Can I make you a mix?

 

 “There are millions of songs in the world, and millions of ways to connect them into mixes.” 

Love is Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield

As much as I love my iPod I miss the days of mix tapes. I used to love taping songs off the radio (especially if it was the newest NKOTB song or maybe something by Martika). Part of the joy of radio taping is that you’d occasionally get a DJ talking over the song or cutting to a commercial before the end—you capture a little bit of history. The best part of making a mix tape is that you get to listen to the music come together. When you burn a playlist onto a CD you technically don’t have to listen to it. But with a tape, you listen, you time the songs and if you don’t think it sounds good, you start all over again. You know why I love road trips so much? Because I can make mixes for them. There’s nothing better than driving down some highway in the middle of nowhere and singing along (loudly) to a great song. Seriously, call me if you’re going on a road trip. I will make you a perfect mix. I promise.

I’ve been making mix tapes forever. I love the idea of taking a group of songs that can’t be found together in nature and putting them into some order that makes absolute sense. And by sense, I mean the sense that exists in my brain. I’m certain that many people who have received my mixes over the years (or who have heard them and don’t know me) think that I’m insane. What reasonable person puts together a mix that moves from Olivia Newton-John and ELO’s “Xanadu” to Dylan’s “Meet Me in the Morning” to “Scenario” by Tribe Called Quest? Why does that even make sense? If I was walking down the street listening to that mix I would feel sublimely happy and invincible. And that is why it makes sense.

I’m participating in a 30-Day photo challenge on the FB and today’s photo challenge was music. I was digging through a box a few days ago and found a bunch of mix tapes. Some were from college, one was for a trip to Gulfport with my friend Mary (right before we evacuated for Katrina) and one was from just a few years ago. I decided that these tapes would be the basis of my picture for the challenge. Of course, that got me thinking about mixes and my love affair with them.

You can make a mix for anything—driving around on a Tuesday, cleaning the house, drinking margaritas on the porch, got a bad haircut, birthday surprises—I could go on. I’ve never made a mix for a boy I liked (although I’ve made many a mix when a boy has broken my heart or that of a friend). I don’t receive many mixes either. I’ve always found that strange but maybe people think I won’t like them. (Which is totally wrong—send me your mixes friends!) I tend to make mixes for friends and for myself.  I love the personality of a mix tape (and I call mix CDs tapes—it’s the way it should be). When you select songs you’re telling a story and making connections that the artist may not have intended to make. You can create a mood and a time that only exists when you listen to that mix.

I’ve probably made the most mix tapes for my friend, Anita. Anita and I have been friends since the 7^th grade and while we share musical love for certain artists and songs we’re probably as different musically as two friends can be. Anita is Peter, Paul and Mary; I’m the Ramones.

Anita happens to have musical talents (she sings, plays guitar) while I just fantasize about forming a band, including coming up with a name (Transient Suburbia is my favorite). Anita also gets why I love the song “Africa” by Toto. If you can work Kilimanjaro and Serengeti into a pop song you win. Anyway, Anita doesn’t describe my mixes as “insane” but as “Educational, a hug from a good friend from far away, quirky, each one has its own personality with it's own mood.” Anita gets it and she makes a mean mix herself. I’m also fairly certain that Anita enjoys my version of liner notes. I can’t help myself; I have to write a little something about every song I put on a mix.

We also share a love of the book Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield. If you haven’t read this book you should go out and get it as soon as you’re done reading this. It’s heartbreaking and fantastic and funny and amazing. I’ve probably read it 10 times and I cry every time. Rob Sheffield is a music writer and the book chronicles the story of how Rob and his wife, Renee, met and feel in love all to the soundtrack of the music they both loved. Along the way, Rob shares the mix tapes they made for each other and the music they discovered together (like Pavement). At their wedding, Rob and Renee danced to one of my favorite songs of all time “Thirteen” by Big Star. (I always thought I’d dance to that song at my wedding.) One of the things I love about this story and Rob and Renee is that they listen to everything—I do too. And they talk about music like I do—in moments and pieces and emotions. It's not just about the song. Be warned—it’s also a sad story. I don’t want to ruin it for you but it devastates me.

