Stuffstalgic

I started making mixes at the beginning of 8th grade, and ended up making one every 2-4 weeks religiously as a method of sort of documenting what I was listening to at the time. When I made the first one, I didn't really intend for it to become the ritual that it would go on to be, it just sort of happened that way. I established certain rules with the first one that I pretty much hold true to this day, 6 years later. For one, up until I graduated high school every mix that I made had the term "stuff" (the name of that first one) in the title Also, no song could be used in more than one mix and no mix could have two songs from one band. Here's all of the pre-graduation titles I can remember: Stuff, More Stuff, Even More Stuff, Stuff Vs. Crap, Revenge of Stuff, Son of Stuff, Return of Stuff, Bride of Stuff, Stuff Goes To Mars, Stuff is Dead, Oh My God, I Just Got Stuffed, Adventures In Stuffland, The Stuff Summer Vacation Special, Stuff Is Going Down With Us, The Hidden Temple of Stuff, Enter The Stuff, Stufftastic, Stuff Goes Home, Stuff 3049, SxTxUxFxFx, What The Stuff, Kent Richman Is The Amazing Stuff, Stuffzilla, Stuff Is Doomed, Stuff Has A Date, Stuff's First Circle Pit, Mini Stuff, Stufftastic.... you get the idea. I don't know why, but after I graduated I was compelled to stop the whole stuff schtick, and also to be more lenient about the rules I had established (although I still pretty much follow them just out of habit.) I then formulated a new method of naming mixes... namely, picking the first thing that came to mind. As a result, most titles are confusing to the average person. Some examples include Eskimo Rape Syndrome, Assaulted By Penguins, Beer, Crisco and Hookers, Dudes on Ice, Dank Nugzz, etc. The formula for picking what goes on each mix basically consists of going through my entire library of music and picking certain tracks that I have been listening to a lot over the two or three week period around when its made and basically just randomize the order, except sometimes the first and the last tracks which I'll often devote a little more time to. Mixes have ranged in length from 8 tracks to 31 (averaging out to around 18-20 songs), spanning many different genres and an astounding number of bands. I think the total number of mixes I've ever made for my own personal use could amount to around 200. So I guess the obvious question (to myself) that might be asked is why do I find this ritual so important to maintain, when there are very few others that I even give a shit about? I mean, obviously there's the point that I just enjoy listening to music, and particularly singling out certain music that I happen to be enjoying at a given time. But that doesn't explain why I still do it in the same style that I have ritualistically maintained for over 6 years. The question remains unanswered, like so many others here on Mars.