Shifted

At a friend's suggestion I've begun shifting at closer to 4,000 RPM instead of the low-3,000s, which is actually how I used to drive. It has lead to my rediscovery of why I like my Mazda3... the girl's got zip. And this, in turn, led to the reuse of the 3 mix CD.

[Now, a brief segue here. My mix CDs are not about songs you've never heard before, they're about the order of the songs, the tempo, the evocation the songs create and composition and juxtaposition of those songs.

(Sub-segue, this is also how I feel about my design-- the use of existing elements and ideas in efficient, compact, communicative packages... ok, its how I feel about my designs when I feel they're effective. End sub-segue.)

Okay, so I've been listening to 3, the mix I made to celebrate the purchase of my car. And I've noticed something... Those songs feel relevant again. Now, this is one of two CDs I have, along with The Institute, that represent one of the happiest points in my life, the last few weeks leading up to graduation from Syracuse and the summer that followed. It was a time when I knew what the future had in store for me, that future looked bright.

That period was ended by the beginning of grad school. It ended somewhat abruptly partly by unending opening orientations, one or two of you may recall me telling you at the time of the jerk who irritated me incessently for not wanting to have yet another "Hi, I'm _____" conversation (I think that guy ended up dropping out).

But the point is, those songs, played while driving playfully, can once again be played without the nostaglic sense of "wow, what a great time that was." End segue.]

So, I was listening to this fun, high-energy mix Monday on the way to go see Blade Runner: Director's Cut with someone from work in the city. It played as I drove through the Presidio, a tall-redwood section at the Northern end of the San Francisco pennisula at twilight. Suffice it to say, driving over the Golden Gate bridge and round the curves of that road at 'magic hour' may well be the San Francisco equivalent of going to Kennywood's Phantom Fright Fest for Pittsburgh. This time though, it happend much sooner and without the weight of fixing something broken.

Speaking of which, I need to get to a dealership for service soon.