Every time I read Love is a Mix Tape or make a new mix myself, I think about the music I love, the music I hate and everything in between. I have specific memories I relate to songs or parts of songs. Sometimes it’s a lyric or a riff that’s the best part. I even remember who introduced me to certain bands (thank you Aunt Pat for Dylan and Bowie and to my brother for Metallica and the Cure and Huey Lewis and the News). And I love introducing a new band or song to someone. You really get to know a person when you know what music they love. I have never understood a person who says they don’t like music or who sits still while listening to a brass band play. What is wrong is with you? I'm not sure we can be friends.

There are tons of books and websites devoted to making mixes and people argue about “the rules” of mixes. I don’t really believe in “the rules.” I like to put whatever I feel works on a mix even if it means that two songs from the same artist might be on the same mix. What can I say? I’m a rebel (or a “Rebel, Rebel”).

As I write this I’m working on a new mix for Anita (a very belated birthday mix to go with her very belated birthday present—sorry) and have been listening to a new mix I put together after returning from Hong Kong. 

I call it “Remedy for Jet Lag”:

1.     One Engine—The Decemberists (from The Hunger Games soundtrack—I’m so excited about this movie)

2.     Little Talks—Of Monsters and Men

3.     “Heroes”—David Bowie

4.     There Is A Light That Never Goes Out—The Smiths

5.     Barton Hollow—The Civil Wars

6.     Magic—Olivia Newton-John

7.     Find My Freedom—Johnny Sketch & The Dirty Notes

8.     Lonely Boy—The Black Keys

9.     Xanadu—ELO and Olivia Newton-John

10. Channel Z—The B-52’s

11. The Engine Driver—The Decemberists

12. Cherry, Cherry—Neil Diamond

13. I’ve Got This Friend—The Civil Wars

14. Bigmouth Strikes Again—The Smiths

15. Rox In The Box—The Decemberists

16. Whenever You’re Away From Me—Olivia Newton-John & Gene Kelly

17. It’s My Life—Talk Talk

18. Alex Chilton—The Replacements

19. I’m Alive—ELO

20. Portland Oregon—Loretta Lynn & Jack White

(I was in a very Xanadu mood when I got back. I have no idea why.)

A final thought from Rob Sheffield’s Love is a Mix Tape:

I’d rather hear a Frank Sinatra song between Run-DMC and Bananarama than between two other Frank Sinatra songs. When you stick a song on a tape, you set it free.”  

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Rob Sheffield’s website: http://www.robsheffield.com/

The Spinster Returns

Clearly Pumpkin is thrilled that I'm home. She was really excited the first day but the enthusiasm has waned. Sleeping 18 hours is a full time job and I would hate for her to lose any valuable time just because I'm home.

Alameda, I've missed you! Driving 25 mph is just a delight and to not feel a little boxed in by buildings is a nice homey touch. I think I've adjusted to the time change (stayed up until 9:45 my first night back-wild and crazy I know). I've been to the store and done laundry; I can't let a suitcase sit for too long. I'm feeling productive but am so glad I took an extra day off this week.

I spent my last day in Hong Kong as a proper tourist (and apparently British). I took the Big Bus Tour of two areas: Aberdeen and Kowloon. The Aberdeen route took me all the way to Stanley and to its famous market. The pictures I posted over the last few days are way better than any description I could ever write. I would love to go back and spend more time everywhere; I didn't go up on the Peak Tram or see any of the beautiful temples.

