March 7, 2010 9:46 PM

man, MIXTAPES. I'm making a million for tour. They are long-form and time-consuming, and easy and extremely satisfying. I forgot what it means to actually decide on and listen to everything for the future. I'm rediscovering records that I never actually heard all the way through, MP3s that were sequestered in unnamed folders, playing my favorite bits here and there, onto a musty mid-rangey strip. The process is strangely enlightening, and ordinary.

Ever had something come into your life, be forgotten, then come back numerous times in the same day? This happened to me recently. Perusing a local record shop, I found an LP by a fellow, Rolf Harris. Garish, silly tunes just strange enough for me to buy. Fast-forward a year or two, and I'm in the Olympia-Timberland library, looking at the used books for sale, and there's a picture book there, about aboriginal animals of Australia, with Rolf. A bit startled, but I left it and went to work. At work, bored, glancing around, I noticed a 98-cent record staring back at me...ROLF, back again. I was so ashamed, I had to take it. Turns out, he's pretty good! A happy ending.