Category: Entertainment

…in which I talk about the ultimate mix tape (er, CD).

Mix tapes, who among us that grew up in the 80’s (or ealier) hasn’t made at least one mix tape for a friend, platonic or otherwise. I used to make mix tapes for all of my friends simply because I had a more eclectic taste in music than most of my peers and I love to introduce people to new things. About seven years ago, my wife’s nephew was young, impressionable, and very interested in my tastes in music, so I made what can only be called the ultimate mix CD. It was the culmination of all of my musical history and design sensibilities. In an effort to keep this project alive years after it’s disappearance (as I have no idea where it lives at this time), I am going to repost the track listing as accurately as possible.

…in which I talk about nostalgia.

I have over 20,000 songs in my iTunes collection. Yes, that’s a lot of music! Every now and then I try to organize it, I try to define the genres, or create a “tag” structure for them, but really, the only organization that seems to work is simply rating them with stars. In order to do this, I have created several “Smart” playlists that keep the un-rated music flowing while I’m at my desk at work, while my iPod is constantly loaded with only rated music. That means, that while I’m out and about, I hear only the best music, but while I’m at work, I only hear songs I haven’t heard in a while (if ever). Every now and then, a song comes on that I completely forgot that I loved, and I’m taken back to a time in my past when that song was “important.” And sometimes, those moments extend into the internet, as I look for the important people from my past who have gone missing.