A few years back, I was stood up on Valentine’s Day. He was a flaky musician, I was a fool. As I sat all alone on my sofa, in my new red dress, I thought to myself, “Gee, Valentine’s Day sucks if you don’t have a way to celebrate it.” Luckily, that night, I had a full bottle of vodka in the freezer. After I mixed myself a few too many drinks — and told him where he could go via voice mail) — I decided that I would start a new ritual of mix making for Valentine’s Day. What began as a drunken search through my music collection for a song that would perfectly sum up how sad/pissed I was about getting ditched on V-day (after three months of dating no less), grew into a holiday tradition of telling my love life via pop songs. This particular mix, entitled “You Can’t Screw The Hole In My Heart Too†was inspired by a bad break-up in which I didn’t get to keep the dog, but I luckily got to keep my pride… whatever’s left of it. The mix charts the arc of a heartbreaking split, all the emotions: confusion, anger, denial, loneliness, jealousy, desperation, and then the eventual sigh of defeat. So, if you’re feeling it this Valentine’s Day, breakup with me. Misery loves company and a soundtrack. Keep reading »
