“You can’t polish a turd.”
That is one of those blunt Midwestern truths that doesn’t need a second read to understand. You can dress something up, shine it, spray it, market it, but if it’s garbage underneath, it’s still garbage. Integrity is about the inside matching the outside. Whether it’s a person, a product, or a promise, you either build it right from the start or you don’t bother.
Don't be a turd today.
On this day in 2001, Apple introduced the iPod. Before that moment, music lived in milk crates, CD towers, and glove compartments. We lugged around albums, tapes and CDs like we were packing for war. We listened to albums in reverse to hear hidden messages and we made mix tapes for our girlfriend.
Then the iPod showed up.
A pocket-sized jukebox with a click wheel that made us feel like a DJ and a curator of our own life’s soundtrack.
For me, it was a wild leap in just fifteen years. I went from crate after crate of albums in 1986, to a slick little CD tower in the ’90s, to 5,000 songs sitting quietly in my front pocket by 2001.
I could mow the lawn to Springsteen, take the CTA to work with The Clash, make love with Barry White in the background, drive with Johnny Cash while stuck on the Ike, and fall asleep to Coltrane and Miles…
…all without lifting a record needle.
It is Thursday, I put a half-ass smile on the sun and my cankles feel pretty good....
Gusto Baby!
