It was a long weekend.

Book group Friday, computer stuff all day Saturday, more computer stuff Sunday plus:

• dealing with the collapsed fence (lesson: when filling postholes with concrete, fill them to the top -- if you only fill them midway, your pressure-treated post will still rot in the ground)
• which entailed meeting the new neighbors who speak very little English (and we speak very little Spanish) while
• doing a day’s worth of yardwork in four hours, including (but not limited to):
  • weeding the lawn
  • mowing the lawn
  • fertilizing the lawn
  • removing the third of four arborvitae stumps
  • digging up rogue ferns
• which is just one of the things on Kris’ weekly List of Things J.D. Must Do
• which I completed while simultaneously making meatloaf and Greek potatoes
• after which I did my personal finances and my business finances
• and, last of all, I finished my mix for Burn Baby Burn, the blogger CD swap.

I learned about Burn Baby Burn from this thread at Metafilter. I make a lot of CD mixes -- about a dozen a year -- and thought a CD exchange would be a great way to share with other people who have the same hobby. I was placed in a a group with Belinda, Matt, Raj, Bill (also here), and Lala. We seem like a fairly diverse bunch.

I've had a month to kick around ideas for this mix, which was supposed to have a summer theme. Two weeks ago I made a rough draft mix featuring some country, some blues, some folk, some jazz. It's a great mix, and it sort of feels summerish, but it just didn't seem right. (In the end I dubbed it my Country Road Mix and we listened to it on our drive up to see the Mariners on the 31st.) Next I mulled an a capella mix. I've accumulated several hundred a capella songs now and thought that I might have enough songs for an effective summer mix. This wasn't the case, however, so it was back to the drawing board.

Eventually I remembered that last summer I had made a rough draft (yes, I really make rough drafts of my mixes) of a mix I called the Happy Sunshine mix. It was full of bouncy upbeat songs perfect for taking a long, fast drive over country roads on a spring (or summer day). I found the CD and, over the course of a week, added and removed songs until I found the perfect combination.

And here it is, the Happy Sunshine Mix:

1. Here Comes the Sun (The Beatles)
2. Beautiful Day (U2)
3. Walking on the Sun (Smashmouth)
4. Walking on Sunshine (Katrina and the Waves)
5. Baby Keep Smiling (Lou Bega)
6. Perfect Day (Hoku)
7. Let the Sun Shine In (Frente!)
8. Unemployed in Summertime (Emiliana Torrini)
9. Praise You (Fatboy Slim)
10. What's Up (D.J. Miko)
11. Boom Boom (Pepe and the Bottle Blondes)
12. Soak Up the Sun (Sheryl Crow)
13. Momentum (Aimee Mann)
14. More Than This (10,000 Maniacs)
15. Beautiful Life (Ace of Base)
16. Steal My Sunshine (Len)
17. Baker Street (Under Cover)
18. Ray of Light (Madonna)
19. Little Fluffy Clouds (The Orb)
20. The Sun Never Stops Setting (Moby)

Rather more pop than usually finds its way into my mixes, but then this kind of mix lends itself to pop music, which is by its very nature happy and upbeat and major keys. Still, I think this mix works well. I've been listening to it nonstop for two days, tweaking songs and segues, etc. and think it's pretty good. Of course if the recipients hate popped, they're not going to like the mix. (There's better odds that they'll like this then the mix that became the Country Road Mix, however.)

I've already received mixes from three of the other members in my group. Wow. The cover art and the labels on these CDs is outstanding, almost professional quality. I've been making mixes, on tape and on compact disc, for nearly twenty years. Not once have I made any kind of fancy label or cover. The high production values on the other people's CDs enhance the experience. I'm not willing to purchase a color printer, but I'll try to develop some techniques for producing quality gray-scale covers and labels. Maybe if I participate in future CD exchanges I'll be able to send out a CD that not only sounds good but also looks nice.

On this day at foldedspace.org

2005 — Moderation in Nothing   I cannot seem to practice moderation. In particular, I've been playing too much World of Warcraft lately.

2004 — Mining Life   The difference between an author and you is that the author truly believes his dull little life is filled with the stuff of dreams.

2003 — Break Time   10:00 a.m. is break time at Custom Box Service.

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