A few favorite things from my trip:

• I took about 9 taxi rides while I was in Hong Kong. I added up the total fares and converted it to US dollars and it came to about $60. That would get me to San Francisco from my apartment. Not a round trip just to the city. Sigh.
• China Airlines and EVA Airlines have "action figures" of their flight attendants and crew available for sale in the duty free magazine. They're pretty awesome (China Airlines uniforms are amazingly pretty too). Anyway, I didn't purchase them and now I'm a little annoyed with myself. 
• Table tennis on tv. When I got in on Sunday I was tired so I decided to watch a little tv and rest a bit before venturing out. Table tennis was on. I watched the Chinese Table Tennis Super League for about a half hour. If only I could have found a t-shirt with that on it...
• Skinny jeans and leggings as pants are universal fashion items. They're still awful no matter where you live. Note to woman on the flight to Taipei from SFO: tights and leggings are two different things. Please remember to wear pants if you're not going to wear leggings.
• Navigation was extremely easy. I get lost in Oakland all the time but I never got lost in Hong Kong.
• Pacific Coffee Company kicks Starbucks's ass every day of the week. If only we had them here. I also appreciate the Neil Diamond song on my first day of training (I take that as a good omen to start the day) and the random quotes on the board.
• Going to Lucy's in the Stanley Market. The place is probably the size of my living room and is both accessible to tourists and clearly for the "ladies who lunch" crowd of ex-pats living in Stanley. With the exception of the teenager having lunch with his mom and the children at the table next to me, I was the youngest patron by about 10 years.
• At the airport I was asked to take a survey about my stay in Hong Kong. When asked my marital status, the options included single or unmarried. Thank you Hong Kong tourism board for being modern and sensitive to the awfulness of the word "spinster." I don't care if it is a British term; I read Bridget Jones's Diary so I know it's in no way a positive thing.

And finally my favorite and least favorite quote of my trip:
"At Chevy's they give you free chips." American woman dining at Agave, the Mexican restaurant I tried on day 3. Seriously? This might be one reason people in other countries hate us.

Even at Stanley Market I found owls. Isn't he adorable?

Last day in Hong Kong

Market near my hotel

Stanley Market

On the bus

For my last day in Hong Kong, I decided to take a bus tour around the city. I took two tours: from Central to Stanley (to shop at Stanley Market) and the Star Ferry to Kowloon. Below are some of my favorite photos from the day.

Junk boat in Victoria Harbour

Cemetery on the way to Aberdeen

Outside Stanley Market

Flower stand near Stanley Market

Restaurant in Kowloon

Out in Wan Chai

Not as good as Mutzig but it'll do.

Enjoyed Hay-Hay Kitchen

The "red light district"-it's sort of like a tame Bourbon Street.

Last night in Wan Chai. Tomorrow I head to Stanley Market (I have to do some shopping), the Peak, Kowloon (hopefully) and a ride on the Star Ferry.

I didn't even have to bring it with me!

Hong Kong in pictures

My first meal (wonton noodles)

Victoria Harbour

Hello from Hong Kong! I arrived safely on Sunday and have been enjoying the city ever since. It's an amazing place. Work has been great and I'm looking forward to my day off on Friday. I'm planning on taking a tour of Hong Kong (not sure which route I'm going to take) and doing some shopping at Stanley Market. I have a lot to talk about but haven't put it all into words yet so I thought I'd post some photos I've taken so far. Enjoy!

Oh thank heaven...

High rises are the norm here. It's amazing to see.

 

 

 

Meditation

 

 

 

 

Wan Chai

 

The Spinster

The word spinster calls to mind a very specific image for most people—old lady, surrounded by dozens of cats in a rocking chair. I also think of Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson and Harper Lee. Amazing writers and all considered spinsters. Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility comes to mind too. Elinor isn't actually a spinster but if events hadn't played out the way that they did in the novel, she probably would have been one. Elinor, Jane, Emily and Harper are much more acceptable images (I guess).

I would never use the word “spinster” to describe myself or anyone else I know. I’m heading to Hong Kong this weekend for a trip and because it I’ll be working while I’m there I had to apply for a visa. One of the fields on the application is marital status. The options are Married, Divorced, Bachelor and Spinster. And the field is required. In the eyes of the government of Hong Kong I’m a spinster. Awesome. 

I’m not sure why the option couldn’t just be “single” or “unmarried.” Either of these seem acceptable and little nicer. I guess government forms aren’t really designed with niceness in mind. My family and friends have enjoyed this more than they should. I’ve decided that this will be my anecdote to tell at cocktail parties and when I meet new people. It may be a bit too self-deprecating but it's still funny.

