In Ellison’s essay “Living with Music”, he started out by saying “In those days it was either live with music or die with noise” (Ellison 1). This means in our life we choose our own way to interpret music, whether we find meaning or not it changed our perception on how we listen to music. Ellison also mentions how music from an early age can have a big impact when we grow up. He grew up with sound and music, living with thin walls in his apartment made him realize how much he was going to miss it when he moved out. It played a big role and based the experience he had in the apartment to connect to his work.

In “A Bolt from the Blue”, Dr. Cicoria out of the sudden had a strong desire to listen to classical music despite not having a strong connection to it from his childhood. After his accident he came to realize the smaller things in life. His way of music has changed, he became more focused on the piano than ever before. He believes it was due to some sort of reincarnation but it could be linked to the brain based on various studies.

Technology has always been a topic for discussion; whether it’s about inventing a time machine, creating clones, or having fly cars and vehicles, there is always a starting point. This is what Matt Alt’s article about the Walkman explored, how technology has drastically changed over the years. The Walkman was the first of its own type, a device where we can only hear our own mix of music in private. My first experience with a device like this would be the IPod, my Dad used to have his Beats headphones so I would steal it to listen to my music. I received my IPod as a christmas gift and was immediately was drawn to how much a small device can do at the time. My parents also had this old radio/ music player box and it played a huge part in our family parties and gatherings. Surprisingly we still have it today and it works fine. In today’s world we can see how much technology and different devices had evolved. Now we have wireless headphones so we don’t worry about headphone wires getting tangled up or having to walk around with it. These early devices had a huge impact with modern technology today, it acted as the blueprint.

Headphones creates our own private space in our heads, we are able to cancel the sounds of the outside world. But it also introduces an issue with them and this is what Damon Krukowski discusses in his essay. When we have our headphones, most of the time we aren’t aware of our surroundings; often distracted by our favorite song that can eventually put us in danger. When I’m using public transportation, my headphones are essential. My mom always tell me to never put my volume up too high or just to keep one headphone on, I could say that her advice really stuck with me. I have no particular reason why, it probably has something to do with listening to my mom. However, living in the city that never sleeps sometimes I just need my headphones to cancel the outside world.