1996

In January of 1996 while living in Oxford, Mississippi I made $479 every two weeks - I bought every cd I saw, ate out 3 times a day (including the "Love Me Tender" and toasted ravioli from...awww, cant remember the name of the joint...starts with a C, something...awwww, fuck it), and would still have money left over by the next payday. But it's also the only time, before or since, when I felt like I didn't have any friends. I was very alone for the first time in my life, and 1000 miles from home.

Every day I'd work til 5pm, then walk over to Square Books, where I'd sit for a coupla hours and read every dumb book in the rock 'n roll section (heady reading) while drinking free refill after free refill of sweet tea. 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.

1996. A lonely time.