[NOTE: Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology was not used in the writing of this essay, only Pops' dubious human intelligence and questionable emotional intelligence (EQ).]

THE MORE CIVIL AND POLITE POSITION, when it comes to playing favorites seems to be: don't. Remember those teachers or coaches that "played favorites"; or so it seemed. I was apparently not teacher's pet material. Heck, in the opinion of most of grade school teachers I didn't even "work up to my potential." As a school boy I was certain that the first criterion for that esteemed position was to be a girl. Why, I don't know. They seemed to me to be fussy and whiny and tattle-tellie. Not all; but those that seemed to make good teacher's pets did.

I can't fault the teachers. I had my own list of school days favorites--friends with common interests, and girls who were out of my league. Even to this day, I ease the pain of that reality with an excuse: I went to school in Jenks--a small community with a giant school district. The Jenks school district even extended across the river into South Tulsa where we lived. There was a girl named Karla who topped my favorites list, but she lived in town, I didn't. Being geographically challenged plus shy to a fault, and having a football-playing rival made wooing her a hurdle too high. Is there any pain like the pain of the unrequited love of a kid?

No regrets though; when it really mattered, Providence carved paths that led me to meet a beautiful girl, who was most certainly out of my league and who went to our rival school: Bixby (Home of the Spartans). That was over 50 years ago and she is still my FAVORITE and still out of my league.

When it comes to things like breakfast cereals, movies, sitcoms, seasons of the year, and sports teams, having favorites seems like a good thing to me. It helps us explore things, to define ourselves, to know ourselves a little better. For example, let's talk about favorite places to visit. Some people love warm, exotic, beachy places. If someone told me I could go on an all-expenses paid vacation, I would choose from my favorites-- places I've been and enjoyed: Great Britain, New York or Chicago.

While we're there; favorite pizza? For me Chicago-style is best. I love a slice of NYC pizza, but Chicago wins that one along with best hot dogs. Favorite burger? Hands down it's Sid's in El Reno, Oklahoma.

If pinned down for an opinion on things like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, frankly, these are not on any list of favorites I might have. Although, I am curious about what's in that package.

Having favorites simplifies life. I don't have to stand in the grocery aisle staring at the Pop Tarts®, trying to decide. I'm grabbing the unfrosted strawberry every time. Paper or plastic? Paper. I just like paper sacks. There's something nostalgic about them. You never know when you might need to make a book cover or wrap up a package and tie it with string. Plus, while I'm not a raging, ranting environmentalist, I hate that every fence row along the way is littered with plastic bags from Wal Mart and Dollar General--two of the stores near the top of my unfavorite-places-ever.

All this thinking about favorites started as I was listening to a lot of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young following the passing of David Crosby. I mentioned that the original CSN album was in my Top 5 albums of all-time. Someone asked, "What are the other four?" Contemplating that question made me realize that there are at least a baker's dozen in my Top 5. Here they are in no particular order:

Miles Davis, ‘*Kind of Blue*’ COLUMBIA, 1959

The Beatles, ‘*Rubber Soul*’ PARLOPHONE, 1965

The Beatles, ‘*Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band*’ CAPITOL, 1967

Bob Dylan, ‘*Highway 61 Revisited*’ COLUMBIA, 1965

The Beach Boys, ‘*Pet Sounds*’ CAPITOL, 1966

Marvin Gaye, ‘*What’s Going On*’ TAMLA/MOTOWN, 1971

Blood, Sweat & Tears, '*Blood, Sweat & Tears album*' Columbia, 1968

Crosby, Stills & Nash, '*Crosby Stills & Nash*' Atlantic, 1969

Simon & Garfunkel, '*The Graduate*' Columbia Masterworks, 1967

Jars of Clay, '*Jars of Clay*' Essential, Silvertone, 1995

Diana Krall, '*Live In Paris*' Verve, 2002

As I was curating this list, the first consideration was: PLAYING FAVORITES--the albums I tend to play over and over--the ones I never tire of. Next, you have to consider the album as a whole. There are a lot of albums out there that have two or three great songs, but these albums are non-stop quality music, which for me means superb songwriting--wonderful lyrics, memorable melodies, rich harmonies and chord progressions that give you goosebumps. They are wonderfully produced and stand the test of time. They are groundbreaking.

When I use the word album, I'm speaking literally of the vinyl record and cover jacket. My love of music was deepened by bringing home a new album, putting it on the record player and reading all of the album notes and looking at the pictures while the music played. It was an experience that only an album can give.

Obviously, I still favor the music of the 60s and early 70s. Eleven of the thirteen are from that era. Back then being able to buy an album required weeks of saving my allowance, doing extra chores, and begging. I had to make sure this album would be a favorite before laying out the hard-earned coin for it.

I still have many of those albums that I bought over 50 years ago. They are that special to me. I don't play them on my turntable these days. They are too worn and scratched. My turntable has a cartridge (needle) that costs more than my stereo did back in the day. So now I listen to high-quality digital versions of my favorites. But often, I still pull the album from the shelf and look at it as the record plays.

I love playing favorites.

Blog

PLAY FAVORITES

About POPS