Tonight I laid aside the never-ending mango shawl I am crocheting and picked up the mantle my mother had thrown (and an old toothbrush). It was time to tackle the mold that had steadily taken over my bathtub. I used another of my wise mother's tricks (a little tri-sodium phosphate mixed with bleach and applied to the tile and grout with an old toothbrush). The woman definitely knows how to get things clean. I also managed to unscrew my tub drain, heretofore a deed I thought impossible, and slew the slimy, hairy thing that grew beneath it. Yuck. Even over all the bleach fumes I've been inhaling, I think I can still smell that. Now my bathtub is gleaming white.
I decided I needed some tunes whilst I cleaned, so I dug out an old mix tape I made my senior year of high school. The one I chose is entitled, "The Boxing Nuns," I was always giving mixed tapes silly names. It says on the inside that I made this for my friend Sarah, who was my co-counsel for Mock Trial that year. Along side my note to her is a quote:
Music wipes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. (Unknown)
Aren't I sweet? Although I have no idea if a copy ever made it to her. And there is a sticker of a bug. All very me circa 1999.
I miss making mixed tapes. I used to obsess over them. I'd start off thinking about a couple of songs that I thought would sound good in a row. In whatever class I was in, I'd flip ahead a few pages and start scribbling ideas. Then I would scour the public library's music collection, and those of my friends, and begin compiling my sources. I took my mixes as seriously as I would a term paper. Don't forget to site your sources! The beauty was listening to the songs as they record and think about the array of songs you'd picked out and try and find the best one to follow. It was very organic and you had to spend hours doing it. I still get itches in the middle of something and start writing down a playlist, but iPods and mp3s have kind of killed the romance of the mix tape. Now it's all too easy. I rarely listen to a song all the way through while creating a play list. Now you can randomize things. There is no need for a structure.
Anyhow, this one is very heavily influenced by the Big Chill soundtrack and my Dad, and my friends Cristina and Becky (b/c of the Boss and the Band). Though each particular song makes me think of a specific person or time. I thought I'd share the playlist, because it seems a very blog-thing to do.
Side A:
Rosalita-- Bruce Springsteen
Muddy Water-- Keb' Mo'
Every Breath You Take-- The Police
Dreams-- Fleetwood Mac (god, I was so into FM when I was 17)
Feel a Whole Lot Better-- Tom Petty
Can't Cry Anymore-- Sheryl Crowe
Linger Awhile-- Sarah Vaughn
Running on Faith-- Eric Clapton
Midnight Train to Georgia-- Gladys Knight and the Pips (a family standard for car trips)
Reunion-- Indigo Girls
Talking 'Bout a Revolution-- Tracy Chapman
Side B:
Stay (Wasting Time)-- Dave Matthews Band (it felt obligatory at the time to put this on there, but it's a good song)
The Joker-- Steve Miller Band
Always on My Mind-- Willie Nelson*
Whiter Shade of Pale-- Procol Harum
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down-- The Band
Stand By Me-- Ben E. King
Bright Side of the Road-- Van Morrison
Sweetest Thing-- U2
Don't Get Around Much Anymore-- Etta James
Reason to Believe-- Rod Stewart*
Here Comes My Baby-- Cat Stevens
Ooh, La, La-- The Faces (probably bad mix tape feng shui to put two Rod Stewart songs so close together, but I don't think I knew at the time he was in the Faces)
*These two songs I put on expressly because of my mother. She always made us listen to a Willie Nelson tape and a Rod Stewart tape on car trips. We made fun of her at the time, though it's amazing how the music your parents listen to wriggle into your subconscious and take root.
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