2.24.2010

make your friend a mix tape

Mix tapes are the best gifts ever...don't you think? Before we started dating, I went to Belize with a bunch of my friends and came home with meningitis. I was in the hospital for a week in the infectious disease ward, and no one was allowed inside. Even my nurses and doctors were wearing head to toe protective gear, blurring my memories and somehow blending them with the movie, "Outbreak." I do remember that he sent me flowers and about seven carefully thought-out mix tapes, which made me less sad to be in a lonely room surrounded by scary people with masks.
Anyway, my best friend just made me two, because (obviously) she's the best. The last song has been stuck in my head since Sunday. It took a while to grow on me, but now I love it. It's one of the last songs Warren Zevon wrote before he died of cancer. He was too sick to go to the studio, so he recorded it in his house.



You're probably thinking, "Gosh, Charlie Brown, you're such a buzzkill." Sorry.
Ps. Don't let my experience discourage you at all from going to Belize. I highly recommend it...I think my illness was a fluke. I swam with nurse sharks, snorkeled in the blue hole, drank rum punch all day, and played in the sand. It was awesome. 




14 comments:

  1. mixed tapes were the best. i miss them.
    ReplyDelete
  2. did you have the meningitis vaccine? i do want to go to belize someday. sorry you had to go through that. i haven't made a mix cd since the one i made for my boyfriend when we first started dating. i think he ignored most of it since i put a lot of stuff that's not his style on there. now i have a better idea of what he likes obviously!
    ReplyDelete
  3. I was just thinking yesterday how much I love the CD's that my hubby makes!! He has the best taste in music, so I know any mix he makes will take me on an adventure!! Love your blog oh so much! xo
    ReplyDelete
  4. AH! Meningitis! I'm really curious, was it bacterial or viral? Two of my brothers caught viral meningitis growing up, but they weren't given the bubble boy treatment. Just spinal taps. Yikes.

    Belize sounds wonderful, though. Especially the snorkling!
    ReplyDelete
  5. I so wish I'd lived in the era of mix tapes... But I love, LOVE getting mix CDs from people. So meaningful!
    xxoo Josie
    http://winksmilestyle.blogspot.com
    ReplyDelete
  6. Meningitis - nasty! My dad had it when I was born and can't remember a lot of my first year!

    we played a mix tape the other day - the boy made it for my best friend and roommate when we first got together 7 years ago.. it's amazing how it can bring back a million memories!
    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm loving your about me section. Yep... I kinda just spend all my money on food and snowboarding too.
    ReplyDelete
  8. i LOVE belize! one of my fave trips ever. i did pretty much everything you did and a little ziplining and cave tubing as well - so sorry to hear about the meningitis though...
    ReplyDelete
  9. @julia: I never got the vaccine...it wasn't recommended for trips to belize, so we didn't bother.
    @aquirkydelight: i got the full-on bubble boy treatment, because they thought i had bacterial at first. i got the spinal tap and they said it was inconclusive, but most likely a mild case of bacterial. later in the week, they said it had been viral all along. except for a pretty bad headache the first two days, i didn't really have any other symptoms. weird.
    @josie: i should have clarified..i looove mix tapes, but the mixes my boyfriend gave me when we were first dating were actually mix cds. i don't even own a tape player anymore, sadly!
    ReplyDelete
  10. My very best friend and I live very far apart and love to send each other mix tapes in the mail! They're the best. And I especially love when it's for an event - like a road trip - and everytime you play it after it reminds you of that moment.

    That illness sounds scary! You poor thing.
    ReplyDelete
  11. I completely agree with you: mixed cds = BEST gift ever.

    AND Since you survived the menin scare, I can now complain about how I had to sleep and shower at my friend's house for a week. haha.
    ReplyDelete
  12. God your best friend is awesome. You're pretty lucky.
    ReplyDelete
  13. I love getting mixedtapes, but I love making them more. Thinking about which songs the person will love is the best way to spend time with your music collection.
    ReplyDelete
  14. i haven't made or received a mixed tape in years! I'm missing them now. And what an awesome best friend you have!

    Have a great weekend!!!
    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails