For me, receiving a mixed CD is probably the equivalent of getting one of those notes back in middle school* that were all folded up and each corner had a different little message. I loved a note that was filled with drawings and secrets on every inch of the page.
All for ME!
Well, all for me unless of course it was one of my girlfriend’s notes that she got from a boy who liked her. You KNOW she let me read every word. (Yes boys, we did/do that. Nothing is safe.)
Today it’s mixed CDs that make me feel so special. Each song is like a new little gift and the array of artists helps my A.D.D. to stay at bay. I love them so much that I just (after many years) got rid of some mixes from an old boyfriend. (Ok, let’s be honest, the songs are still in my iTunes. That would be like throwing little bundles of .99 cents away! Are you crazy?! But the actual, tangible COMPACT DISCS are no more.)
My current favorite mix is one that my friend Nicole made me for my birthday. She is a music guru and has a blog that introduces bands that she likes. If you want to be cool and hip, you will check it out. Since Nicole loves me and my weirdness, she titled my birthday mix Voices of Unicorns. It truly is a magical mix. Thank you Nicole.
Check out Nicole’s Blog: Cast Iron Songs
One of the many songs I loved on Nicole’s mix had an awesome video that I wanted to share. It is shot with all vintage film and makes me long for family and tradition. Which is perfect because I leave on Thursday to have a time of rest and vacation at home with my family. Happy Summer Everyone!
Band: Chief Song: Your Direction
Do you remember getting your first note, mixed tape (truly a labor of love) or mixed CD? Who was it from? Tell me EVERYTHING!
Oh really? You have a mix you want to send me? You shouldn’t have! Leave a comment and I will disclose how to send it. (Unless you creep me out.) Also, I only accept Mixed CD’s with personalized Sharpie messages and drawings. Preferably that of Unicorns.
Love and Respect (Now) is a division of Love and Respect. Please be considerate.
From My Heart
All of the Love and Respect Now Posts…In One Place!
Emerson & Sarah Eggerichs on Marriage, Parenting, Family of Origin, Work & Death
Fighting for Love (and Other Potentially Hazardous Cliches)
Joy (and Nicole),
Love the movie…love love love it. My favorite part are the mountain scenes because they are of Mammoth! (My family’s favorite getaway growing up). I half expected to see my own mom in the video.
Additionally, and this is really important, you should know that my first high school boyfriend made me a mix CD that contained Jars of Clay, The Newsboys and the OC Supertones. How I loved Christian ska.
Love,
Lesley
p.s. Have fun with the fam!
This isn’t the campiest of stories to share, but it’s just ironic that I’ve been thinking of the Mix Tape too… http://renewingruinedcities.blogspot.com/2010/06/mix-tape-track-one.html
thanks joy 🙂
i think the video is even better when you know this about it:
” This video compiled by Charles Russell of underdeveloped 16mm FILM he found in his grandparents garage. It is an intimate look inside his family history from the Rockwellian 50’s to the turbulence of the Vietnam War. It relates to “Direction” as the people of America were “trying to find their direction along with the entire country.”
the first mixtape i received was from my high school boyfriend. he was a drummer and it was a cassette tape with mxpx and who knows what else. it was high school and we listened to punk and ska and oldies..
the first mix tapes i distinctly remember making because i had to record from my old radio onto cassettes. i sat next to it with my hand hovering over the red record button so i could catch the song from beginning to end. ah the good ol days!
Ah! The mixed CD. It’s the best way to share with the person you like that you have good music taste and to express your true feelings by casually saying “uh track 16 reminds me of you” and putting on that song where the lyrics were practically written about your heart. Joy, if you aren’t careful I may send you one like that…what?
But, I got a mixed CD my freshman year of high school from a kid that sat next to me in Spanish. It had one song on it 18 times! Lifehouse, “Hanging by a moment”. The lyrics are pricesless and then creepy when you think about the fact that we didn’t know each other except to randomly practice verb conjugation when paired by the profesora.
ps. trendy mixed CD’s intimidate me.
My husband made me a mixed CD the week we met. I don’t remember anyone doing that for me before that. although my sister and I used to make them together when we were kids.
Now i have an MP3 player in my car, so its so much more work than a CD as it takes 100s of songs. When i first got my car, my husband and I weren’t in a relationship as we had broken up (we obviously got back together, eventually) but he made me a mixed MP3 disk with about 250 songs with every song that said something to me about the relationship we had had, or the friendship we were developing. It was amazing. I wish i knew where it had gone.
Now he makes me disks of music he likes that he seeps into my subconscious and i eventually like too
I do remember those mix tapes given to me by my first boyfriend and little folded notes given to me by my best friend way back when. I loved the specialness of something someone worked on for hours just for me. Especially the folded notes with jokes, special secrets or drawings written all over them. Ok, now I’m all nostaligic…Maybe I should start doing these kinds of things again? Yeah, I think so.
Alece – you were more excited about the devil music. I’m sure of it.
Lesley – I think I saw the supertones like three times. I did the little ska-kicking-pushing-yelling thing until I sweat as only a large 12 year old can sweat.
rcc- I read your post and am intrigued to read more of your blogs. Thanks
Nicole – Was ska just a Christian thing? Oh how special we were…
Hayley – pretty much the creepiest thing I have ever heard. I hope you said this to him: “mi hombre mexicano poco. usted me está haciendo muy incómoda y que huele a pies. Yo no te quiero más.”
Mary – 250 songs? I am glad you married him. I’d marry a man that put 10+ songs on a mix.
Jill – Yes, you should. We would all benefit from passing more notes throughout the day. Texts-schmexts.
alece thinks...
i grew up in a VERY legalistic home… and wasn’t allowed to listen to secular music. when a boy in 9th grade made me a mix tape of love songs, i was ecstatic. not sure if i was more excited that he liked me or that i had bootleg devil-music to listen to!
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