You’ll often hear some great conductor talk about how, as a child in the 40s, he would sit around listening to scratchy recordings of symphonies and be completely moved by the music. Or you might hear some artist talk about how he would stand outside of a private garden just to get a distant view of the sculptures within.

This has always seem like a very foreign reaction to me. I mean, I like music, but not enough to listen to scratchy, crappy recordings of it. And I would probably walked past a garden of statues even if it was open to public. I like art, but I’m not obsessively moved by it. Does this mean there’s something wrong with me? Does this mean I have no chance of ever being a “great” artist? I don’t know; I don’t really care. I made a pretty good hashbrowns, bell pepper and garlic mix for breakfast, so I’m happy enough.

If you like scratchy recordings of old music, the Library of Congress is now letting the public stream pretty much every song in their collection via this website. I’m listening to something called the “Hayseed Rag” right now.