Collective Experiences

Then I'd go home and start drinking gin & tonics while spending hours crafting mix tapes for friends of mine from back home. I'd finish the tape and then play it from start to finish, all while closing my eyes and imagining I was that person who had received the tape and was listening to the songs for the first time in an order that, somehow, meant something to me. I probably made 50 of these tapes, of which 2 I actually mailed. And then I'd spend hours writing extensive liner notes for each song. And each tape more than likely included We All Love Peanut Butter by the One Way Streets, Sweet Cherry Wine by Tommy James and the Shondells, Knock Me Down by the Outlets and Walking in the Rain by the Ronettes, as those were my mix tape slices du jour for that time period. - XMASTIME

I'm not great at watching shows and shit on Hulu or dvds et al; there's always some weird feeling of liking to watch it when there are tons of other people watching it at the same time. I don't know why this sometimes means something to me. I mean, they're just pre-recorded shows or whatever. But these days, even with everybody's iPods and whatnot, there's still something special about when a song comes on the radio, isn't it? I mean, I've prolly heard Jungeland 10 million times. But few were as oddly thrilling as just now, when I turned on the radio and the song was starting.  I was lying in complete darkness, and that first sax note in the middle hits like a wave, and immediately wafts into the air of imagined NYC streets from the mid-70's to early 80's soaking wet at nighttime. Somehow that particular sound makes me think of every show from the early 80's, in a "it reminds me of Moonlighting" kinda way. And it makes the ol' "I wonder who else is hearing this right here, right now, at this exact moment as I am? What are they thinking about right now?" that much more compelling. Just like my making mix tapes, and then wondering what the person would be thinking when they listened.