1.13.2005

Obsessive/Compulsive

Here's an example of a biographical piece that I wasn't going to post. But, I'm posting it, as it relates to music and I want to force myself to post more and self-censure less. So here it is:

So, as a Christmas gift to myself, I bought a bunch of CDs, like 50+. But I hadn't bought CDs in a long time and people weren't giving them to me for Xmas or Birthdays, so I treated myself. This is stuff I've been collecting and enjoying on MP3, stuff I really liked, so I wanted to add it to my library.

Anyway, I've been ripping and tagging the files, and I'm finding it hard to squelch the perfectionist in me.

For example, I just listened to a song that had a teeny glitch in it, really just the slighest pop. So, I wanted to go back and re-rip it to make sure the pop was gone.

But why? The CD itself is in good condition. So there's a teeny pop in one tune. Who cares? But it's very hard to ignore.

Similarly, I started capturing more detailed info, like composer, rating, mood and such. But I realized, if my hard-drive dies, I'll have to re-enter all this. And what is it really buying me now? The program I'm using, MediaMonkey, allows you to backup the database, but if you lose everything and have to re-rip, there's no way to "apply" what you've already entered. Unless, I think, the files have exactly the same name.

So, I'm trying to give it up. I enter it if it's obvious, but for some stuff, it's not worth the trouble. Still, I want it there. I want access to that information. Letting that go is tough.

That's obsessive-compulsive, baby.

posted by risser at 22:10

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