Project Valentine 2012, Day 10: Made Her a Mix CD

"Now, the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do's and don'ts. First of all you're using someone else's poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing."

"The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules."

From "High Fidelity"

I used to make mix CDs for Courtney pretty regularly when we were dating.  Is this a thing that people still do anymore?  In college, we made mix tapes, and then it was possible to burn your own CDs.  Do kids still do this, or do they just share iTunes playlists?

Anyway, the appeal of making a mix for somebody you're dating is severalfold.  First, it has an automatic appearance of thoughtfulness.  Second, it's a chance to make them think that you have good taste, or are at least kind of deep.  Third, they'll think of you every time they listen to it, or maybe even when they hear songs from it in a different context.

When we were dating, I'd try to make sure there were some good romantic tunes on there, but we also had some running jokes that I'd add fuel to with some of the selections, like how I'd always put at least one song by Queen, a group I like and she doesn't.  I would always end the CD with a version of "Dream a Little Dream of Me," which is kind of our song.

The last time I made her a CD, though, was probably before we were married.  I decided just to make this one focused and sweet.  Here's the playlist, which I'm sure at least one of my friends will find something in to poke fun at me about.

1. "I Only Want to Be With You" by Dusty Springfield
2. "I Only Have Eyes for You" by The Flamingos
3. "Sometime Around Midnight" by The Airborne Toxic Event
4. "The Origin of Love" by Rufus Wainwright
5. "When It's Love" by Van Halen
6. "Strong Enough (Live)" by Sheryl Crow, with The Dixie Chicks
7. "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton
8. "I Can't Explain" by The Who
9. "Don't Let Go" by Weezer
10. "Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus" by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin (I understand that this one isn't exactly a love song, but it is sexy as hell.)
11. "Just Really Wanna See You" by Shudder to Think
12. "Make You Feel My Love" by Adele
13. "I'm Still in Love with You" by Al Green
14. "Femme d'Argent" by Air
15. "Girl Like You" by The Wolfgang Press
16. "She is Staggering" by Polaris
17. "I've Got You Under My Skin" by Michael Buble
18. "(Just Like) Starting Over" by John Lennon

I was thiiis close to ending the CD with "Dream a Little Dream of Me" again, but then I felt like the Lennon song had some special significance to our station in life right now.  It's about making time to reconnect and renew your relationship.

Here's the stupid thing I did, though - I didn't make sure we actually had blank CDs, so she didn't get the CD until today.  She was excited to get it, though!