[Record] [Play] [Rewind] [FFwd] [Stop/Eject] [Pause] I used to know those buttons by heart.
In high school, before I could drive, I had to ride the bus for an hour to and from school. The school was only 9 miles from my house, but the bus route took us down every single dirt road on the way. This is when my walkman became my best friend.
I spent hours making mixed tapes to listen to on my hour long rides. Before I had a radio with a cassette player and CD player all-in-one, I mixed my tapes on an old cassette player/radio. I had a system. I’d tune to 107.7 TheX, press Record & Play & Pause and then wait. When a song I liked came on, I’d un-pause to record. The system, though good, was flawed. Sometimes I’d wait and wait for a particular song and it would never play. Or worse, the song would come on and instead of hitting Pause I’d hit Stop. BOOO.
Zombie by the Cranberries... I can’t tell you how many times I’d turn the radio on just to catch the song in the middle, or almost over. There was such a rewarding feeling the day I was ready to record and it came on. I pressed pause (or un-pause really) and basked in my victory. YES! Got you Zombie!!
Today it is so easy to find music and listen to it on demand. Sometimes I miss the trill of catching a song on the radio. Seems like I would turn it up a little louder and jam a little harder.
The same can be said about digital photography. I can be a little impatient (shocker) so, I adore the immediacy of digital. But, sometimes I miss shooting film. Waiting to finish a roll of film before seeing the images builds drama. Seems like I would celebrate more when I nailed a shot.
Pressing the shutter. Advancing the frame. Developing the film. Making prints in a darkroom. I used to know those ‘buttons’ by heart.
I still have one of those mixed tapes in my car, with Just a Girl by No Doubt where you can hear the radio intro.
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