Well That Came Together Quickly

Just a few days ago i was lamenting how far behind i am on the Poor-Ass Christmas, AGAIN, for like the fifth year in a row. And then today i had the opportunity to just hyperfocus on the thing. Just a few days ago there was one (1) song on the PAC2021 Work List. By the end of the day yesterday there were 11. Today i built it out to 47, whittled it down to 20, realized there were two whole minutes left over so i added one back, then suddenly realized i'd forgotten something important and re-removed that one and added in an additional track, bringing the total to 48 songs considered and 21 selected for inclusion. Honestly there are still choices i've made that i feel like i could reverse, but overall i'm happy with the way the track list looks right now. Gonna listen to it on repeat for a few days and see if i still feel good about it by mid-week, but either way i think this thing is gonna roll out on time. That's something i was actually concerned about for a time, there.

This has been another year without full access to the Drobo, which has hindered my PAC progress in the past, but fortunately this should be the last time. Everything from the Drobo is now also backed up to other external drives, and i intend to keep it that way. So i should continue to have full access to my iTunes library from now on, and hopefully i can build the PAC Work List naturally throughout the year like i'm supposed to. We'll see how next year goes.

This year's mix has a definite flow to it that isn't always present. If it were pressed on vinyl, sides A and B would be distinct experiences. It also has a noticeable ramp up in energy through the first half, a lot of excitement through the second half, and a clear falling action coming to the end. I wonder if it might even fit a three-act structure. I might have done that subconsciously. Interesting.

I was surprised by the choices i made, frankly. There was one song that, when i was looking at the 47-track work list when i first started culling, i was like, "this will probably be the first to go." And the fucking thing lived all the way to the end. It's still on there. I'm baffled but i couldn't make myself remove it. Also, the current occupant of Track 2 has NO EARTHLY BUSINESS being there but IT WORKS SO WELL. Usually the hot spots to look for my most important songs of the year are the first few, the last few, and right around Track 11. Track 2 right now is something i literally heard on Pandora this morning and was like, yeah, that's nice. And it turned out i had thumbed it up a few weeks ago, but i had no memory of that. And now here it sits, same day as discovery, in one of the most prestigious spots on my year-end compilation. Funny thing, that.

Lots of references to wolves this year. Just an observation.