the truth is in the details

I had a conversation last night about mix tapes. We covered all the usual (how tapes are different from CDs, how it's a lost art, etc.) but I didn't get to my usual statement that mix tapes are current substitute for showing affection. Gone are the days for sonnets, love poems, and even love songs (for most of us). These have been replaced with the use of other people's art to express our own feelings. We compose meaning from the use of distinctly different parts, but strip those original pieces of their initial meaning and replace them with the some sort of new meaning found only when placed in juxtaposition. Suddenly, the context plays a larger role in the meaning, assigning greater importance to the order, selection, and general flow of the tape. It was fun to talk about things that aren't really that important.

What I’m talking about isn’t all the new or revolutionary, but topics like this are the types of thoughts I like to come back to every so often. It allows me to go crazy with some of the stuff I’ve learned over the years. I guess it’s kind of like a mental masturbation; self-pleasuring of the mind.

Here are three (1, 2 and 3) links to conversations about mix tapes. They're interesting.