Working Tunes

Almost 100% of my workday is spent on the computer. It will change as I get on the phone and start talking to candidates but as of now, I spend a lot of time inputting candidates into the computer. As a result, my mind is often craving more stimulation than just computer image processing. I’ve been listening to a bunch of different things on my phone and I thought I’d share some of my working tunes with you!

Spotify: This is literally the best and most-used app on my phone. I don’t know how I survived without it before. I guess I had iTunes but Spotify really gives you that instant gratification when you want to listen to a specific song. I pay the $9.99 a month to get ad-free streaming and also so that I can get my playlists on my phone. Totally worth it.

Comedy albums: Who doesn’t love a good laugh in the middle of the day? When I’m feeling a bit down or my eyes start to glaze from the computer screen, I put on a comedy album or even the comedy radio station on either Spotify or Pandora. The radio station is great but sometimes I prefer listening to a whole album so I can get the flow of the comedian and his jokes run smoother. I just listened to Donald Glover’s album, Weirdo, and it was hilarious. His joke style is anecdotal and stems a lot from his unconventional upbringing. He grew up with adopted children and foster kids in his family and so there were a lot of children passing in and out of his home. As a result, he has some pretty hilarious stories!

Podcasts: Since I’ve gotten into audiobooks, I really like listening to people talk. But because I associate my audiobooks with sleeping, I have to find a different way to listen to talking: enter, podcasts! The first podcast I’ve started subscribing to is “Freakonomics Radio.” Hosted by one of the authors of the popular Freakonomics book, Stephen Dubner, he discusses different topics like whether burgers could be the nutritious, cheap meal for the masses or if Jane Austen was the original game theorist. It’s all really interesting and great to listen to. Look here for some awesome podcasts!

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Those are my work tunes! What about you?

Spotify's Thoughts on the Class of 2013

I’m a recent convert to Spotify and I’ve recently given in and starting paying the ~$10 a month to get unlimited streaming everywhere and anywhere. I love building and following my friends’ playlists and it really cuts down on my need to download music all the time. (You can follow me here!)

In lieu of graduations happening everywhere, Spotify has created a playlist called “You Made It – Class of 2013” in honor of graduates of the class of 2013. From reading the title, you’d expect a musical mix of inspirational songs like Vitamin C’s “Graduation” and R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly.” Instead, you get a strange mix of songs including but not limited to: “Good Riddance,” “Closing Time,” “Gold Digger,” and “Boyfriend.” (I just looked again and it also has the Glee version of Santa Baby. I mean, what is going on? What are the criteria for making this list?) It’s certainly an eclectic mix of present and past Top 40 songs but I’m not sure it embodies the spirit of graduation and a future of possibility. I mean, what exactly am I supposed to take away from the song “Gold Digger” in light of my recent graduation? It doesn’t send the most encouraging message…

To remedy this problem, I think I’m going to make a new grad playlist of my own. You can follow it here and I’ll take suggestions, but the requirement to make this playlist is that the title or content of the song must be relatable to graduation in a non-metaphorical, obvious sort of way. Examples: Vitamin C’s “Graduation,” pretty much any song from High School Musical (but I promise to limit these), Destiny’s Child’s 90’s hit “Bills, Bills, Bills” (I think this is very applicable to our life after graduation) [also, that was a lot of apostrophes to describe possession]. Feel free to leave me suggestions here or on the Tumblr version of this site: afterthediploma.tumblr.com!

Not the most original image but it'll do.