Tonight as I hopped off the subway I saw this woman in front of me with the most delicious long legs, just slender with calf muscles into her knee, into the most amazing thighs. She had on a short, loose, flowing black skirt, and I didn’t want her to turn around. Not at all. Why ruin it? Just those legs. Legs like Sunday mornings when you’ve woken up early for no reason in the world other than to get some coffee, pick up a newspaper and enjoy both as she sits behind you and wraps her slippered feet around your waist. Those kind of legs.

I was talking recently with this girl who I could easily date, someone I was talking with and laughing with and just having one of those days with. Just a good day. Someone you connect with and just find yourself enjoying the time. We won’t date, I’m sure of it, circumstances won’t allow it, but the company was just as delicate at times as if we were. I enjoyed it. Some other life, perhaps.

After seeing those legs from behind tonight I rounded the corner onto Clark Street, making my way towards my door and “Memory” from the Cats soundtrack came on my headphones. It’s one of those random songs I have on, the only one from that soundtrack that exists on my iPod. I have songs like that; “525,600 Minutes” off the Rent soundtrack, some Yo-Yo Ma, the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack, a little Beethoven. Songs that when they randomly pop on seem to meld perfectly with whatever it is I’m doing, which is usually walking with my headphones on.

Bob and I did this radio show in college. 4PM-6PM Sunday afternoons, which, when you are in college is the prime slot to have at a small liberal arts school in the middle of nowhere. That’s when people actually turn on their stereos, put their speakers in the window, sit in the Adirondack chairs in the quad. We provided the soundtrack, and it was something we loved doing. What’s the perfect song for this day; given the weather, the campus mood, the work load, everything? What should we play? We delved into hip-hop, angry feminist folk singers, melodic rock, beautiful tripped out hybrid shit. Just great music.

So that’s what I’m going to do here. This is my tiny blog radio show; I’m making you a mix. If you want, go to iTunes and punch in each of these songs, download them and order them onto your desktop, burn them onto a CD. I promise not to steer you wrong. But just remember, this is contextual. It’s Tuesday night for me, after midnight, I’ve just walked into my apartment after glancing at long legs and thinking of Sunday coffees and conversations. So take it in stride. The songs are melancholic, to a point, because that’s how I’m feeling right now. I’ll do this again down the road; make you a different mix from a different perspective. For now, sit back, relax, and listen to a little bliss on tap.

"Hyperballed" by Björk
"Easier to Lie" by Aqualung
"Oh My Sweet Carolina" by Ryan Adams
"Dry Your Eyes Mate" by The Streets
"Let Go" by Frou Frou
"Paint the Silence" by South
"Paper Aeroplane" by Kasey Chambers*
"You Had Time" by Ani DiFranco
"The Scientist" by Coldplay
"Son's Gonna Rise" by Citizen Cope*
"Caring is Creepy" by The Shins
"Rain City" by Turin Breaks
"We Come 1" by Faithless
"Sinnerman" by Nina Simon & Felix da Housecat
"Tonight and the Rest of My Life" by Nina Gordon
"Caught by the River" by Doves
"Float On" by Modest Mouse
"Statued" by Adem
"Honey and the Moon" by Joseph Arthur

*I think I cheated a little bit with the Kasey Chambers and Citizen Cope songs. I don’t think they're quite out yet, the albums haven’t been released, but will be in the next month. I’ve had them on my desk for a the past month or two, and the Kasey Chambers is just gorgeous. The Citizen Cope is my favorite album of the year so far. "Paper Aeroplane" and "Son's Gonna Rise" are the hallmark tracks.

Oh, and a note to any Björk fans out there. Her new album Medulla, which should be released in a month or so, is transfixing. It’s everything you’ve heard, made without benefit of a single instrument. After 1 listen you will wonder what this thing was you just heard. After 3 it will have sunk into your soul. In many ways, it’s the quintessential Björk album. Utterly beguiling.

Anyway, I hope you’ll go find these songs, put them on a CD or iPod. That was my mix to you.