Poll: Stop the Music?

I have said some pretty outrageous things on this blog, but so far people seem to be "getting me". I have established a decent readership, my friends read this and hopefully have a little fun with it. That is pretty much the point -- outside of establishing myself as an A-list celebrity, landing my own reality show and creating the framework in which I single-handedly create world peace. Nobody really complained too much. Oh sure, an errant bellydancer once called me an ass, but no big whoop. (I still don't quite get what her point was.) Then yesterday I got such a shocker: Somebody doesn't like my music!!! That is correct, according to one of my FORMER readers: Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, Eartha Kitt, Edith Piaff, Ella Fitzgerald, Chuck Berry, etc. -- YOU SUCK!!!

About the music: I grew up in the sixties in a town called Decatur, Illinois. Decatur was/is known for being the "Soy Bean Capital of the World". I got up every morning and my folks tuned the Danish Modern radio into the local radio station "WSOY". I have fond memories of eating "Captain Crunch" and listening to songs by Herman and the Hermits, the Tijuana Brass and The New Vaudeville Band. I remember skipping off to school, staring down at my new go-go boots and singing "These Boots are Made for Walking" (Probably right before falling directly on my ass -- coordination never having been my strong suit). So when I was surfing through some other blogs I stumbled upon a FREE MUSIC player. I just knew my blog needed this. I imagined that "Joannafesto" could become even greater and I ventured to create a whole gestalt -- a "Joannafesto Experience" of sorts. I added the songs of my youth and WSOY to my playlist, and then as inspiration struck me. Just to mix things up, I put the playlist on shuffle. No one complained and a couple of you even ENCOURAGED me. Then yesterday somebody posted on my article regarding the destruction of the Gulf of Mexico by BP that I needed to rid my blog of the music or I WOULD LOSE A READER. This person prefers his OWN music.

Once I picked myself up off the floor from my shock of these disparaging comments, I thoughtfully considered them. The truth of the matter is that I have been thinking of ditching the music for quite awhile. My friends are a sneaky, subversive lot and I know a lot of you are "sneak reading" this at work. I realize the music makes it harder to sneak-a-peek at work if you forget to turn-off the volume on your computer and Chuck Berry starts to wail when you are supposed to be doing the quarterly reports. I was considering removing the music as it was, pardon the pun, played-out. Then someone threatened me with a loss of readership-- primarily his -- if I did not stop the music. This would bring my entire readership down from three people to two (not including me, of course), so representationally if I didn't get rid of the music I risked losing 1/3 of my readership. BUT, alas and alack, I grew-up in the sixties and have this whole rebel-with-out-a-clue thing that clicks off and on when someone tries to MAKE me do something. Thus, I prepared to dig in my heels and NEVER STOP THE MUSIC on "Joannafesto". Then I realized that if I did EITHER THING -- keep or lose the music -- I would be letting ONE reader have entirely too much control over my blog. So in the spirit of democracy I am putting this issue to a vote. I can't promise I will do what ANYBODY tells me to do -- but I might. So cast your vote NOW or forever hold your peace (Or at least locate the volume controls on your computer. There is also a button on the pink box at the bottom of my blog with double vertical lines. If you press it, it shuts off the music.).