Office DJ: Jenni loves ‘Whistle’ and Riff Raff

Bruce Wayne. Hannah Montana. Me, Jenni Ciesielski.

What do all these names have in common? We all have a big secret.

Well, actually, I have two.

My first is that this technically isn’t my first playlist. Last semester, I made a presidential playlist for Obama’s visit to UNC, and a “Get Happy” playlist of songs to get you through finals.

But those playlists aren’t reflective of what I listen to.

Then again, neither is the music that shows up on my Spotify. Or, not really.

That’s secret number two.

When I considered doing an Office DJ article, I told my co-worker my music taste was probably too terrible for anyone to want to listen to. Their response was, “No it isn’t, you just listen to a lot of Motown.”

But about 80 percent of time, I turn on my private session, which is essentially the Chrome incognito of Spotify, to hide my awful music choices from my seven followers.

I probably don’t seem like the type of person people would expect to use the private session — I wouldn’t be surprised if someone who had taken classes with has made a voodoo doll of me to try to get me to shut up.

But I’m also a pretty private person. Almost all of my worst college memories involve those “crossing boundaries” character-building games that trick you into telling strangers secrets from when you were 12.

Yet here I am baring my “Glee”-filled soul because music isn’t something that should be judged. Looking at you, guy at Linda’s who gave me crap for 10 minutes straight after I told him my favorite musical is “Little Shop of Horrors.”

If you make it through the whole playlist, you may notice there aren’t really any slow songs on here (except “Careless Whisper,” which is the exception to every rule). That’s because I listen to my absolute trashiest music when I run.

Even people who post Facebook statuses about having a “runner’s high” know running sucks at least 30 percent of the time.

You’re sweaty. You want to go home but you’re in the middle of Carrboro. You’ve somehow managed to run into every attractive guy you know while you look dead.

That’s when I turn off whatever semi-respectable ’80s playlist I have and put on the “Mamma Mia” soundtrack and/or every cover of “Whistle” I know — I can’t help that I’m gross and tired, but I can make myself less miserable. I’m not here to make anything involving Riff Raff philosophical, but I feel like this is pretty applicable to life, especially at this point in the semester.

We’re in the home stretch, but we’re not there yet. And we’re tired.

So do something just for the purpose of bringing you happiness — even if that happiness comes in the form of realizing you still know all the words to an Eminem song you listened to in sixth grade —because we need it wherever we can get it right now.

@yayjennic

swerve@dailytarheel.com