have songs to sing along to on the way home? I certainly wouldn't sing my notes; no one should have to study during Thanksgiving break.