I discovered iTunes yesterday and it's going to cost me.

I'm hoping for an iPod for my birthday so I surfed over to iTunes during lunch just to see what the site was all about. (Yes, I know I'm light years behind in embracing digital music technology, but I'm blaming it on my advancing age and subsequent tendency to be wary of any new-fangled technological stuff.)

I ended up buying 10 songs and burning my first digital music CD -- all before I was done eating my salad. The bargain shopper in me just could not resist the price -- 99 cents a song -- and the control freak in me couldn't resist the ability to create my own custom CD -- filled with all the songs I love.

Do you know how many CDs I've bought only to find that I only like ONE song on them? iTunes will put an end to that. Just a few quick clicks and 99 cents charged to my credit card and I get just what I want.

Music has always been central to my life -- the radio is always on in our house and in my car. I listen to music while I work, while I run, while I garden ... and there's really not a genre I don't like. My CD collection runs the gamut from Abba to Kid Rock to Tracy Lawrence to Eminem. For the most part, my choice in music is determined by my mood.

I've been dreaming up the perfect compilations ever since -- maybe a running music CD full of thumping rock songs that make me run faster; an 80s mix for a friend's birthday; a country-rock music mix for the husband; the perfect holiday CD for Mom ....

The only problem is that I'm on an old slow computer at home -- and I'm on dial-up. Ugh. I don't even want to think about how long it might take to download music there. So, now, I'm seriously thinking about buying a new, faster computer (maybe even spluring on wi-fi).

Yes, this new fangled techonology is going to cost me.