I hate you, iPod Shuffle.

Despite my initial reservations, I had began to like my iPod Shuffle. I really like the fact that I can just dock it, then it gets filled with a random selection and off I go with zero hassle. I've begun to carry it in addition to another DAP I might have because I'm warming to this type of listening on an occasional basis.

A friend had heard that the Shuffle was supposed to sound better than the regular iPod. She asked me if I could have a listen. I duly handed the Shuffle over. She fiddled with it, listened for a while and a strange look came over her face.

"I didn't know you liked Michael Bolton."
"Huh?"

And surely enough, once she takes the phones off I can hear the earphones leaking and the Mulleted Baboon of Love bellowing "Love Is A Wonderful Thing". The evidence seemed inescapable. Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with a snappy enough answer that wouldn't seem as though I wasn't trying to explain away my embarrasement on being discovered as a closet Michael Bolton fan. In the end, although I mumbled the truth - "a friend shared some tracks with me and I hadn't sorted through them yet" - I realised that I didn't sound very convincing.

Call me paranoid, but when she meets friends who know me and they talk about me, I just know that Michael Bolton will be in there somewhere. Followed by sniggers. One of the few times that someone else has asked to hear the Shuffle, of course it dredges up a track that I would never willingly listen to.


You little treacherous bastard.