mix tapes.

It's something I keep coming back to: making mixes. I make new playlists in iTunes for myself all the time. But I love making them for other people much more. I love the challenge of assembling 80 minutes' worth of music for a given person.

Some people like to make mixes based on their own personal preferences. I like to make mixes based on what I think the other person will like most. I like combining songs and artists I know they like already, with other stuff they might never have listened to before. I like picking a mood or a tone - or a few - and trying to coherently structure the mix accordingly. Should I use fast songs? Slow ones? Sad ones? Happy ones? Dance music? Chill music? Everything?

I've made several this year, and I've received mostly positive feedback. This makes me happy. The way I see it, making someone a mix that they enjoy overall means that I know them well enough to recognize what music they would like. And then, listening to that particular mix will evoke that person as I listen. Not any one track, but that specific arrangement of songs will remind me of them. I like that. I like knowing that when I'm 3500 miles from here, I can listen to these sets of songs and still feel close to my friends. I hope my mixes make my friends think of me the way they make me think of them. It's a gift.