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.

while i've always loved making mixes, the above quote, as well as the rest of "high fidelity", shaped the compilation cd creating process for me. i used to make mixes all the time, but haven't in eons, mostly due to the fact that i lack a burner on my laptop in d.c. but since i'm here and have access to my trusty desktop computer, which has diligently created many a mix for yours truly, i decided to get back into it and make myself the july 2003 mix (or, considering that i had so much fun playing around with what tracks to put on it, july 2003 mix vol. 1). i'm quite pleased with the results, although i was sticking strictly with mp3s, which limited some of my choices for selections (as you can see, there is no mraz on the tracklisting, perhaps the biggest flaw with an otherwise stellar compilation, if i do say so myself).

what did i decide to put on it, you ask? well let me tell you:

1. howie day - daysay - beer song (live)
2. averi - garden of eden
3. rufus wainwright - moulin rouge
4. tori amos - cornflake girl (live in denver - 10.11.99)
5. dave matthews band - #41
6. janis joplin - me and bobby mcgee
7. natalie merchant - son of a preacher man (live at lilith fair)
8. jane horrocks & ewan mcgregor - you're just in love
9. god street wine - when the melody plays
10. blues traveler - canadian rose
11. ani difranco - not a pretty girl
12. andrew sutherland - untitled (or, at least, i don't know the title - instrumental)
13. beatles - instant karma
14. ani difranco - when doves cry (live prince cover)
15. remy zero - twister
16. guster - barrel of a gun
17. simon & garfunkel - the sound of silence
18. howie day - fake plastic trees (live radiohead cover - 4.15.00)

i am currently in the process of searching for a blank cd so i can burn this baby and have it for my musical enjoyment while i trapse around the area in my car ... hurrah!

while on my search for a blank cd, however, i stumbled across a fantastic compilation my brother has in his possession - yet another example of how tom manages to impress me with random gems of music. a tori compilation his ex-girlfriend made for him back in the day that i NEED to copy. check this out:

1. precious things
2. happy phantom
3. tear in your hand
4. take to the sky
5. pretty good year
6. the waitress
7. cornflake girl
8. honey
9. mr. zebra
10. blood roses
11. caught a light sneeze
12. samauri
13. raspberry swirl
14. hotel
15. bachelorette
16. concertina
17. riot proof
18. here in my hand

are you as impressed as i am? i thought so! beth, i am going to certainly make you a copy of this treasure.

hmm ... what else to report? oh yeah! add to my list from last night of random realizations - i meant to add that i came across a setlist from an averi show, but i have no recollection of taking said setlist ... i don't remember if i was given the setlist (for some reason, i'm thinking michelle gave it to me since i couldn't be at a show, but i don't recall for sure) or if i acquired it at a show i attended ... for anyone particularly averi savvy, does this setlist sound familiar?

tendencies of a hypochondriac
numb
flutter (stu solo)
more than what i need
waiting for a ghost
the time it takes to disappear
this liminal life (album ending)
she waits

????? it's written on back of a piece of paper that lists "what they're saying about averi" - including such quotes like, "these four talented young musicians display a penchant for strong songwriting, superb musicianship and great vocals" - metronome magazine (obviously from before the band grew to five members), "averi is the future of pop in new england (and likely beyond)" - bostonherald.com, "a musical mind or someone simply looking for entertainment would both agree on the talent of these four musicians" - the suffolk journal, "a major contributor to [the] enjoyment of averi's performance was definitely the skill that went into everything, making their music seem so polished and clean without being typical" - the crusader (holy cross), "[averi's latest cd] brings you back to the early 90s when boston rock meant something" - fat city magazine and "averi's music just gets you in smile-happy mood ... a rare found collaboration of instruments" - the suffolk journal. (i put these in here primarily, i admit, to encourage anyone who happens to stumble across this blog to check the band out or further urge anyone who's simply heard of the band to listen to some tracks or hit up a show!!! plug, plug, plug ...) i was obviously delighted to come across said setlist, but i was thoroughly befuddled ...

anyone with access to the rutland herald tomorrow might have the opportunity to laugh heartily at my expense, as i ran into a.j., the herald's photographer (and guy who used to tease me constantly when he covered my high school sports and other events) while checking out the sidewalk sales in rutland early this afternoon. i became his "model" and he took a plethora of photographs, so i'm frightened to see if i make it into the pages. i mentioned to him that i'd just come from dropping off resumes at the newspaper (as in about fifteen minutes prior to our encounter) and he picked on me constantly and wound up encouraging to buy two more shirts than i'd intended. damn the pressure!!! it was great, though - i love random t shirts and wound up coming across a booth with a ton of random ones, each going for one or two dollars each. so i picked up a green shirt emblazoned with "portland parks & rec girls softball", a franklin pierce baseball t (primarily so i could wear it and tease my brother, who went to franklin pierce before deciding to transfer to emerson) as well as a huge field hockey shirt (this was an a.j. encouraged purchase - he said it would make a great nightshirt and said i HAD to get it once i exclaimed with delight that it was #13, my old soccer number and favorite number in the world) and a red pinkerton soccer jersey (the other a.j. purchase, but i knew i had to have it because it was A) bright red B) a soccer jersey and C) emblazoned with pinkerton, which made me think of weezer, so i instantly loved it. i know, music whore, music whore, not to mention the second connection i made with it - weezer makes me think of "if you want to destory my sweater" which makes me think of ... well, you know. pathetic am i!!!!).

so it has been a day of resume submitting, shopping and cd burning, as well as some more resume writing - i'm feeling so productive - i know, scary, right?

i've also come to terms with the addiction i'd forgotten to comment on - add to the list of gum and lip gloss dunkin donuts french vanilla iced coffee. it's become sick, really - i can't not indulge in it! so today, when i stopped at the dunkies next to sofas & more (i do not go to the one by bowlerama anymore, as it's always bitter and nasty, not to mention i always get grief from the people there for not wanting cream in it - i'm making things easier for them, so why question it???) as i always do, they asked if i wanted my french vanilla (i told you it was sick!) and i said yes, but upon viewing the size selection and prices, i decided to just full out accept my addiction and buy one of the summer sipper cups filled with my french vanilla goodness, as it was only an extra thirty cents or something like that. now if you've seen these beasts, you know why i'm commenting on it. it probably holds ... hmm ... let me check.

