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| Left- CD Mix from my friend Iza. Right- CD Mix from my older brother Thommuel . (I made Spotify playlists of both Mixes, available below!) |
The last time I was at my parents’ house in QC, I got to rummage
through memorabilia and things, particularly my old CDs- Mandy Moore, a bootleg
copy of a live recording of Lea Salonga’s concert from 1990-something, The
Cardigans, and other albums of artists kids these days probably wouldn’t care
to know.
Still, there’s nothing like those burned CD mixes that
carried well-thought out playlists.
I have two burned CD mixes that I still remember to this day.
One was this CD burned by my friend Iza, who’s one of the
most musically talented people I know, and it just made perfect sense that she’s
now a music teacher. She’s a multi-instrumentalist but I think I admire her
most as a cellist and singer. I used to hang out and play music at her place a
lot. She gave me this CD as a graduation gift (I’m two years ahead of her so
when our class graduated she had sepanx. Agree, Iza?).
The other CD was burned by my older brother Thommuel, who barely
exists in the interwebs but I think he’s really just ahead of his time. He used
to wear pomade in the mid-2000s when it wasn’t cool (he had to buy the lolo
type of pomade at Mercury Drug that had a strong lolo smell), and he introduced
me to Itchyworms and all these other bands back when they were first starting
out (My favourite Itchyworms song is actually “Happy Birthday” from “Little
Monsters Under Your Bed”). Kuya Thommuel gave me this CD to reaffirm his
position as THE musical authority.
I have other burned CDs from ex-puppy-loves, ex-loves,
ex-friends, and friends-turned-acquaintances, but let’s not go into that. I
still kept the CDs though, not so much the people. That’s how life rolls,
people metaphorically burn and drift into nothingness, think End Game. Lol.
I’ve also had my fair share of CD-burning, which was both a treat
and a task. I remember those days when dial-up internet made it impossible
to download songs at home (well it WAS possible, but then your prepaid card would be used up by then. Yes, kids, we used prepaid cards for internet back in the day), so I’d go to an internet shop to have CD mixes
burned. These CDs came with a free case and a printed copy of the track listing,
usually in Comic Sans or Jokerman font. Gotta love those fonts.
Then came better internet (well, “better” in those days),
better computers, better or at least more evolved taste in music, making it
easier to burn CDs at home. It was common practice to hoard blank CDs that came
with sticker labels, but since they looked boring I’d go for those CDs with
printed designs (Tweety/Bugs Bunny CDs, floral CDs, and anything that screamed “I’m
cool and unconventional,” only to realize everyone was going for cool and
unconventional). Even with those stickers and designs, I think we always ended
up just writing ON the CD, usually with colored pens. The CD Burning sages
would advise against it; they warned that the pen’s chemicals could affect the
CD. I guess nobody believed it because everyone was doing it anyway.
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| From Reddit |
Once the CD mixes were burned and gifted to friends and
family, it was going to be either one of two things- they would listen to the
CD, or not. There was a much higher chance that they would listen because
unlike today where you can Google everything and pretend you listened but actually just Googled the lyrics, it was polite behaviour to listen. Well I
never not listened, and probably still never won’t listen, but apparently some
people nowadays won’t and don’t, but pretend to. Which sucks.
Burned CD mixes are a thing of the past, and that’s OK. There
was just something about burning a CD mix that made you appreciate the effort,
and made you say, gee thanks, I’ll keep this forever. I have the utmost respect
for people who still do it to this day. I understand that many of us want to
produce as little waste as possible, thereby going CD-free. But these days, how
many people say things like, hey, I made a Spotify playlist for you, listen to
it?
Thoughtfulness used to be a thing. I remember it was standard
behaviour to always bring something when you visit a house, or send a thank you
note or text after meeting a friend or acquaintance. I’d still do that
sometimes, but without much enthusiastic response. Maybe I’m just a boomer,
just too old-fashioned and left behind, but I think we should maintain these
niceties.
Niceties seem to be lost in the rubble of coolness and apathy,
the haystack of hustle and grind, the murky river of influencers, endless scrolling,
and meaningless “hearts”. We think we know people just because we see them
every day on Facebook or Instagram, just because we chat with them occasionally.
It’s weird how you always chat with some people and think you’re good friends,
but the actual face-to-face interaction is totally different and underwhelming,
maybe because you’ve exhausted everything and there’s nothing left to talk
about or know about each other?
It’s scary to think that this is the future (present?) of
social interaction, and I know I’m guilty of being on Facebook more frequently
than I’d like myself. I refuse to accept it though, we should refuse to accept
it. Not that it’s all that bad; these online tools are “tools” for a reason. But
friendship doesn’t end there. We all deserve good friends and meaningful
interactions, and it takes some work to get or maintain these.
Back in the day, the “work” involved little acts that build
up, like burning CD mixes, spending after school hours eating fish ball outside
campus, talking on the phone, writing letters, and really being present. Now it’s
all scrolling and half-listening, user-friendliness (as in using people and
calling them friends when you need them), and online interactions with short-term
acquaintances who you probably don’t mind ever meeting again anyway. No wonder
loneliness has been called an epidemic.
We cling so much to short-lived but seemingly good “memories”
thinking everything must be eternal, like keeping people that we barely have life-giving
connections with. Eternity isn’t always good. It robs us of the present and
robs us of more meaningful relationships and interactions to come.
But yes, burned CD mixes and niceties are eternal. Oh and as
an act of love or at least a nicety, I’ve made Spotify playlists of the two CD
Mixes from Iza and kuya Thommuel, all for you. Enjoy. :)