Next stop: Hong Kong! Hopefully, I'll be able to post next week from there.

Bowling with strangers

And so the year of the friend begins! This weekend is jam packed with friend activities—totally unintentional given my post last week. It just happened to happen this way.

As I wrote last week, I joined a Meetup group and signed up to attend a bowling event last night. I’ve had mixed feeling towards Meetup since I first moved to Alameda. I joined a book club that was canceled before we even met. Of course, I had read the book (and hated it) so I was annoyed and wasted valuable book time. I also joined a live music group (people meet up to go to concerts) but was creeped out by some of the messages I got from members related to bands I liked and was interested in seeing. Dude, Meetup is not a dating site. Anyway, I decided to try again. This new group’s profile page screamed friendly and not creepy. Perfect.

I also really like bowling. I'm not great at it but I do alright. We used to go bowling a lot in high school and my older brother and I go every now and then. Bowling is fun. Think about it: it requires special shoes, you can drink if you want, bowling alley food is pretty great and there’s usually classic rock playing. You don’t even have to be a good bowler to have a good time. That’s probably what I like most about bowling.

People (and by people I mean the people in my office) are always a little surprised to find out that Alameda has its own bowling alley. Why wouldn’t it? We have a Burmese restaurant and enough liquor stores for everyone to have their own so we might as well have a bowling alley. I was the second person to arrive and almost immediately I met one of the organizers of our Meetup—super friendly, good at small talk and a lifelong Alamedan. We even work near one another (just a few blocks away). We waited for two other girls (another newbie and the other organizer). After introductions, we got our lane and shoes. (And got a great discount on two games—less than $9 for two games and shoes. That’s bananas.)

 We had to share our pod with a group of guys that I have not quite figured out yet. There was skinny jeans guy, long hair hippie guy, Hawaiian shirt guy and random guy. None of them seemed to fit together. How did they meet? Did they always bowl together? They were neither terrible nor good bowlers but seemed annoyed that they had to move out of our seats so we could start playing. The group at the lane on the other side of us was friendlier; one guy in their group even gave our least experienced bowler some tips (and cheered for her when she did well). As an aside, gentlemen don’t wear skinny jeans. Seriously, they don’t look good on anyone.

As we bowled we got to know one another. Three of us are not from Alameda but the other two have been here longer than me. We work in a variety of industries (one girl even described her co-workers as the guys from The Big Bang Theory—heart.) None of us were terrible bowlers but we weren’t great either. I think that made it more fun—if one of us had dominated than it might have taken a more competitive less friendly turn. We cheered each other on, came up with the “sympathy pin theory” (you don’t come close to hitting a pin but you still get a point—really?) and laughed a lot. The other new girl shared that bowling had been her PE class in college (like my mom!) and she had some skills. It wasn’t awkward and didn’t feel forced (I was thinking this might happen). At the end of the night we discussed doing this more frequently (maybe once a week) because we had such a good time.

I enjoyed myself. They were very nice and we were able to keep the conversation going with the basics of getting to know one another and bowling encouragement. I’m sure that I’ll hang out with them again and go to more Meetup events with this group. It was fun to get out of the house, have a drink and bowl. No one ever thinks to go bowling but always has a good time when they do; I like that a lot.

I was a tad disappointed in my bowling skills: I did terrible in the first game (came in 3^rd) but I redeemed myself in the second game and won. I was a little surprised by my competitive thoughts (all of which were internal). I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.

I started my day yesterday by quoting Grease 2 on the Facebook (“Tonight, we bowl.”) This has absolutely nothing to do with bowling with strangers but it’s awesome anyway. Watching the bowling song, “Score Tonight”, three questions come to mind: 

1. Were teenagers in the 60s all in bowling leagues with coordinated outfits? 
2. Do the nuns realize what they're singing about? Hint: it's not about bowling.
3. Did the director or choreographer seriously expect us to believe that those bowling balls are real?