7th Anniversary

Nicole and I have been married seven years today. The years have been good and I hope for many more.

We decided not to buy each other gifts because we just bought the van and are rather poor at the moment. I couldn't resist the urge to get her some flowers though. I also wanted to make her something--you know--from the heart.

I thought about what I did best and figured she probably wouldn't want a computer program. Or a fish ("I caught a delicious bass for you."). So I went old school and made her a mix tape, er...CD. She surprised me with a grill thing that will let me grill vegetables.

It was a good morning, today.

So about the mix tape, er... CD. All together, I ended up spending a few hours combing through the collection finding the right mix of songs. Then I had to winnow it down to something that would fit on one CD. Then I had to arrange them. Now, for me, a really good mix tape (dangit--CD) takes a lot of effort. You can do wrong by putting two songs together that obviously do not belong. It throws the whole experience off. The songs must flow (aural and thematic). So here is the play list.

Song	Artist
Your Wildest Dreams	The Moody Blues
I Looked All Over Town	Magnetic Fields
Grow Old With Me	Peter Breinholt & Big Parade
Prettiest Eyes (single mix)	The Beautiful South
I Drove All Night	Cyndi Lauper
More Than This	Roxy Music
Heaven	Bryan Adams
Heaven	Better Than Ezra
San Diego Zoo	The 6ths
Sugar,Sugar	The Archies
These Days	10,000 Maniacs
only time	Enya
It's Only Time	Magnetic Fields
All I Wan	Lightning Seeds
Girl You Know it's True	Milli Vanilli
Always On My Mind	Pet Shop Boys
I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You	10,000 Maniacs
In Your Eyes	Peter Gabrie
Forever And For Always	Shania Twain

I know I committed a few faux pas by duplicating artists. That effect was intentional. You see, I think a good mix CD needs to say something about here and now. Sure, these songs are all about devetion and love, but a playlist that spans 30 years of music needs to be rooted somewhere. I chose 10,000 maniacs and Stephin Merritt (Magnetic Fields, The 6ths). I knew I wanted those songs go be included. Everything else just grew from that.

Yes, I have gone into WAY too much detail about my thought process while making a mix. And, yes, I probably deserve the ridicule. But have you ever met Nicole?