Music

My fave movie soundtracks:

Empire of the Sun [I don't have it on CD, though, so now I never listen to it]
Amadeus
The X-Files
Strange Days
Lost Highway [which I've never actually seen, I just have the soundtrack]

I can't really add the Star Wars soundtrack to this list, it's not like I can work on anything and listen to the bulk of it at the same time, which really does have to be my criteria for music. I listen to music all the time, but almost always while I'm doing something else. So, I select based not just on what I like, but what I need to do.

Vivaldi, in particular The Four Seasons, is superb for programming. Unless I'm tired. 3AM pulling an all-nighter? You can bet I've hauled out the Nine Inch Nails or Rammstein. When I was working at Alpine, you could identify specifically what I was doing: debugging, researching, writing fresh code, writing documentation, and whether or not I was tired, just by examining my musical selections. Loud obnoxious rock? Sidra stayed late and came in early.

Writing in general? Frequently I select music based on the mood I'm trying to work into the story. If I'm writing horror or something very dark, Nine Inch Nails is a consistently good selection. Writing fairy tales? Classical music -- perhaps Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Science fiction or fantasy? Almost anything, as long as it's not something that I have to jump up and sing along to. Being that I love to sing, that can be a real problem. Sometimes I have to simply stop for an hour, put on a musical choice, get the singing out of my system, and then go back to work. Other people take cigarette breaks. Whatever works.

Technical writing, like a how-to, or manual? Then I look for something very low-key and calm, as the point to this branch of writing is to be very factual and mood-less. Unless I'm allowed to have a sense of humor, which happens more when writing what I consider semi-technical material, like FAQ pages for a web site.

Anyways, if I were going to be stranded on a desert island and I could take 5 CDs with me? Set aside the whole fave music selection concept, my friend, I'd be looking for the audio edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Let's not even talk about if I could only take one book, friends and neighbors...