Sensitive Ears

It has been ruled that my ears are sensitive enough to notice when someone is scratching a wound or irritated patch of skin. I have to laugh when I'm told this as I didn't think I had very sensitive ears in comparison to my own mom.

When I was a teen, mom would arrive home from work and instantly say "Turn off that shit!" What she was referring to was the music that either myself or my sister had been listening to that day. It couldn't be turned down, she could still hear it. When riding in the vehicle with mom, we could either listen to the radio or power it off.

Mind you, this isn't wasn't as hilarious as when, after a ridiculous visit to an ENT, mom was told to stop listening to loud music as it was making her ears produce excess ear wax. As a family, we had to laugh, mom is the only one in the family who listens to music only on low volume!

While I may not have mom's ears, I apparently still have sensitive ears. Snork!

Music = Me

I grew up listening to music. My childhood was filled with quite a diverse collection of music.

When with my mom, I listened to music on the Disney Channel radio station based in Salt Lake City. Sometimes we would try to call in and win prizes from the radio station. I remember winning a prize of a bag of Hershey Kisses. That was a fun prize even if the cost of the gas to the station and back home was more than the bag. Some of our favorite songs included "The Ballad of Lucy Lum" (unknown artist) and "Fish Heads" (Barnes & Barnes).

When I was with my dad, I listened to music on the Alternative Rock or Rock radio stations. From dad, I learned appreciation for R.E.M., Styx, Violent Femmes, David Bowie, Barenaked Ladies, Beck, and The Cure.

With my grandparents (there was a total of 9 regularly visited grandparents, including great-grandparents), I listened to various music types. Oldies, New Age, Classical, Pop and even some Jazz.

This is where the grounding of my own musical tastes began. As a young teen, I received the "White Album" and "Magical Mystery Tour" on CD. I believe that must have been for Christmas 2001 or my birthday 2002. I know I also received my first speaker set during the same time frame. They were wonderful speakers that had such a delicious sub-woofer. Combine speakers that could be adjusted to varying distances, a sub-woofer and The Beatles. That was the beginning of my love for bass in music.

I can pinpoint the changes in my musical tastes to one event. The theatrical (and subsequent soundtrack) release of Spiderman in 2002. I briefly found Toby Maguire to be one of the most fascinating and handsome actors that I had even seen. The soundtrack though, was the the music that really influenced my musical tastes. Thanks to songs by Aerosmith, Chad Kroeger, Theory of a Deadman, and Black Lab, I began looking for more music that really sounded good coming through my speakers. I was also introduced to the movie "XXX" and between the Vin Diesel and the soundtrack, I found myself addicted to action movies with rock music. The opening scene featuring Rammstein was addicting. I found that soundtracks contained the rock music that made the speakers pulse were the best music for me and my craving for more bass. Between "Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man" "XXX" and "Miss Congeniality", I found peace in playing music and boosting the bass.

In 2005, Fantastic Four hit the screens. My dad purchased "Fantastic 4: The Album" and I added another musical album to my collection of songs that sounded great with boosted bass. At this time, I had the ability to mix my playlists on my first iPod. I think I nearly drove my mom crazy with my loud and bass heavy music.

By this time, my parents knew when I had a bad day or was really stressed because the music was louder and the bass heavier. While my sister found peace and tranquility in Classical music, the sounds of composure for me were Rock, Metal and Industrial Rock.

Even today, my musical tastes vary and include almost every genre. While my trusty speakers bit the dust a few years ago, I still am fond of bass and one day I will be finding new speakers that allow for that bit of bass.