In which Juniper discovers podcasting

You know how certain technologies are easy to use and work like they're supposed to nearly every single time (the toaster oven, say, or the dvd player) whereas others work only when the proper shamanic formulas are chanted over them (the fax machine comes to mind, as does the sewing machine).

Well, anything to do with podcasting has always fallen firmly into the second category for me. I've had an iPhone for a while, but whenever I would try to actually get a podcast from the vapor of the internet INTO my computer and from there ONTO my phone, something would be, I believe the technical term is, wonky. So for about a year, I had one and half episodes of The Splendid Table in my podcast menu, and nothing else. Also, I was almost mortally mortified when my brother went to look at my "music" in March and found that the only music I had at all was half of the "Jesus Christ Superstar" soundtrack that I had somehow uploaded by accident.

Well, I am happy to report the after long months of frustration, my recent houseguests* enthusiastic conversation about RadioLab set me trying again and at last somehow Learning Has Happened, and I now can listen to podcasts! And Jeff helped me download some music!

So, two things. First of all, if you havent already, (I mean, of course you have already, because you've been podcasting for YEARS, but you're humoring me, right, since I'm the new girl on the block here?) check out Pray As You Go, which I heard about in an in-one-ear-and-out-the-other sort of way on someone else's blog months ago (Sarah? Was that you?). It's just delicious.

Really, if you knew how many hours in the last 8 months I have spent getting a little less mediocre at facebook scramble instead of praying (among a gazillion other things I could have been doing), I would be mortally mortified again for the second time in one post.

Because usually? For real? I find it kind of hard to pray with Bible. I'm so used to study or sermon prep from the Bible that whenever I open it to pray by mind starts whirling about how I can Use This Somehow. But, maybe because it's already its own neat little package - the music, the scripture read twice, the soothing Irish voices encouraging you in the gentlest possible way to pull your head out of whatever hole you have it buried in and pay attention to how Christ is working in the world, and wants you to work in the world - it's very compelling. And think better for me, in the long run, than getting less mediocre at scramble.

Ok, second. iTunes genius playlist. I know, I know, I know, you smartypantses have been doing this for years and this is like nothing to you, but bear with me. I'm like a child on her first roller coaster. If that was a good thing for you. Which it wasnt exactly for me, but you know what I mean.

Anyway, to experiment, I tried making a list from the Wallets Take It. I purposely picked an obscure-ish band. I mean, the Wallets are obscure, right? Unless you went to college in Minnesota in 1989?

I was going to print out the whole list it made, but it seemed kind of overwhelming, but let's just say that if a mix of Three Dog Night's happiest ones, Duffy's saddest ones, Santana's awesomest ones, Talking Heads rockingest ones and The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald thrown in for good measure would make you happy enough to burst, than you can understand how I feel. Well, maybe only if you went to college in Minnesota in 1989.....

Wait. there's probably some way to actually save this list on actual iTunes so you could actually listen to it, but I think that would require more than I can really expect of myself for one week.


_____________

*This mere mention does not do justice, btw, the awesomeness of visit from said houseguests. Confidential to SG - I have your white t-shirt. I'm considering holding it ransom until you come visit again, but instead I'll probably put in the mail soon. But really. Come visit again. It was so very very very great to see you.