Random Acts

I’ve always found the shuffle-play system of listening to music appealing, never knowing what song will be next. Ironically, I love routine and predictability, yet it’s the shuffle that allows me sometimes to embrace the unexpected, smile at a surprise. Don’t get me wrong, there are days when Fast Forward is used when listening to music on my phone: “No, not that one… skip… skip.”

When I first started blogging on Tumblr six years ago, I created a recurring series called The Poptimum Project, in which I wrote a post about every song that was Autofilled onto my iPod shuffle®. (Wow, remember that device?) The project was inspired by the film, Julie & Julia, where government employee by day and writer by night, Julie Powell cooks every recipe from Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” and chronicles her experience on a blog. Instead of a cookbook, I kept a document with the track list.

Now that this website has launched, you’ll from time to time see a continuation of this project, now renamed The Pop Zeal Project. One post might feature Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move,” followed by Gwen Stefani’s “The Real Thing,” then LL Cool J’s “Around the Way Girl” and so on. Come what may. Keep in mind: Not every music post will be part of this list, but if the headline includes, The Pop Zeal Project, then it falls under this continuing endeavor.

Ready to embrace the random? I am… I think.