Car Tunes #1

My driving has gotten much better in the past 10 days of driving the Mini. I've only stalled it twice -- once on day 2 when I was at a stop sign and a pickup truck behind me was breathing up my butt and I got nervous, and once on day 4 when I was pulling into a parking space and forgot to put the clutch in. Not bad, if you ask me. But I'm still avoiding a couple of hills in town, especially the one on Old South Street with the stop sign at Main Street, right at the top of the hill. It will be months before I'm ready for that. But I do feel that I've gained enough confidence that I don't have to put 100% of my concentration into my shifting and am ready for a bit of distraction. So I made myself my first CD for the car (the old car had a tape deck, and I was the queen of the car mix tape). I haven't published a playlist in a while, so here it is:

• Bob Dylan - "Things Have Changed"
• Buddy Miller - "Water When the Well is Dry"
• Dave Alvin - "Abilene"
• Greg Brown - "Blue Car"
• Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez - "Red Dog Tracks"
• Jim White - "That Girl from Brownsville Texas"
• Mike Doughty - "Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well"
• Jesse Harris & the Ferdinandos - "Roberta"
• Mark Knopfler - "The Trawlerman's Song"
• Old Crow Medicine Show - "Wagon Wheel"
• Jack Johnson - "Breakdown"
• Josh Rouse - "It's the Nighttime"
• David Gray - "One I Love"
• Richard Barone - "Forbidden"
• Ringside - "Tired of Being Sorry"
• Ryan Adams - "Hallelujah"
• Steve Earle - "Shadowland"
• Tom Waits - "Hold On"

If any of my pals is interested in taking possession of some of my old mix tapes, let me know. And on that subject, I highly recommend Sarah Vowell's "Thanks for the Memorex" in Take the Cannoli.