An Apple A Day Keeps the Bad Vibes Away

It is a sad day as the genius known at Steve Jobs died a few months after shocking the world with his resignation from Apple. It was such a short, yet worthwhile existence on earth. Most of my background on Mr. Jobs came from MTB who knew him like a mentor, if not an old friend. I would remember the look of admiration from MTB’s face as he animatedly talked about the struggles, successes and strength that defined Mr. Jobs. Knowing how few men MTB admires (and having full support and belief in MTB’s choice of heroes) I had an automatic liking for the guy despite my lack of interest in anything related to technology.

Mr. Jobs was an example of how monumental a man with a purpose can accomplish. He changed the way people identify with something as innocuous as an APPLE— from a fruit to a city to, as Steve Jobs ingeniously molded the world to see, the symbol of our generation.

I don’t know how other people’s lives were affected by Mr. Jobs's brilliance—I don’t want to pretend that I know him more than I actually do. So let me just tell how he changed my life and that is by making my music, the type that can seldom be heard anywhere else, available to me 24/7. If you are an avid reader of my blog, you would know that one passion I am actually cognizant of is MUSIC. Everything that ever matters to me has a song that would remind me of that memory. Whether it’s the time when my cousins and I got stranded somewhere in Katipunan (Cold Summer Nights) back in the early 90’s, or summers spent in my aunt’s house (10 summers worth of Silverchair songs, Smashing Pumpkins, PNE, and other bands that exposed me to rock, grunge, indie music), my friendship with my high school friends (Deep Inside of You, Shimmer), college nights and school pains (J. Lo songs, Aimee Mann, and songs wondering what life is beyond the confines of college), Perk squad whoas and woes (Coldplay, Aint no Mountain High Enough, Fame, Total Eclipse of the Night), the first time I fell in love (Soraya, How Sweet it is and other happy singsong songs that I can no longer remember), the time when I was searching, pining, and finding the love of my life (Beatles, Orange and Lemons, 747, Dashboard, Kaytagal, Kailan, Built to Last, etc) and recently, my greatest heartbreak (Adele, The Script, Sara Bareilles, Sugarfree and almost all songs that MTB and I discussed, fought over, talked about and sang for 6 years)---- All these moments, whether they are magical, tragic or painful, have a soundtrack. To make the long story short, I have compiled phases and phrases of my life in a 32 gigabyte time capsule that is my iPod.

I cannot think of anything as ubiquitous during my tumultuous days than my trusty Ipod. Not that my friends are not there for me, they are. But in stillness of the night, during the pregnant moment between midnight and dawn when I feel most vulnerable, it is the melodramatic sound coming from my ipod that lulls me to sleep. It is the hum of Mumford and Sons that lifted my heart from despair, the solemn strumming of Switchfoot's guitar that rhythmically sways with my words of prayers to the Lord, and the poetry of Sara Bareilles that speaks what my tongue cannot verbalize. Listening to my iPod is a like caching the memories and feelings of a 27 year adventure, readily available when I need to heal and see how far I’ve gone.

I may not know Steve Jobs as well as the others or the details of how he changed the world. All I do know is how he changed my world, one mp3 at a time.

Thank you, Mr. Jobs, and may you rest in peace.