The Dross

McMegan explains that "The lone benefit of losing all my CD's in the move to Chicago, and then my MP3s in two separate hard drive crashes, is that I have no dross--no embarassing choices left over from my adolescence, no random songs downloaded while writing the annual GSB follies." That drossless collection comprises 2,406 tracks. I, having been well-backed-up for several years now, have managed to compile 8,609 songs not all of which are among my absolute favorites.

It seems to me, though, that being in easy possession of a certain amount of random material is one of the great pleasures of the internet age. I wouldn't say that I ever really spend much time listening to The Advantage's rendition of the "Dr. Wiley Theme" from MegaMan 2, but it's sometimes amusing to play it for others during those moments when the conversation turns to memories of youth. And I prefer to think of Anti-Flag's "Captain Anarchy" as more a monument to a past era than an embarrassing choice left over from my adolescence. And who wouldn't want to own Avril Lavigne's live cover of Green Day's "Basket Case"? And the alphabet contains so many more letters. My only regret is that I don't have way more dross.