And I almost love this town when I'm by your side

Close your eyes and think about a song that moves you, a song that really means something to you. Think about where you were, what you were doing, and who you were with (isn't this always the most important part?) the first time you heard it. The song starts there and is born. Through time, it develops a character, a life, a history with you. These songs become the connecting thread between you and that moment in time. These relationships are some of the strongest and are rarely broken, even though the relationship with that time, place or person probably has been. Obviously closing your eyes would've been completely detrimental to the reading of this paragraph, but I hope you gave the thought sincere effort.

If a song has never touched you this way and you can't relate, this blog is probably not for you. Don't get me wrong: I would love for everyone to find a home in the words here. But the reality is, I am a creative. Just like that National album never had a chance when your first love played it for you - it was born into making you feel warm and content inside - so to are creatives born into a life of passion. Indulgence, intensity, free spirited action, attention to detail, disregard for the reasonable, and so on.

I work in the music business and it has been easy for me to forget how it feels to really be moved by a song, but I remembered yesterday:

You woke me from a long sleep
And I'm almost back
Closer than ever
To finding the hidden track
If I told you the truth
You wouldn't like what I said I almost believed I was dead
There'll be no more waiting
You're gonna melt all the ice
In my head
There'll be no more crying
You're gonna make it all better instead.

Killian's Red by Nada Surf. The "you" in that passage, for me, is music. And I need to show my gratitude to it for teaching me how to love, giving me strength when it all fell apart, sedating me when I was in pergatory and bringing me back to life when it was the right time.

So this blog is my thank you note to music and art and the things that make life worth sticking around for, because it's too easy to forget...

There are so many great things around these days that I get obsessed with and love to play with. I will try to post one of these things each time:

GREAT THING 001: Muxtape.com, My Muxtape
Muxtape is a website that allows users to upload playlists of MP3s, based on the idea of a mixtape. It was created by Justin Oullette in March of 2008. (Wiki)