*running over to sipper cup to check size*
*gasping at the realization of just how big it is*
*returning to computer*

it holds 34 ounces. 34 ounces of black french vanilla iced coffee. you'd think i'd be bouncing off the walls after consuming that much caffeine, yes? oh, no - calm, cool as a cucumber, i contentedly consumed and catered to my coffee craving. i felt like one of the people you see at various sporting events, like i should have had one of the helmets on my head with the two straws running up to two cans of beer or something. only mine would be coffee. caffeine IV drip, anyone? bring it on, i say ...

so yes, i'm addicted to that as well. yet another example of how i continue to demonstrate my addictive personality. although i will say i've been spoiled, thanks to beth and chuck - while the dunkies iced coffee (at this particular branch, anyway) proves to satisfy me, it doesn't compare to the flavored iced coffees at honeydew donuts ... mmm ... but, alas, there is no honeydew near us. (for those who haven't experienced honeydew, think of the iced coffee in the same manner as one would think of chipotle when one thinks of burritos. yeah, it's that good.)

ok, i'm rambling on and blathering as i have email to write (hi paul!), blank cds to find and friends to call to see what they're up to on this friday evening (the weekend - hurrah!). so, with that, i bid you adieu and leave you with this week's friday five ...

1. if your life were a movie, what would the title be?
the great american movie (inspired by the great american novel)

2. what songs would be on the soundtrack?
ok, first, let me laugh, as this makes me think of the girl outside t's pub last friday ("my soundtrack would have lots of sublime, some janis, some random rap shit ..."). now that i've gotten that out of my system, i'd say that it would have to be a massive soundtrack (at least a double-disc album like "forrest gump" but probably more like a boxed set!). among the track listing, you would find some classic rock (van morrison's "moondance", aerosmith's "dream on", billy joel, simon & garfunkel, the beatles, the rolling stones, janis, tim buckley, cat stevens, moody blues, the doors, zepplin and the like) and then a wide, WIDE range of more modern music, from dr. dre (yes, i admit that i bought both dre's "the chronic" and snoop doggy dogg's "doggystyle" when i was in sixth grade - laugh all you want, i know you did it too) to new kids on the block to sublime to garth brooks. throw in some korn and limp bizkit to represent my "angry rock girl" phase during sophomore year of college; blink 182's "dammit"; ani; reel big fish step lively and edna's goldfish (my ska/"hey, i know the band, they crashed at my house" phase); lit, bush, rusted root and everclear to represent the woodstock '99 experience; obviously howie, john mayer, matt nathanson, glen phillips and david gray ("say hello, wave goodbye"); dmb, pmb, virginia coalition; jason mraz should go without saying; tori tori and some more tori (particularly a live track of gold dust from the fairfax show); averi, jess klein, dispatch, melissa ferrick, counting crows, live, etc. then selections from "rent", "les mis", "phantom" and "once upon a mattress", various selections from the arcadia soundtrack and selections from leap memories and some jeff buckley and josh clayton-felt to pay homage to my love of dead singer-songwriters (it sounds horrible to word it that way, but nonetheless) ... also add a track or two from andrew sutherland (ideally, he'd record the "it's vickie" song strictly for the soundtrack), the police, rancid, sublime, ben harper's "steal my kisses", green day, eve 6, grippo and soulive ... the list goes on and on. like i said, it would be the world's hugest soundtrack. i can map my life by the music i listened to at the time - so many memories are triggered by the opening notes of a song.

3. would it be a live-action film or animated? why?
definitely live-action - so it could really put the audience in the places i've been and the way i've seen things through my eyes. not to mention so howie, john, averi, dmb and matt nathanson could be in it. ;-) and so orlando bloom could be cast as the love interest.

4. casting: who would play you, members of your family, friends, etc.?
hmm ... well, if i couldn't get everyone to play themselves ...
me: i'd like to think i would, but i'm not a good enough actress. ;-) so i think the people who bear at least a little resemblance to my physically and would be able to balance the serious side and the admittedly perky off-my-rocker side could be kate hudson or claire danes. donna from "the west wing" would be really amusing as well.
family: dad - robin williams (in his serious manner, obviously, as my dad's not at all zany like comedic robin can be). mom - anette benning, only blonde. tom - hahahaha. this could be fun. um ... the role of tom would be played by jamie kennedy.
friends: i've got to spend more time thinking about that one. will add later after i go through the list of young actors/actresses.

5. describe the movie preview/trailer
voiceover of my character as you see a closeup of a hand writing in a journal: "life is just reality, altered." it would include a sequence of shots from various times in my life - sports, college (including drinking, altercations and times of hugs and laughter, a kiss on the cheek goodbye outside a townhouse one warm spring night), leading up to graduation. then voiceover continues. "so what is my reality?" my character looks up, into camera.

that's all i can think of for right now ... this was a great set of questions, though, so i know i'll be thinking about this and will surely add to it later on!