thoughts

[bedlamsbard]

So I have a decent amount of music in a genre which can be loosely categorized as "indie pagan pseudo-Celtic folk," which I don't tend to play without headphones on. (Although let's be honest, I haven't been listening to much music this semester until fairly recently.) But today I was folding my laundry, and paused and went, "I would really like some background music, and I'm feeling that genre right now," so I put on that playlist. (Which is actually down in iTunes as "Heather Alexander," because it started out as an all-Heather Alexander playlist until pretty recently.) Quietly, door closed; my walls are thin enough that my roommates could almost certainly tell I was playing music and might be able to work out the words, though I'm not sure. One roommate is listening to her Japanese tapes, the other one is on the phone; I think the third one came back in while I was folding.

I don't tend to play this music without headphones because I'm afraid of offending one or more of my roommates, one of whom is very Christian (Methodist, I believe), and another of which was raised Christian and is getting back into it. But, you know, it's the last week of school, I wasn't blasting it, and they all know that I am Not Christian. (I'm not what Maryland thinks I am, as she's the one who said, "Oh, I thought you were anti-religion!"; Alaska knows I'm pagan but once told me to my face, "Your gods aren't real.") And most of my music isn't flagrantly anti-Christian, though I really wouldn't phrase it that way. (It might sound that way to someone who actually is Christian, though.) (I decided my one measure of restraint was to not play "Go Away Godboy." (Lyrics here.) I did forget that some of my other music also had some of the same tones, like this (lyrics) and this (no YouTube link, sorry). But I really wanted to listen to this song (lyrics), so I did.

I don't really have a point to this entry. On one level I keep feeling like it's a deliberately provocative act; maybe it just seems that way because I usually don't do it for a specific reason. On the other hand, why shouldn't I play the music I want to listen to? On another, would I be offended if one of my roommates decided to play overtly Christian music? (Which is not to say I don't have Christian pop on my computer; it kind of comes with the Narnia territory.)

*flaps hands* I don't know where I'm going with this. On the other hand, Her Majesty's Airship Corps also came up on that playlist, which is not pagan at all, and I just felt guilty because that one is louder than the rest of my music. (It is beautifully, amazingly steampunk. If you like that sort of thing, y'all should listen to it. It is a recruiting song for a dirigible air force!)

Comments

[sara]

I think if they're listening that closely to what you're doing in your room with the doors closed, they're the ones with issues, not you.

[bedlamsbard]

*nods* Yeah, I said that on Twitter but not in this entry -- although I've had at least one other case where I was on the phone in my room with the door closed and my roommate told me, "You know, I heard everything you were saying." (Which is why I try not to make phone calls in my apartment anymore; in retrospect it was dumb to talk about my roommates while they were in the apartment, but I had the crazy thought it would be common courtesy to pretend you weren't listening through closed doors to someone else's phone conversation.)

Anyway. *hands* Thank you.

[sara]

Well, now that you know at least one of them is an eavesdropper, I wouldn't say anything while they're home. But honestly, a little quiet music that's not of their particular religious persuasion? That's not an unreasonable thing for you to have going on in your own space.

I mean, at 3 a.m. is a different story, maybe, but then I cohabitate with someone who snores like a chainsaw and have to wear noise-dampening earbuds every night. I would much rather have a little music.

[bedlamsbard]

Although no one said anything! I feel like I should have added that in. *hands* So just me being paranoid. (Although I feel somewhat justifiably so -- I've had some weird religious tension moments over the past couple years, including, "You can't celebrate Christmas if you're not Christian." "...so what have I been doing every December 25 for the past twenty years, then?")

3 a.m. is really not an acceptable time for many things to be going on. (Like another roommate's alarm clock. When she's not in the state. *cough*)

[sara]

Well, see, I'm a Christian who thinks Christmas is totally pagan and syncretistic and a latter-day add-on to our faith which shouldn't be celebrated by Christians. So there. *GRIN* Reclaim it all you want, I got no use for it.

I think it is always very hard to find college roommates who are remotely compatible: in retrospect the best roommates I ever had were both recently from Hong Kong, spoke Mandarin most of the time in our room (by the end of the year I'd picked up enough by osmosis that I could actually participate in conversations, which...still weirds me out, because I know from experience that I can't do that with Mandarin-speakers I haven't cohabitated with), microwaved squid in our unventilated triple room at the crack of dawn, and fairly conspicuously wished that the big weird white geek they'd been saddled with would go get her own apartment.

But compared to everyone else I lived with in college, they were great.

[bedlamsbard]

I grew up with it (and Easter!) as secular holidays; I never really thought of them as religious occasions except theoretically until fairly recently. Which was pretty mind-blowing to me, and I can see how the reverse could be true, but I could have done without the personal attack. (Okay, that makes it sound worse than it was. I don't know.)

I've lived with the same people, more or less, for the past two years, and will be living with them again this year. (More or less because one is abroad and the luck of the housing lottery last semester.) My first two roommates -- one moved out after two months, and the other was only there half the time because she was a local and slept at home most of the semester. So it could be worse. *hands*

[azurelunatic]

I'm enough of a shit-stirrer that I say, play it loud and proud! If their faith is weak enough that the existence of other gods is something that breaks their brains and/or offends them, this is not your problem.

[bedlamsbard]

Well, I do have to live with them, so there's that. Although only for a few more days. (And the entirety of next year, but I assume it shall be forgotten over the summer.)

[harpers_child]

"indie pagan pseudo-Celtic folk" sounds like something i would enjoy. recommendations? who should i start with?

[bedlamsbard]

I don't know how my list compares to others, but! Basically what I did in late December early January was start trolling iTunes playlists for pagan music and buy the ones I liked, including entire albums in some cases. So, a list of those I have

Heather Alexander (who is now Alexander James Adams, though last I checked none of his music was up on iTunes)
Heather Dale
Emerald Rose
Kellianna
Three Weird Sisters
Gaia Consort
S.J. Tucker
Spiral Dance

The ones linked in my post are, I think, S.J. Tucker, Gaia Consort, and Emerald Rose.

[harpers_child]

thank you muchly.

[bedlamsbard]

Any time!