Mix Tapes

Remember when we were younger, maybe in high school, and if you "liked" someone, you made him or her a mix tape? There was something really neat-o about those old school mix tapes, you know? I mean, I know that now we can download and upload and burn CDs for one another, and I have some pretty great CDs from some of you, but that's really not the same as a mix tape. I think that recording the tape takes more time and energy than simply clicking and dragging and burning. I have a mix tape that Cort made for me in college for my birthday, probably my 19th birthday. I still have it and listen to it occasionally, and I love it because it makes me think of her. One of the best things about it is that written on the label is "I love you, Drenu." That makes me really happy somehow. I bet she doesn't remember all this, but it still means a lot to me. Remember that scene in High Fidelity when John Cusack's character discusses the intricacies and nuances of making the perfect mix tape? There's something loving and meaningful and personal about it.

So I know all this sounds silly, but I'd been thinking about mix tapes lately and feeling kinda nostalgic for the early 90s. And then the last couple of days, I have been making mix tapes in my mind for each of you. And it's become this really interesting exercise. I mean, there are these songs that, for whatever reasons, I associate with particular people. My song for DW would have to be "Particle Man," for example. And my song for Stimerman would have to be that REM song "I am Superman." And this all becomes this fun, nostalgic exercise. So I've been thinking if I were to make a mix tape for each of you, what would it include? Or I'll hear a particular song and think, "This song is so totally so-and-so." There's just this affective association that I keep making.

I don't know. I long for the days of mix tapes.