Chocolate. Flowers. Lingerie> Jewelry.

Random thoughts for Valentine's Day, 2004. Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap. - Joel Barish, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

One of the things I had wanted to do more often this year was post more mixes. I had aimed for one a month and, in my usual fashion, I completely blew it on the first time out. January came and went with nary a mix in sight.

Sometime last week, I decided I would do two mixes for the dreaded February Hallmark holiday. See, I'm of two minds when it comes to Valentines Day. On the one hand, I'm single and have been for most February 14ths of my adult life. The overwhelming abundance of hearts and flowers and assorted chocolates can be annoying and depressing for someone on the outside of that world looking in, leaving noseprints on the glass. It's easy to become cynical and jaded about the festivities and the related merchandising, as the recent Singles Awareness Day and Anti-Valentines Day campaigns have proven.

On the other hand, I'm also a hopeless romantic. While I can rant and rave all day about the evils of the Hallmark holiday, part of me is shaking her head, muttering "Oh, you're just jealous" under her breath. Part of me misses the idea of being part of a "we", of the warm expectant feeling of having plans (even if they only consist of watching movies over pizza and beer), the warm blush that accompanies an unexpected phone call or heartfelt conversations. Part of me worries that it's too late, that somewhere in the great scheme of things I've missed my window of opportunity, and I should invest in an apartment that can accomodate a bevy of felines and accept my future as a Crazy Cat Lady; part of me rolls her eyes and vehemently insists that it's never too late and I really should stop it with this ridiculous defeatist attitude. And besides, it continues, candy is good and there's no proof of relationship requirement on buying it.

So yeah, I'm still not sure where my feelings lie on the holiday. I don't begrudge my friends that celebrate with dinner and exchanged gifts, but the date looms on my calendar with a Nelson Muntz "HA-HAH" every year as I try to ignore the red-and-white festooned aisle at Kroger. Hence the two mixes (compiled of stuff on Antoinette), and me curled up on the couch eating Sweet Tarts Hearts with Eternal Sunshine cued up in the DVD player, getting in a good cry before Lost starts.

(I chose not to include "Valentines Day" by Lovely Crash (the song quoted in the title of this post) because I couldn't decide which list it should go on, but it's currently featured on their MySpace. Enjoy!)

Anyway, on to the MyoMixes... enjoy the evening, folks. Wherever your feelings might lie.


Hopeless Romantic Mix

Only You - Yaz
Somehow Did You Know - Vinx (used in the original ending of the story that later became my second completed NaNo)
The Luckiest - Ben Folds
Flowers in the Window - Travis
Vegas - Ryan Downe
You are the Everything - R.E.M.
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
Liberation - Pet Shop Boys
The Genius of Water - Over the Rhine
Alison's Starting to Happen - Lemonheads (included if only for the line "She's the puzzle piece behind the couch that makes the sky complete")
Sometimes - Erasure
Wasting Time - Judybats (used in the karaoke scene in the unfinished NaNo about Fermata, Nebraska)
Love's Recovery - Indigo Girls
Fly Me to the Moon - Frank Sinatra
Between the Bars - Elliott Smith (used in the after-karaoke scene in the unfinished NaNo about Fermata, Nebraska)
I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie
Stay (Wasting Time) - Dave Matthews Band
Fall At Your Feet - Crowded House
Have I Told You Lately That I Love You - The Chieftans w/ Van Morrison
My Baby Only Cares For Me - Brian Setzer Orchestra
Central Reservation - Beth Orton


Bitter and Jaded Mix

I Feel Possessed - Crowded House
I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine - Beth Orton
So Lonely - The Police
Where I End and You Begin (The Sky is Falling In) - Radiohead
Selfless, Cold, and Composed - Ben Folds Five
Invisible - Alison Moyet
Thorn in My Side - Eurythmics
Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me - The Smiths
You Won't See Me - Beatles
Where Am I Gonna Run To - Ryan Downe (included due to the Rube Goldberg-esque suicide attempt in the video that I played to death at the Warehouse)
Just My Luck - The Spectacular Fantastic
Waltz #1 - Elliott Smith
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely - Husker Du
Do We Even Belong Together? - Freekbass
Victim of Love - Erasure
Barely Breathing - Duncan Sheik
Only a Memory - The Smithereens
There's a Fine, Fine Line - Avenue Q
Cherries in the Snow - Lovely Crash