My friend Rosemary and I are trading mixes. For her, because she’s the thoughtful sort, the act of putting a mix together became the touchstone for a very self-reflective post on her site.  For me, it was more “Wait, how do I do this again?” I was amazed to realize I hadn’t made a mix in months; I used to be able to burn them in my sleep.

I had to remember the rules of mix making.  Many of the important ones can be heard in the movie High Fidelity, recited by Lloyd Dobler or whatever his name is.

1. Kick off with a killer track in order to grab attention.

I usually follow this rule very closely but this time I didn’t.  My assessment of Rosemary is that she likes a lot of mid-tempo music. So I actually began with “Never the Same Girl” by Supreme Beings of Leisure, then segued into Morcheeba, and then Pink Martini.  However, when listening to the CD later, I completely understimated the impact of these three languid, sensual songs played back-to-back; I immediately wanted to have sex.  But I also felt that way before listening to the mix, so this experiment probably needs a control subject.

2. You can’t put the same artist twice on the tape--and if you do they can’t be in a row--and you can’t pair up Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” with something like GBH’s “City Baby Attacked by Rats.”

Right you are, Lloyd. And there’s additional rules that I’ve developed for myself as well:

3. Don’t overdo artists that you’ve already shared with this person before.

I always used to put Juliana Hatfield on my mixes. Not because I love her so much, but she always had one or two killer songs that sounded great on mixes.  And 2005 is no different, but I resisted.  Back off Juliana.  You’re so very ‘90s.

4. Try to keep the recipient’s tastes in mind.

I really don’t think mixes are to “educate”; they are a gift to a friend.  So I tried to pick tracks that Rosemary might like.  Unfortunately, I lost control of this somewhere around the middle of the mix and ended up with “Fire in the Disco” by the Electric Six, a loud, obnoxious rock/disco hybrid, and also The Donnas.  Oh well.  That’s what fast forward buttons are for.

And the most important rule of all:

5. No matter what you do, keep one, profound, fundamental truth close to your heart.  Just because you get a guilty kick out of the tweener rap classic “Come Get It” by Aaron Carter, in which a 13-year old sings about being grounded after throwing a party when his parents are out of town--a truly powerful and searing look at social issues and responsibilities as seen through an underprivileged demographic--that’s no reason to break down and include the track.

Unfortunately, I didn’t follow rule #5 either.