As you’ve noticed (I hope!) my posting has been sparse (er, nonexistent) over the past few days, but it was for a good cause. My cousin got married up in Albany, and I was maid of honor. Which by the way, was a total honor. But that’s besides the point. Also, on Thursday, I drove to another cousin’s house in Connecticut to spend time with my dad’s three brothers and their wives (and my dad, but I see him all the time). So I didn’t really have a whole lot of time for posting, since within the past 4 days, I logged 9 hours of drive time in my car. For me, the best way to pass that time is with the right driving soundtrack.

You’re shocked I’m sure.

This is vitally important to me though, because one of the things I really like to avoid is scanning through local radio stations and trying to find something to pass my time. Because inevitably, I never do. Well, it’s rare anyway. And once I do find a good station, it lasts maybe 20 minutes, and it fades. This is especially bad in the mountains, which I go through to get to Albany.

Besides, I love having a soundtrack to my travels. And not only the long ones. Sometimes it’s equally as important to add a soundtrack to my regular errands, like going to the mall for instance. It might actually be more important to my sanity, honestly, because it keeps me calm when people cut me off or steal the parking spot I was going for.

So, when the driving gets long, I make CD’s. And what I put on said CD’s could be the difference between a ticket for driving too fast on the Hutch and keeping my sanity when the BMW from New Jersey is tailgating me at 80 MPH, while I’m in the middle of passing someone. (Um, yeah, sometimes nothing helps the driving too fast….)

So, here is some of the music I listen to and avoid in the car.

First, I tend to avoid the angry stuff that I love so much for running. Because while running requires some aggression, driving should not. The exact reason why I like Rob Zombie and White Zombie (and anything else Zombie) for running is why I avoid it for driving. You want to see road rage? That could do it.

I also tend to avoid the song “Kryptonite” by Five For Fighting. Not that it’s an issue now, because it’s never on the radio anymore and I don’t really do Five For Fighting, but there was a point in my history when every time I heard that song in the car I almost got into an accident. So, yeah, that’s been banished from my car.

Next, I avoid “The Distance” by Cake, for reasons similar to my avoiding of Rob Zombie in all his forms. Just substitute the “angry” words for “speeding” words and you’ll get the point.

So what do I listen to? Anything that makes me happy. This would be bands I absolutely love, songs that are poppy and fun and keep me awake. It also includes classical music, if someone has seriously ticked me off. Christian music is always good, because it’s very hard to get angry at your fellow drivers when you’re singing at the top of your lungs about love and forgiveness and all the other “positive, encouraging” (yes I stole that from K Love) messages that go along with it. Although, it has happened before.

And (quite reluctantly) I’m going to have to add bluegrass to this list. I was listening to A Collision by David Crowder Band on the way up to Albany, and I was really surprised at how much fun it is to listen to banjo music while hurtling down the Thruway at speeds I shouldn’t have been going.

So, there you have it. My relatively un-specific guide to music that will get me from Point A to Point B with relatively little damage to my car, my driving record, and most importantly my blood pressure.

Note: I realized I got my Superman songs mixed up. Even I can do that sometimes right?? “Kryptonite” was the song by Three Doors Down. That’s the one that’s banished from my car. There is also a song called “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” by Five for Fighting. That one is also banished from my car because it’s boring. They’re both about Superman AND the bands both have numbers in their names. After the weekend I had, things got a little hazy. Whoops!